Sunday 27 April 1941

Germans raise the Swastika flag over the Acropolis, 27 April 1941 (Federal Archives).

Operation Marita: In an event of worldwide importance, on 27 April 1941 the Wehrmacht enters and occupies Athens at 09:25. German soldiers immediately climb up to the Acropolis beside ordinary tourists and raise the Swastika flag. The Wehrmacht troops, fueled by vast supplies of oil and related valuable items captured in the capital, continue south, pursuing the retreating Commonwealth troops.

Operation Demon, the British evacuation from mainland Greece, continues. The British take off 4200 troops from Raphina and Raphtis. There is some unhappiness among the Greek troops awaiting evacuation in the Peloponnese, as the British take off their own troops and leave the Greek Cretan 5th Division behind.

The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still of brigade-size) completes its crossing of the Gulf of Patras to take the key port of Patras at 17:30. However, it is an empty victory because the British forces have chosen to evacuate from other ports such as Nafplio. In addition, Wehrmacht troops advancing through Athens already have advanced into the Peloponnese and relieved the Fallschirmjäger (German paratroopers) of Operation Hannibal that was holding the Gulf of Corinth. While the rapid LSSAH advance south from Ioannina across the Gulf of Patras was an outstanding technical achievement, in a military sense it becomes essentially superfluous. However, it greatly enhances the reputation of the formation, and plans are made to expand it to division size.

An undated photo of Luftwaffe bombers over Athens.

While the British troops largely escape the Wehrmacht ground forces, they are not quite so lucky with the Luftwaffe. Nine Junkers Ju 87 Stukas of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 attack a troop convoy fleeing from Nafplio in the Peloponnese. They bomb and sink Dutch troopship Slamat, which is part of a convoy carrying 3,000  British, Australian and New Zealand troops (the Slamat only has a portion of them). Two Royal Navy destroyers, HMS Diamond and Wryneck, pick up as many survivors as they can, but as they head to Suda Bay, Crete, the Luftwaffe Stukas sink them, too. A total of roughly 1,000 British troops perish, with only 8 troop and 11 crew survivors from the Slamat, 20 from the Diamond, and 27 from the Wryneck.

The German 5th Panzer Division advances rapidly south through Athens and down to the Corinth Canal. It throws across a temporary bridge on or about this date and heads south toward the fleeing British.

The Luftwaffe continues its depredations against Greek shipping in the Aegean, sinking:

• 441-ton freighter Evanghelos Georgiou off Kithara
• 1350-ton freighter Astir at Kapsalion
• 333-ton freighter Tassos at Hermione (Ermioni)
• 441-ton freighter Fragiscos in the Greek Archipelago
• 1759-ton freighter Hollandia at Hermione

The Luftwaffe damages other Greek ships, including 2113 ton freighter Danapris at Piraeus, which the Germans later repair.


European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids Portsmouth with 38 bombers.

East African Campaign: Local Abyssinian forces loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie capture Socota from the Italians.

Iraq War: Diplomatic efforts continue to defuse the tensions in Iraq, where the Rashid Ali government refuses to allow additional British troops into the country. The British ambassador informs Ali's government that additional troops are at sea and bound to arrive at Basra any day. Within Iraq, the British troops are secure but unable to travel by land between their bases. However, their airlift capability is unimpeded, so the British airlift elements of the British 1st Battalion of King's Own Royal Regiment from RAF Shaibah to RAF Habbaniya, where Iraqi troops have assembled.


Battle of the Atlantic: U-552 (K.Kapt. Erich Topp), on its second war patrol, torpedoes and sinks two ships south of Iceland:

• 227-ton British trawler Commander Horton
• 10,160-ton British ship HMS Beacon Grange (two perish)

U-147 (Oblt.z.S. Eberhard Wetjen) torpedoes and sinks independent 1334-ton Norwegian freighter Rimfakse about 240 km northwest of Scotland. There are eight survivors and eight deaths.

U-110 (Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp) torpedoes and sinks 2564-ton British freighter Henri Mory about 610 km northwest of Blasket Islands, Ireland. There are four survivors and 28 perish.

The Luftwaffe sinks 5355-ton Royal Navy auxiliary fighter catapult ship (CAM ship) near Coquet Island. There are about 50 deaths, including the skipper, Commander D.M.B. Baker.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 943-ton British freighter Celte west of the Faroe Islands. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy sloop HMS Rosemary collides with 754-ton British freighter Carrickmacross at Milford Haven. It is under repair at the port until 6 June.

Norwegian freighter Rimac collides with Royal Navy transport HMT Lord Plender off Great Yarmouth. The Rimac sinks, and five of its crew perish while 14 survive. There also are three deaths on the Lord Plender, which rescues the Rimac's survivors.

The shifting Admiralty position on Vichy ships changes again. After ocean boarding vessel HMS Maron intercepts five French freighters escorted by a patrol boat between the Canary Islands and Africa, the Sea Lords direct that the ships be released and allowed to proceed to Dakar.

Convoy OB 315 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL 73 departs from Freetown.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Farndale (Commander Stephen H. Carlill, L 70) is commissioned.

Canadian Royal Navy corvette HMCS Rimouski is commissioned.

Panzers in Athens.

Battle of the Mediterranean: In Operation Dunlop, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sends off 24 Hawker Hurricanes to reinforce the RAF presence on Malta; 23 reach the island.

