Sunday 14 July 1940

Marshal Pétain leaving a church at Vichy for the Monument aux Morts on July 14, 1940. Pierre Laval (right, black coat), Vichy's prime minister, follows.

Battle of Britain: In the morning of 14 July 1940, the Luftwaffe sends small and scattered raids against ships in the English Channel. This is a warm-up for the day's main event.

Things pick up around 15:00, when about 40 Stukas of II./LG 1, with Bf 109s from III./JG 3 and JG 51, attack the daily "Bread" convoy off Dover. Other Luftwaffe bombers from KG2 with with their own fighter escort join the party, and soon there is a wild melee over the water composed of 100 or more aircraft. Several British ships are damaged and the 779-ton cargo ship SS Island Queen is sunk. The Luftwaffe loses three Stukas and three fighters, while the RAF loses a Hurricane of No. 615 Squadron (the pilot perishes).

Many people watch the epic dogfight from the Cliffs of Dover, including BBC reporter Charles Gardner. He spots someone bailing out into the Channel who he describes with some indifference as being a Luftwaffe pilot. In fact, it is a badly injured RAF airman who later perishes.

In the evening, the weather closes in and once again there are just scattered bomber raids, with the Luftwaffe losing a couple of bombers during a raid on Avonmouth and other areas. The Luftwaffe bombs Manston airfield and Swanage Harbour, Dorset.

After dark, the Luftwaffe launches attacks against Bristol, the Isle of Wight, Kent, and Suffolk. There also was enemy activity over the Thames estuary.

The Air Ministry issues Bulletin 1254 in response to suspicions, confirmed by some evidence, that German search-and-rescue planes are being used for other purposes. This authorizes RAF planes to shoot down Luftwaffe planes performing search-and-rescue missions:

It has come to the notice of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom that enemy aircraft bearing civil markings and marked with the Red Cross have recently flown over British ships at sea and in the vicinity of the British coast and that they are being employed for purposes which HM Government cannot regard as being consistent with the privileges generally accorded to the Red Cross... 

HM Government is unable, however, to grant immunity to such aircraft flying over areas in which operations are in progress on land or at sea, or approaching British or Allied territory, or territory in British occupation, or British or Allied ships... 

Ambulance aircraft which do not comply with the above requirements will do so at their own risk and peril.

This makes all search-and-rescue aircraft over the English Channel legitimate targets for the RAF.

General De Gaulle and his followers celebrate Bastille Day at the Cenotaph in London, England on July 14, 1940.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 9 Whitley bombers of No. 102 Squadron against Paderborn and also a dozen Whitley bombers of No. 10 Squadron and EAF No. 51 Squadron against Diepholz.

Vichy France sends bombers against Gibraltar, without result.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Salman) torpedoes and sinks 4111 ton Greek freighter Thetis A. off Brest, France at 18:18. There are 20 survivors and 9 crew perish.

U-A (Kapitänleutnant Hans Cohausz) sinks 5824-ton Norwegian tanker Sarita 100 miles west of Cape Verde at 11:45. All 29 onboard survive, spend four days at sea, and then are taken on board the freighter Dunstan on the 18th.

German raider Thor sinks British freighter Gracefield off Brazil after taking the 36 crew prisoner.

Convoy OA 184 departs from Methi.

The Bismarck leaves drydock.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italians send a fighter sweep over Grand Harbor at 06:45. Otherwise, the day is fairly quiet. The British are expanding Luga Airfield. The defending fighter force, vital for chasing away hesitant Regia Aeronautica bombers, is down to two Gladiators and one Hurricane of the Hal Far Fighter Flight. There is a myth of just three Gladiator biplanes named Faith, Hope, and Charity defending the island, but that is never the case. This is as close as it gets.

Western Front: During the night, Operation Ambassador takes place. This is a landing on the islands of Guernsey and Little Sark (accidentally) by Col. Gubbins' new commando force. The 140 men, taken from H Troop of No. 3 Commando (John Dumford-Slater) and No. 11 Independent Company, follows reconnaissance on Guernsey by Channel Islands native 2nd Lieutenant Hubert Nicolle on 6 July. Landed by destroyers HMS Scimitar and HMS Saladin, the men wander about for a while, cut some telegraph lines, find some empty German barracks, and leave at 03:00 on the 15th. Three commandos are left behind and become POWs, as is one of the destroyer men thrown from a dinghy that sinks. The enemy is never sighted. Overall, the operation is a fiasco that is perhaps of some use for training purposes and as a "dry run" for later endeavors.

North Africa: The British 1st King's African Rifles garrison at Moyale, Kenya withdraws under pressure by the Italians.

South Africa sends its Ist Infantry Brigade for Kenya.

General Wavell begins inspection of British bases in Sudan and Kenya.

War Crimes: The British respond to the shoot-down of the He 59 floatplane on 11 July, claiming that it is justified because they believe that the German search-and-rescue planes are circling British convoys for purposes of reconnaissance for later attacks.