Despite recent military successes in North Africa, the German high command has become increasingly leery of Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel's conduct of operations there. Among the concerns is Rommel's decision to stage a major offensive before receiving all of the troops en route to Tripoli - the fact that the offensive was wildly successfully does not enter into this assessment. Rommel repeatedly disregards orders sent by either the OKH and his Italian military superiors. The Germans cannot know this now, but that is one of the keys to Rommel's successes since the British are reading German communications but Rommel just disregards them. When the OKH orders something and then Rommel does something else, the British are caught flat-footed.

To assuage their concerns, the OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres, army high command) sends staff officer Friedrich Paulus, a Deputy Chief of the General Staff, to Tripoli to investigate the situation. Paulus later recalls that he was offered command of the Afrika Korps in place of Rommel, but turned it down. However, Paulus does assume control of operations during his tenure in the theater and cancels a planned offensive against Tobruk pending his later approval.

In the field, the Germans consolidate their recent gains in the south. Gruppe Herff sets up outposts at Sidi Suleiman, about ten miles east of the British lines. Some of its units are sent north through Sollum in preparation for a renewed attack on Tobruk - which depends upon General Paulus' approval.

The Luftwaffe attacks Australian artillery positions in Tobruk in preparation for the planned assault. The Luftwaffe employs level bombers to attract anti-aircraft fire while Junkers Ju 87 Stukas pound the anti-aircraft guns. The attack is successful, with four guns destroyed and 8 killed at a cost of one bomber. The Australian defenders set up dummy gun emplacements and move the artillery.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Usk (Lt. G.P. Darling) hits a mine and sinks near Cape Bon, Tunisia. All 32 men on board perish.

Italian freighter SNA7/2679 hits a mine and sinks off Cape Bon, Tunisia. There also is a theory that HMS Usk, believed lost on this date, sank SNA7/2679 before itself sinking, but this is unconfirmed.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 8672-ton Dutch transport Costa Rica north of Crete. Costa Rica is part of Convoy GA 14, and everybody aboard is rescued.

Convoy GA 14 departs from Suda Bay, Crete to free up space for the transports soon to arrive from the Greek mainland.

Heinrich Himmler inspects the Mauthausen concentration camp, 27 April 1941. These appear to be the infamous steps in which inmates climb with heavy rocks until all perish.

American/Dutch/British/Australian Relations: A military meeting (the "ABDA" conference) in Singapore between the (future) allies ends with an agreement on combined operations in the event of Japanese aggression. The United States, which sent only junior officers led by Captain William R. Purnell to the meeting, takes the plan lightly, with the US War and Navy Departments rejecting the plan. The British, Dutch and Australians, who already are at war with Germany but not yet Japan, take the plan extremely seriously.

German Government: After a brief stop in Maribor/Marburg and a return trip to Graz on the 26th, Adolf Hitler embarks on his command train "Amerika" for the trip back to Berlin.

Captured Allied troops turn in their weapons in Corinth.

British Government: Winston Churchill addresses the nation on the BBC. He has a somber tone, as Churchill knows that Greece is lost and the British have lost their last foothold on the European mainland. He crows about the inability of the Germans to invade Great Britain, noting that

with every week that passes we grow stronger on the sea, in the air and in the number, quality, training and equipment of the great armies that now guard our island.

Of Middle East Commander General Archibald Wavell, he notes that "we cheered in good days and will back through the bad." He then turns to the Axis leaders and Italian leader Mussolini a "whipped jackal" and Hitler "that bad man" prone to "raving outbursts." He essentially places all of England's hopes on America, concluding with an Arthur Hugh Clough poem that has the last line, "But westward, look, the land is bright."

Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies meets with US Ambassador to Great Britain John Gilbert Winant. Menzies writes in his diary that Winant agrees with him that, in terms of the news media, "most stuff going to the USA is of German origin." The AP, for instance, continues to obtain photographs from Germany through its Lisbon contacts. Menzies jots down that "news to America badly handled." Churchill muttered darkly during his BBC broadcast about supposed tensions between Australia and England due to German propaganda, and if Menzies' private thoughts are any indication, such tensions do indeed exist.

Holocaust: Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler inspects the Mauthausen concentration camp. Mauthausen is a Category III camp and perhaps the most brutal in the entire system.

The Croatian Ustashi militia kills an unknown number of civilians in the Serbian town of Gudovac. There is no love lost between the Croats and the Serbs, with the Croats firmly in the German camp while the Serbs back Great Britain.

Heinrich Himmler inspects the Mauthausen concentration camp, 27 April 1941. Note the inmate standing at attention, ignored by Himmler.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Tuesday 18 June 1940

Winston Churchill dressed to the nines as usual on 18 June 1940.

Western Front: General Rommel and his 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division completes the whirlwind journey to Cherbourg on 18 June 1940, capturing the port (but not the citadel). He just misses the fleeing British after another 75-mile advance, and his troops hear the explosions as the Allies blow up the port facilities. The 5th Panzer Division, which has been working in tandem with Rommel, captures Brest. The Allies destroy all the harbor facilities before they depart. French battleship Courbet gives fire support as the last Allied troops leave.

Elsewhere, the Wehrmacht faces declining French resistance. All cities over 20,000 inhabitants are declared open cities, like Paris. This is a popular decision that saves many lives.

The French set up a line along the Loire to defend the sector Tours/La Charité. The Germans establish bridgeheads between Orleans and Nevers. Le Mans, Briare, Le Creusot, Belfort, Dijon and Colmar all are now in German hands. The French cavalry school at Samur vows to fight together as a unit, instructors and cadets.

French Prime Minister Pétain has big decisions to make on 18 June 1940.