Baltic States: The Soviets hold phony elections in occupied Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. The results are published "by accident" in London before the actual elections.

France: It was a tale of two cities... It is Bastille Day (Le Quatorze Juillet), celebrated by General de Gaulle on the Cenotaph in London. De Gaulle is accompanied by a guard of honor of 200 French soldiers, sailors and airmen when he lays a wreath at the monument. In Vichy France, meanwhile, this is announced to be a Day of National Mourning with flags flown at half-mast.

Cuba: Fulgencio Batista is elected President with support from, among many others, the small communist party.

US Government: William Donovan - later known as "Wild Bill Donovan" - leaves New York for London for consultations.

Winston Churchill gives his BBC speech, 14 July 1940.

British Government: Operation Fish continues when British cruiser HMS Esperance Bay leaves Plymouth with £10,000,000 in gold bound for Halifax. Unlike previous shipments, however, this one runs into problems. About 100 miles out to sea, the Luftwaffe finds and bombs the ship. While 7 crew perish, the Esperance Bay makes it back to port with the gold.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives a BBC radio address in which he references the "war of the unknown warriors." Britain will fight on alone, he vows:

be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parley; we may show mercy - we shall ask for none.

He also describes the Royal Navy destruction of the French fleet in North Africa as having "come to an end" - as long as they don't try to go back to German-controlled ports in Europe.



July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020

Tuesday 2 July 1940

The Arandora Star, sunk by U-47 on 2 July 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-47 (Kptl. Günther Prien) torpedoes and sinks 15,501-ton British liner Arandora Star on 2 July 1940 about 75 miles west of Bloody Foreland, Ireland at 06:58. The liner is carrying 734 interned Italian men, 479 interned German men, 86 German POWs and 200 military guards. There are 174 crewmen. There are 868 survivors, of whom 586 are internees. About 865 men perish (sources vary).

Prien does not break any rules of war, and this solidifies his already outsized reputation as a master U-boat commander. The Arandora Star, which is not in convoy because liners are assumed to be better protected by their fast speed, is not properly identified as a POW or refugee ship and sinks quickly. The ship is painted grey like a warship and has no Red Cross sign. An Admiralty Net Defence anti-torpedo system had been fitted to the liner but removed a few months prior to the voyage.

With only room for 400 in the lifeboats, there is a mad scramble. The ship loses 805 people, including 37 of the military guard, 42 crew, 12 ship's officers, and the Captain. The oil from the ship makes swimming extremely difficult. The Arandora Star goes under within 35 minutes, still swarming with men who have no chance.

There are several instances of outstanding heroism, including internee Captain Otto Burfeind of the scuttled Adolph Woermann, who organizes his fellow internees to the end, maintains some order, and goes down with the ship. Canadian commander Harry DeWolf also is cited for his heroism in the rescue. Captain Douglas Moulton of the Arandora Star receives a posthumous Lloyd's Medal for Bravery at Sea. Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent picks up the survivors. Bodies wash up on Ireland throughout August, many unidentifiable.

U-29 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Schuhart) torpedoes and sinks 8,999-ton British tanker Athellaird hundreds of miles off Cape Finisterre, Spain. All 42 on board survive.

U-29 also surfaces and sinks 4,919-ton Panamanian freighter Santa Margarita by gunfire. All 39 onboard survive.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks British ship Aenaes in the North Sea.

Convoy HG Y departs from Gibraltar.

Corvette HMS Mallow (K 81, Lt. William R. B. Noall) is commissioned.

The Orders of the Commandant to the people of Jersey, 2 July 1940.

Western Front: The Germans send a small force to occupy Alderney in the Channel Islands, where few inhabitants remain.

Kommandant Lanz of the Channel Islands issues typical rules for occupied areas, such as a curfew, no radios, no attempts to leave and so forth. Among the more inconsequential changes that annoy many islanders is changing the time zone to that of continental Europe and also changing the rules of the road to driving on the right. The currency is changed to Occupation Reichsmarks (scrip), and that becomes the payment for locals employed by the occupation forces.

Life continues much as it had previously in the Channel Islands, with performances by the German military band, cinemas open, and so forth, but there are gradual changes through the course of the war which are not always for the better. Basically, the islanders go along to get along and do their best to hide their underlying resentment. There are islanders who have fled to England who view all that remained as collaborators, and many of the remaining islanders miss their children, family, and friends who have left.

Battle of Britain: Subsequent to recent deliberations by OKW about the future direction of the war, it issues an order, "The War Against England." It starts off that "The Fuhrer and Supreme Commander has decided that a landing in England is possible."

This is not a Fuhrer Directive, which carries more weight, but a good indication that one is coming. Luftwaffe boss Hermann Goering issues orders to the Luftwaffe to intensify the air campaign against the RAF. He wants special attention given to British shipping, which is considered the main threat to any invasion. The proposed operation has the codename Operation Sealion.