The Maginot Line has held up well and cracking it has become a chore for the Wehrmacht. Small penetrations are made, though, and the Germans capture the fortress of Belfort.

Operation Ariel, the evacuation of British troops and some others from France, winds down, though some operations continue in the south. The Admiralty announces that nearly all British troops have been evacuated. At La Pallice, for instance, the Royal Navy completes its evacuation of 10,000 British soldiers, leaving behind their vehicles. There are continued evacuations, but they primarily are of allies. At St. Nazaire, the evacuation also concludes, with the British leaving behind their equipment.

The RAF completes its evacuation from France to England with the departure of Nos. 1 and 73 Squadrons, which had been the first to arrive in 1939. The RAF lost 1,029 aircraft with 1,500 casualties while on the Continent.

General Erwin Rommel (left) and a Panzer 38(t) tank on a bridge in France, 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-28 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke) torpedoes and sinks 2,417-ton Finnish freighter Sarmatia in the eastern Atlantic. All 23 onboard survive.

U-32 (Oberleutnant zur See Hans Jenisch) torpedoes and sinks 1,522-ton Norwegian freighter Altair south of Ireland. All 18 onboard survive.

U-32 then sinks 108-ton Spanish fishing trawler Nuevo Ons with gunfire. There are seven survivors, and six perish.

U-32 also sinks 108-ton Spanish fishing trawler Sálvora with gunfire. All 12 onboard survive.

28,100-ton French troopship Champlain hits a mine and is seriously damaged. It is dead in the water and an easy target if the Germans spot it.

Kriegsmarine minesweeper M-5 hits a mine and sinks off Norway.

Brand new French battleship Richelieu (with destroyers Fougueux and Frondeur) departs from Brest for Dakar. Incomplete French battleship Jean Bart is towed out of St. Nazaire. It has its engines and is fueled at sea, then sets off at half-speed for Casablanca while evading Luftwaffe air attacks. The ships are taken out at risk to themselves out of fear of the approaching 5th Panzer Division.

The French scuttle nine French submarines, a destroyer, and a sloop at Brest and Cherbourg. They are immobile for various repair reasons.

Convoy OA 170 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 170 departs from Liverpool.

British corvette HMS Camellia (K 31, Lt. Commander Eric M. Mackay) is commissioned.


European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe sends a massive raid of 76 bombers against eastern England (Cambridge, Southend, the Thames estuary region) during the night. There are 11-12 dead and 30 injured. This is the first of a series of such nightly raids and could be counted as the unofficial start of the Battle of Britain. Meanwhile, the history books state that the Battle of Britain does not begin for another couple of months. The Luftwaffe incurs light losses during this period.

The RAF conducts reconnaissance over northern France, Belgium and Holland. The RAF also sends 69 bombers to drop 250 bombs on Bremen and Hamburg.

Battle of the Pacific: 13,415-ton liner RMS Niagara (Captain William Martin) hits a mine and sinks off Auckland, New Zealand. Niagara is carrying £ 2.25 Million of gold from the Bank of England bound for the United States in payment for munitions. The wreck settles at 121 meters of water. Immediately, thoughts turn to salvage of the gold, but the ship is at the outer limits of salvage operations.

German auxiliary cruiser Orion captures the Norwegian vessel Tropic Sea near the Society Islands.

German/Italian Relations: Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich to discuss the French request for an Armistice. They are in no hurry to end the campaign. They ultimately send a request for the names of French plenipotentiaries to the French government currently at Bordeaux. Hitler is not impressed by the Italian contribution and gives Italy only a small zone of occupation in southern France. Mussolini is chagrined, but he has other plans of his own which he does not disclose to his partner.

US/French Relations: The US is concerned, as are the British, about the French fleet. U.S. Secretary of State Hull directs Deputy U.S. Ambassador to France Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr., to tell the French that a German takeover of the fleet would the French to "permanently lose the friendship and goodwill of the Government of the United States."

The French are not impressed by the rough diplomatic veiled threat and say that they are "deeply pained" by the attempted coercion. Nonetheless, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs Baudouin promises that the French fleet "would never be surrendered to Germany." Admiral Darlan seconds this assurance.


Bulgarian/Romanian Relations: Bulgaria demands that Romania cede southern Dobruja.

Uruguay: The Uruguayan government has arrested 8 German leaders, according to US Ambassador to Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson.

Canada: Mackenzie King introduces to the Canadian House of Commons the National Resources Mobilization Act. This implements national registration and conscription for home defense.

Baltic States: The Soviet occupation is complete. The Soviet government promises to give the Germans $7.5 million in gold for the courtesy of honoring the Ribbentrop/Molotov Agreement.

Latvia: The Soviets form a new government from a list of approved candidates.

Sweden: The government permits unrestricted German transit on the vital railway to Narvik, including German troops and military supplies.

Italian Somaliland: The English King's African Rifles raid the Italian port of El Uach.

French Somaliland: Italian artillery bombards French positions.

Italy: The government secures ancient monuments and statues against possible air attack.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Japanese 11th Army consolidates its hold on Ichang and Tangyang. Chinese 5th War Area goes over to the defensive.

Polish Government: General Sikorski arrives in London on an RAF plane. He meets with Churchill, and they agree on the evacuation of Polish soldiers from their location at La Pallice.

British Government: Winston Churchill at 15:45 addresses the House of Commons with one of his famous speeches. He states that this could be the country's "Finest Hour":

What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over ... the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour.

French Government: The cabinet continues to debate whether to evacuate to North Africa. New Prime Minister Pétain refuses to go, but President Lebrun and the two presidents of the Chambers of Parliament, Édouard Herriot and Jeanneney, want to go. The weight of opinion is to stay in France.

French cruisers El Djezair, El Kantara, El Mansour, Ville d'Oran and Ville d'Alger evacuate 1,200 tons of French gold from Brest to Casablanca. In addition, the French use the cruiser Victor-Schoelcher to take 198 tons of Belgian gold from Lorient to the port of Dakar in French West Africa.

War Crimes: There are strong rumors that the advancing German troops have been murdering any black African French troops that they take prisoner. There is a German propaganda campaign that these French troops themselves are committing atrocities.

General De Gaulle giving his speech on 18 June 1940.

French Homefront: General Charles de Gaulle broadcasts at 20:00 from London and urges continued French resistance. He emphasizes that a battle, and not the war, is lost:

The destiny of the world is here. I, General of Gaulle, currently in London, invite the officers and the French soldiers who are located in British territory or who would come there, with their weapons or without their weapons, I invite the engineers and the special workers of armament industries who are located in British territory or who would come there, to put themselves in contact with me.

This speech initiates the image of de Gaulle, heretofore virtually unknown outside of military circles, as the leader of "Free France." It is fair to comment that de Gaulle likes to use the word "I" a lot as he develops a cult of personality.

De Gaulle has no official authority to make any claim to be a French spokesman and is no longer even in the government (though for the time being he remains a General). De Gaulle's sole source of power is that he has British backing due to his willingness to continue the fight. De Gaulle also has a large cache of French gold given to him by former Prime Minister Reynaud which will tide him over, though it is insufficient to form an army or anything like that. He certainly is an inspirational figure for many French citizens, though the legitimate French government does not think so and feels he is being counter-productive. De Gaulle returns the favor and pointedly refuses to recognize any French government under German domination, which creates a chasm between him and the "legitimate" Petain government. He no longer has any official reason to be in London and is "flying solo," at great risk to himself, creating an entire movement out of whole cloth. The course de Gaulle is taking practically defines the term "leader."

There is a tortuous story behind de Gaulle's speech. He was the one, along with Churchill, who came up with the "union" idea of France and the UK joining as one country. He flew back to France to argue for it and thought that Petain would agree with him, and was stunned when instead Petain surrendered. Returning immediately to England, de Gaulle asked to give this speech on 17 June, but the BBC required him to wait until 18 June - the anniversary of the French defeat at Waterloo.

General Legentilhomme, the French commander in Somaliland, quickly announces his support for de Gaulle, but few others do. It is easy to maintain that martial spirit when you are far from the panzers, not so much when the front that protects you is collapsing.


June 1940

June 1, 1940: Devastation at Dunkirk
June 2, 1940: Hitler Visits France
June 3, 1940: Operation Paula
June 4, 1940: We Shall Fight
June 5, 1940: Fall Rot
June 6, 1940: Weygand Line Crumbling
June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik
June 8, 1940: Operation Juno
June 9, 1940: Norway Capitulates
June 10, 1940: Mussolini Throws Down
June 11, 1940: Paris an Open City
June 12, 1940: Rommel at St. Valery
June 13, 1940: France Goes Alone
June 14, 1940: Paris Falls
June 15, 1940: Soviets Scoop Up Lithuania
June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain
June 17, 1940: The Lancastria Sinks
June 18, 1940: A Day of Leaders
June 19, 1940: U-boats Run Wild
June 20, 1940: Pétain Wilts
June 21, 1940: Hitler's Happiest Day
June 22, 1940: France Is Done
June 23, 1940: Hitler in Paris
June 24, 1940: Six Million Jews
June 25, 1940: German Celebrations
June 26, 1940: USSR Being Belligerent
June 27, 1940: Malta in Peril
June 28, 1940: Channel Islands Bombed
June 29, 1940: Gandhi Insists on Independence
June 30, 1940: Channel Islands Occupied

2020

Sunday 9 June 1940

General Erwin Rommel with his staff in a French field, Panzer 38(t)s in the distance, June 1940 (Ang, Federal Archive).

Western Front: General Rommel's 7th "Ghost" Panzer Division and the accompanying 5th Panzer Division of 4th Army consolidate their hold on the Seine at Rouen on 9 June 1940. Rommel turns west and pushes the British 51st "Highland" Division back, along with what remains of the French 10th Army in the vicinity. The British make a stand at St-Valery-en-Caux, with the panzers taking nearby Dieppe. Basically, it is a repeat of Dunkirk on a smaller scale. However, there are no plans for a sea rescue this time.

At Rheims, the Panzer Group Kleist and Panzer Group Guderian team up and take Compiegne. The French are still holding the remnants of the Weygand Line between Amiens and Peronne, but the Weygand Line has become porous and the panzers are able to sidestep pockets of resistance.

The offensive broadens as German 2nd Army, 12th Army, and 16th Army of General von Rundstedt's Army Group A attacks toward Reims, supported by Panzer Group Guderian.

The Luftwaffe provides essential air coverage to the advancing panzer spearheads, which are without infantry support and vulnerable to air attack. Some units of the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) begin withdrawing to North Africa. The French have flown 1,815 sorties since the beginning of Operation Fall Rot, with 518 of them bomber missions. This rate begins to fall off drastically beginning on 9 June.

RAF air support units are retreating before the Wehrmacht advance, some moving to Brittany and other places to the south.

Hurricane Mk I YB-S. This shows damage from cannon fire that blew apart a section of the flap before P/O David C Leary force-landed near Bolbec on the afternoon of 9 June 1940. The day before, he had moved with No 17 Squadron RAF to Brittany. The 19-year-old pilot returned by train to Le Mans, arriving 2 days later and claiming a Bf-109 destroyed on 12 June and another the next day. Retiring from Dinard to Jersey and Guernsey on 17 June, he withdrew to RAF Debden 2 days later.

Norway: The Norwegian government-in-exile led by King Haakon has Commander-in-chief Ruge issue a cease-fire order effective as of midnight. The only troops still fighting are in the Norwegian 6th Division near Narvik.

The Norwegian campaign has been a complete German victory. Losses during the campaign:

Germans:

5296 dead/missing
160 fighters/bombers
80 transport planes (Ju 52s)
3 Cruisers
10 Destroyers
6 U-boats
4 cruisers and 6 destroyers damaged

Allies:
2119 British
1335 Norwegian
530 French

Most importantly, Germany has protected its source of iron ore, and also obtained advanced bases for the Kriegsmarine and useful air bases for the Luftwaffe.

General Dietl inspects Narvik and finds that the departing British have destroyed all rail and port facilities.

The 2nd Mountain Division continues marching up to Narvik from Sorfold, though its mission at Narvik to rescue General Dietl now appears to be moot.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-46 (Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass) torpedoes and sinks 2,155-ton Finnish freighter Margareta about 350 miles off of Cape Finisterre, Spain. There are 19 survivors and 5 crew perish. The survivors spend four days drifting in a lifeboat before being rescued.

British freighter Empire Commerce hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea.

Kriegsmarine patrol boat V-801 sinks from undetermined causes.

German raider Pinguin completes its trials. It will operate in the Indian Ocean.

Royal Navy ships detain Italian ship Rodi off Cape Matapan.

Convoy OB 164 departs from Liverpool, Convoy OG 33F forms off Gibraltar, Convoy HX 49 departs from Halifax.

Soviet/Japanese Relations: The two governments finalize a treaty ending the dispute in Manchukuo which led to the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. The Soviets claim territorial gains.

US Military: Destroyer USS Dickerson (DD-157) departs from Casablanca for Lisbon. It carries US nationals who wish to take the State Department's advice and return to the US aboard the passenger liner Washington. Washington itself departs from Bordeaux carrying 813 Americans leaving France. Washington is scheduled to depart Lisbon for Ireland and then the States tomorrow, 10 June 1940.

French Government: Prime Minister Paul Reynaud ponders evacuating his government from Paris with his cabinet. They ultimately decide to leave. General Weygand tells Reynaud that the Weygand Line on the Somme has collapsed and it is time to start negotiations.

The US heavy cruiser Vincennes (CA 44), accompanied by destroyers USS Truxton (DD-229) and Simpson (DD-221), arrive at Casablanca. Their mission is to transport the French gold reserves to New York.

General de Gaulle is in London for discussions with Prime Minister Churchill.

British Government: Hospital ship Atlantis, which had been spared by the Admiral Hipper, rendezvouses with battleship HMS Valiant and informs the Admiralty of the loss of the Orama. The Admiralty remains in the dark about the fate of HMS Glorious.

Italian Government: Mussolini prepares to invade French positions in the Alps. The slated start date is tomorrow, 10 June 1940.

The government orders all Italian ships to proceed at once to neutral ports.

China: At the continuing Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Japanese 11th Army makes gains around Tungshih, Tangyang, and Yuanan.

Wehrmacht troops during the Battle of France.

June 1940

June 1, 1940: Devastation at Dunkirk
June 2, 1940: Hitler Visits France
June 3, 1940: Operation Paula
June 4, 1940: We Shall Fight
June 5, 1940: Fall Rot
June 6, 1940: Weygand Line Crumbling
June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik
June 8, 1940: Operation Juno
June 9, 1940: Norway Capitulates
June 10, 1940: Mussolini Throws Down
June 11, 1940: Paris an Open City
June 12, 1940: Rommel at St. Valery
June 13, 1940: France Goes Alone
June 14, 1940: Paris Falls
June 15, 1940: Soviets Scoop Up Lithuania
June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain
June 17, 1940: The Lancastria Sinks
June 18, 1940: A Day of Leaders
June 19, 1940: U-boats Run Wild
June 20, 1940: Pétain Wilts
June 21, 1940: Hitler's Happiest Day
June 22, 1940: France Is Done
June 23, 1940: Hitler in Paris
June 24, 1940: Six Million Jews
June 25, 1940: German Celebrations
June 26, 1940: USSR Being Belligerent
June 27, 1940: Malta in Peril
June 28, 1940: Channel Islands Bombed
June 29, 1940: Gandhi Insists on Independence
June 30, 1940: Channel Islands Occupied

2020

Saturday 8 June 1940

Scharnhorst opening fire on HMS Glorious on 8 June 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Juno is one of the least-publicized naval encounters of World War II in relation to the damage inflicted. This most definitely is because the damage inflicted was almost entirely upon the Royal Navy. Compared to Operation Juno, the Bismarck battle a year later was almost a sideshow; but, anyone with the slightest interest in World War II knows every detail about the sinking of the Bismarck. The lack of attention to Operation Juno must be ascribed to the fact that the battle's winner was the war's loser. This is not at all unusual, and perfectly understandable given how "history" works; but the battle stands for that point as much as anything else at this point.

There is the added element that the Admiralty's papers on the incident remain locked up under the infamous "100-year rule," which could be waived - but, for so embarrassing, nay humiliating an incident, will not be. The papers will remain secret until 2040, by which time pretty much everyone but people like us will have long forgotten the incident - as they largely have already.

Operation Juno is one in a succession of German naval sorties that sail up the Norwegian coast. With many of the other operations, the objective was to break out into the Atlantic by circling around Great Britain; however, the objective of Operation Juno is to aid General Dietl's mountain troops trapped against the Swedish border east of Narvik. Adolf Hitler is obsessed with Dietl's predicament, and the idea is to pound the Allied base at Harstad to prevent further Allied reinforcements.

Since battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz are not ready, the Kriegsmarine sends its most reliable pocket battleships (really heavy cruisers): Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. They are accompanied by heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and the destroyers Z20 Karl Galster, Z10 Hans Lody, Z15 Erich Steinbrinck, and Z7 Hermann Schoemann. Any surface sortie is dangerous, but the Germans have gotten away with it previously and this is a rare chance to use the surface ships to achieve a strategic purpose, as opposed to mere commerce raiding as with the Admiral Graf Spee.

Early on, Luftwaffe reconnaissance reports that the Allies are evacuating from Harstad. This robs Operation Juno of its strategic impact. Admiral Wilhelm Marschall aboard the Gneisenau, however, decides on his own initiative not to waste the opportunity - Kriegsmarine surface sorties are rare opportunities for aggressive commanders and not to be wasted. He turns the mission into a pure naval raid, disregarding his orders to avoid enemy action.

He has plenty of opportunities. With the Allies pulling out of Narvik, the sea lanes between there and Scapa Flow are crowded with Royal Navy vessels. First, heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper comes upon largely empty troopship HMS Orama, tanker Oil Pioneer and minesweeping trawler Juniper - and dispatches all three. The Orama is a modern (1924) Orient Line passenger liner which had been impressed into Royal Navy service. She goes to the bottom about 300 miles west of Narvik, but thankfully she is not full of troops and only 19 men lose their lives. The Admiral Hipper takes aboard 280 prisoners. To the Admiral Hipper's credit, there is an accompanying hospital ship, the Atlantis, which has obeyed the rules of war by not radioing its position - and the Admiral Hipper lets her go. After this, Admiral Marschall detaches the Admiral Hipper with a couple of destroyers to make port in Trondheim.

The sinking of the Orama and the others, however, is just the appetizer. Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Glorious ((77) Captain Guy D’Oyly-Hughes) leaves Harstad at 03:00 bound for Scapa Flow, accompanied by destroyers HMS Arden and Acasta. Glorious is serving as a transport vessel and has onboard all of the Gladiators and Hawker Hurricanes from Bardufoss and a smaller-than-usual complement of its own planes. The Hurricanes are not equipped for naval landings and their pilots are not trained in operating from carriers, so the planes just get in the way. In fact, D'Oyly-Hughes all stowed all of the planes below decks for some reason despite being in a war zone. This makes aircraft carrier Glorious vulnerable, and D'Oyly-Hughes requests, and receives, permission, to return to Scapa Flow independently at full speed. Much is made of this decision in the critical commentaries on the incident, but during World War II it is a well-regarded theory that the best protection for any ship is speed.

Accompanied by the destroyers, Glorious heads south. D'Oyly-Hughes made some critical mistakes: he failed to keep any aircraft in the air as a constant Combat Air Patrol, and he failed to post any lookouts in his crow's nest. The former error is somewhat understandable because he only had nine Sea Gladiators and five Swordfish on board (in addition to the land planes); failure to post lookouts, though, smacks of incompetence.

The Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau spot HMS Glorious and her escorts about 180-200 miles west of Norway at around 16:30. Admiral Marschall opens fire at maximum range and incredibly scores a hit on his third salvo with his 11-inch shells at 24 km. Hits at such a range ar devastating because the shells come down almost vertically and plunge through the decks, "plunging fire" is the favorite tactic of the "Battleship Admirals." This damage, only 6 minutes into the encounter, prevents the Glorious from launching any aircraft and essentially seals her fate.

The two Royal Navy destroyers, Ardent and Acasta, lay smoke and closed on the two pocket battleships. This is a desperate maneuver, and everyone in the Royal Navy has the memory of HMS Glowworm in the back of their minds. The suicide mission pays off in part when one of Acasta's torpedoes (it launches four) hits the Scharnhorst, causing serious damage and killing 50 German sailors. The destroyers' 120 mm guns, however, cause little damage on the larger German ships, and both Ardent (151 dead, 2 survivors) and Acasta (161 dead, 1 survivor) soon are on the bottom (the former at 17:50, the latter at 19:20).

As seen from the Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau firing her main guns.

HMS Glorious herself is never a factor after the initial hits. Both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau make hits, the Gneisenau striking the bridge and almost certainly killing D’Oyly-Hughes early in the encounter. Marschall orders Scharnhorst to cease firing against the sinking ship. HMS Glorious goes under at 19:10, taking with it about 1531 men, including 63 RAF pilots from No. 46 and 263 Squadrons.

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau then head for Trondheim themselves. They have proven once and for all that, under the right circumstances, the Kriegsmarine surface fleet can be absolutely devastating. The Scharnhorst is in bad shape, with flooding of 2,500 long tons and her after-turret out of action. She will require a trip back to Germany for repair. Meanwhile, with the German pocket battleships retiring, the final Royal Navy troop convoy from Narvik gets through to Scapa Flow un-noticed.

HMS Glorious sinking.

Western Front: Hitler, at his forward Wolfsschlucht headquarters, issues Fuhrer Directive No. 14, Continuation of the Offensive in France. It deals with tactics more than strategy and really is quite unnecessary. However, it reinforces the image that Hitler wishes to project of being in charge of a successful campaign. He notes "extremely strong resistance... north of Paris," which is debatable, and otherwise just confirms orders already given. Army Group A is to attack on 9 June southwards towards the Marne. Hitler also specifically singles out "attached SS units and the SS Death's Head Division" as key elements of the offensive. There is a slight reorientation of the offensive away from the encirclement of the Maginot Line and toward Paris.

General Rommel and his 7th Panzer Ghost Division, along with the accompanying 5th Panzer Division, reach the Seine at Rouen. The 5th Panzer sends troops into the city. French 10th Army is in tatters. British 51st (Highland) Division on the coast is bypassed and its lines of communication cut.

Back on the Somme, XIV Panzer Corps breaks through the French artillery block at Amiens. French 7th Army at Péronne continues to hold 16th Panzer Division to a standstill, which must be extremely frustrating as they watch the breakthrough to Rouen. It is a typical hedgehog campaign, with some strong points holding, but others failing and allowing strong breakthroughs.

European Air Operations: The air over the front is full of swirling planes. Captain Wuillame of Groupe de Chasse (Fighter Group) I/2 is flying a Morane-Saulnier MS406. He claims three Bf 109E fighters in only 15 seconds over the Somme sector. Despite this victory, the lack of adequate French air cover is becoming a major problem for the Allied ground forces.

French bombers attack factories near Berlin before dawn.

Battle of the Atlantic: British freighter Hardingham hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel.

Italian warships lay more mines in the Mediterranean.

Convoy HG 33 departs from Gibraltar, Convoy SL 35 departs from Freetown.

German Military: German casualties are hitting 5,000/day., much higher than in previous campaigns - but France is the Big Enchilada.

Norway: The Allies conclude their evacuation of troops from Narvik and Harstad, taking off a final tranche of 24, 000 men. Before departing, they render the port facilities useless to the Germans until repaired - which they soon are.

The Norwegian troops opposing General Dietl near the border pull out and disguise their departure by leaving dummies along the line. The German mountain troops soon realize what is happening, and occupy Narvik again. There are still Norwegian troops in the area, but they have no Allied support whatsoever and are out-matched by the Wehrmacht troops.

Anglo/French Relations: Prime Minister Reynaud sends his deputy General Charles de Gaulle to England to confer with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Australian Government: Sir Keith Murdoch, a newspaper magnate, becomes the Australian Minister of Information.

Science: Edwin M. McMillan and Philip H. Abelson at the University of California at Berkeley reveal the discovery of element 93, neptunium (symbol Np), a decay product of uranium-239.

League of Nations: Increasingly irrelevant in a world at war, the League of Nations lays off 75% of its staff.

French Homefront: The rumble of distant gunfire becomes noticeable in Paris, though the government reassures the populace that is is just nearby anti-aircraft artillery.

British Homefront: The US State Department issues an advisory for US citizens in England and Ireland to depart next week on the liner Washington in order to avoid a possible German invasion.

There is a media blackout in the UK. George Orwell writes, "In the midst of a fearful battle, one has the impression there's no news." There is indeed news, but none of it is good for the Allies.

Future History: Nancy Sinatra is born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She becomes famous in the 1960s for such hits as "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" and "You Only Live Twice," along with the No. 1 duet with her dad Frank, "Something Stupid."

Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.

June 1940

June 1, 1940: Devastation at Dunkirk
June 2, 1940: Hitler Visits France
June 3, 1940: Operation Paula
June 4, 1940: We Shall Fight
June 5, 1940: Fall Rot
June 6, 1940: Weygand Line Crumbling
June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik
June 8, 1940: Operation Juno
June 9, 1940: Norway Capitulates
June 10, 1940: Mussolini Throws Down
June 11, 1940: Paris an Open City
June 12, 1940: Rommel at St. Valery
June 13, 1940: France Goes Alone
June 14, 1940: Paris Falls
June 15, 1940: Soviets Scoop Up Lithuania
June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain
June 17, 1940: The Lancastria Sinks
June 18, 1940: A Day of Leaders
June 19, 1940: U-boats Run Wild
June 20, 1940: Pétain Wilts
June 21, 1940: Hitler's Happiest Day
June 22, 1940: France Is Done
June 23, 1940: Hitler in Paris
June 24, 1940: Six Million Jews
June 25, 1940: German Celebrations
June 26, 1940: USSR Being Belligerent
June 27, 1940: Malta in Peril
June 28, 1940: Channel Islands Bombed
June 29, 1940: Gandhi Insists on Independence
June 30, 1940: Channel Islands Occupied

2020

Friday 7 June 1940

As taken from Admiral Hipper on 7 June 1940, this picture shows the Gneisenau, with Scharnhorst to the right. Admiral Marschall is convening of a conference of his commanders.

Western Front: Hitler already is sensing an impending victory in France. On 7 June 1940, he moves to the Wolfsschlucht headquarters in Bruly-le-Peche in order to be seen as leading his troops to victory.

General Erwin Rommel of XVI Panzer Corps, 4th Army finds a seam in the Allied defenses and advances 30 miles to Forges-les-Eaux. This puts him within striking distance of both Rouen and Le Havre. He is accompanied on the thrust by 5th Panzer Division (which never gets any credit....) "Other troops," i.e. 5th Panzer Division, take Noyon and Fores-les-Eaux in the same general vicinity. An incidental effect of Rommel's leap forward is that the British 51st (Highland) Division is cut off along the coast.

Rommel is fully aware of the historic nature of his successes, noting: "We have broken past the Maginot line- it's like some beautiful dream!" The Germans have lived in fear of the French since 1918, and today marks a key turning point in that attitude.

The French 10th Army (General Robert Altmayer) has its front broken by the Rommel thrust and has to retreat to Rouen and behind the Seine River. Already, the French are looking at Paris over their shoulders. The Weygand Line is holding in places, but overall the hedgehog strategy is turning into a disaster.

Between Amiens and Peronne, the French line holds firm, with von Kleist's Panzer Group making minimal gains. The French artillery at Amiens is decisive in frustrating the Wehrmacht attack.

Further east, the tanks of Panzer Group Guderian seize bridgeheads across the Aisne. Guderian's goal is to advance south behind the Maginot Line by heading to the Swiss border, thereby enveloping the fortresses and making their actual capture academic.

A major problem for the French is that the Luftwaffe is establishing air supremacy. The French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) has reasonably good equipment, but it does not have enough of anything. More fundamentally it is completely lacking in organization and tactics. Whereas the fight over Dunkirk against the RAF was reasonably equal, the air battle over France is turning into no contest at all.

European Air Operations: After dark, the French make an unsuccessful attempt to retaliate for Operation Paula, the Luftwaffe's recent mildly successful raid on Paris. They convert Centre NC223 mail planes for an attack on Berlin, sending them on a circuitous route from Bordeaux over the Baltic. The crews miss Berlin entirely and drop their bombs on open countryside, so technically it is not the first raid on Berlin - it is the first attempted raid on Berlin.

The RAF sends 24 bombers to attack Hannover, Germany.

The tailfin of Spitfire PR Mk I P9331. It was left behind at Reims after an abortive sortie by acting F/L Louis D "Tug" Wilson on 7 June 1940. Detached to No 212 Squadron RAF at Meaux in April, the 23-year-old Wilson had led a reconnaissance flight to Poitiers and La Rochelle, photographing enemy advances.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-48 (Korvettenkapitän Hans Rudolf Rösing) torpedoes and sinks 4,212-ton British freighter Frances Massey about 15 miles off Tory Island northwest of Ireland. Only one man of the 35-man crew survives when found by destroyer HMS Volunteer.

U-48 then torpedoes 5,888-ton British freighter Eros in the same location. All 62 crew survive when picked up by a trawler, but the freighter remains afloat.

Admiral Marschall, commanding the flotilla led by HMS Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, stops to refuel despite being informed by Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes of some nearby "supply ships" (which actually are troopships carrying RAF soldiers home from Norway) that would be easy targets. This keeps his flotilla from coming to British attention, a factor which will prove decisive for coming operations. Marschall is after bigger game.

Convoy OA 163GF departs from Southend.

Norway: HMS Glorious arrives off Narvik and takes aboard the 10 remaining Gloster Gladiators and 8 remaining Hawker Hurricanes previously ferried to Bardufoss. While Hurricanes have flown off carriers before, this is the first landing of the advanced land-based fighters on one. No. 46 and No. 263 squadrons are now entirely out of Norway.

The British continue evacuating troops from Narvik, 4600 leaving at Harstad. The Allies no longer have air cover in northern Norway. General Dietl has noticed the easing of pressure against his troops and is moving back towards Narvik. A Royal Navy convoy heads for Great Britain.

King Haakon VII and the rest of the Norwegian government board the Royal Navy heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire at Tromsø and depart at 20:00 for exile in the UK. They are accompanied to England by thirteen ships, five aircraft and 500 men of the Royal Norwegian Navy.

Ireland: The government declares a state of emergency due to the situation in France.

British Military: Captain B. A. W. Warburton-Lee of the First Battle of Narvik (10 April 1940) is posthumously awarded the first V.C. awarded during the way.

Houlton, Maine farmer dragging a US warplane across the Canadian border, 7 June 1940.

June 1940

June 1, 1940: Devastation at Dunkirk
June 2, 1940: Hitler Visits France
June 3, 1940: Operation Paula
June 4, 1940: We Shall Fight
June 5, 1940: Fall Rot
June 6, 1940: Weygand Line Crumbling
June 7, 1940: British Evacuating Narvik
June 8, 1940: Operation Juno
June 9, 1940: Norway Capitulates
June 10, 1940: Mussolini Throws Down
June 11, 1940: Paris an Open City
June 12, 1940: Rommel at St. Valery
June 13, 1940: France Goes Alone
June 14, 1940: Paris Falls
June 15, 1940: Soviets Scoop Up Lithuania
June 16, 1940: Enter Pétain
June 17, 1940: The Lancastria Sinks
June 18, 1940: A Day of Leaders
June 19, 1940: U-boats Run Wild
June 20, 1940: Pétain Wilts
June 21, 1940: Hitler's Happiest Day
June 22, 1940: France Is Done
June 23, 1940: Hitler in Paris
June 24, 1940: Six Million Jews
June 25, 1940: German Celebrations
June 26, 1940: USSR Being Belligerent
June 27, 1940: Malta in Peril
June 28, 1940: Channel Islands Bombed
June 29, 1940: Gandhi Insists on Independence
June 30, 1940: Channel Islands Occupied

2020