European Air Operations: During the night, the RAF raids Kiel and hits heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen in dry dock with 2 small bombs. The docks also are set on fire. This is the raid in which F/O Guy Gibson drops a 2,000 bomb near the Scharnhorst and wins the DFC.

The Fleet Air Arm, in conjunction with RAF Coastal Command, attacks shipping and barges in Rotterdam. This is the first attack directly designed to prevent an invasion.

The Luftwaffe raids northeast England during the evening, killing twelve and injuring 123. A raid also takes place over Wales, but the bombs drop in open country.

Ju 87 B Stuka of the 9/StG 77, Flers, France, July 1940. The use of Stukas is a key component of projected Operation Sealion.

Battle of the Mediterranean: After a day of respite, the bombers appear over Malta at 09:25, but the bombs drop out to sea due to effective anti-aircraft fire. Owners of businesses throughout the island agree to open their doors to passersby for shelter during raids.

US Government: Congress passes the Export Control Act. This gives President Roosevelt the power to control the export of goods with military uses, anything "necessary in the interest of national defense."

British Government: General Percival assumes command of the 44th Infantry Division.

Colonel Gubbins continues forming the Commando force for future operations.

French Foreign Legion volunteers form the 1st Brigade de Legion Francaise of Free France in England.

The Foreign Office decides to no longer recognize King Zog, now living at The Ritz in London, as ruler of Albania. He still maintains a retinue and retains a following among exiled Albanians.

Holland: Former Dutch Commander-in-chief General Winkelman is arrested and deported to Germany.

Poland: General Sikorski in London vows to fight on from English soil.

India: The British government arrests nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose for inciting violence.

China: At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese 22nd Army captures Lungchin.

The bombing of Chiang Kai-shek's capital, Chungking, continues. There is a meeting of the Kuomintang.

German officers hanging out in Guernsey, one of the best billets in the Wehrmacht.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020

Friday 31 May 1940

An evacuated British soldier, wearing a French overcoat, changes his socks and boots at Dover. 31 May 1940.

Western Front: General John Vereker Lord Gort returns to England on 31 May 1940, handing over command of the BEF to Lt. General Harold Alexander. The Supreme Allied War Council meets in Paris. French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud remonstrates with British Prime Minister Churchill about the relatively few French troops being evacuated.

Another British Member of Parliament dies at Dunkirk, Arnold Wilson, in a plane crash.

The Germans round up the last French stragglers at Lille.

General Alphonse Joseph Georges (Commander North-Eastern Front [including the BEF, though that is largely out of his hands]) orders a pause in Seventh Army actions against the German positions along the Somme. So far, the attacks, such as those by General de Gaulle with 4th Armoured Division, have been piecemeal and in some ways promising. Georges intends to make a major effort against the German bridgeheads to the south of the river in a few days.

There is some repositioning of Wehrmacht forces for the conquest of the rest of France.

Spitfire Mk I ZD-G. P/O Graham GA "Dave" Davies landed it on Dunkirk beach on 31 May 1940, wheels down and taxiing to the dunes. French soldiers fired on him, thinking it was a Ju 87. The 21-year-old pilot got a lift into town, and was ordered to go back and burn his aircraft, which he did. He then returned to No 222 Squadron RAF at RAF Hornchurch via a paddle steamer.

Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo has its best day, with 68,014 more men taken off (45,072 from Dunkirk harbor, 22,942 off the beaches).

General von Kuechler assumes command of all Wehrmacht forces at Dunkirk. He plans to launch a major offensive on 1 June.

The Germans make progress against the British perimeter at Nieuport. There are many individual instances of heroism, such as two British battalion commanders personally manning a Bren gun to stop the penetration.

The 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards has to move in quickly at Fumes to stop British troops from retreating. In a manner reminiscent of NKVD blocking forces, they set up positions behind the British forces and fire on those retreating, shooting some. The British soldiers return to their positions and hold the line against the Germans.

During the afternoon, the Germans make a penetration at the canal near Bulskamp, but the Durham Light Infantry stops them.

The Germans are throwing everything into the effort to stop the evacuations, and having some effect. E-boats torpedo French destroyers Sirocco and Cyclone, and the Luftwaffe damages 6 British destroyers (RN destroyers Express, Harvester, Icarus, Impulsive, Malcolm, and Scimitar and minesweeper Hebe). Both sides lose dozens of planes.

Charles Lightoller, the 66-year-old retired officer from the Titanic, owns a large motor yacht named Sundowner. Lightoller has done some work before for the Royal Navy in surveying the coast of the Continent. The Admiralty requisitions the Sundowner on the 31st, and Lightoller volunteers to sail it with his eldest son Roger (his youngest son perished on an RAF bombing raid on the first night of the war) to Dunkirk on the 1st of June.

There are 39 Dutch ships in the Allied cause assisting the evacuation.

Operations are cool and orderly - but enforced with iron discipline. Any solder not obeying orders is shot as necessary and left on the beach or in the water.

Approaching one of the "little ships," 31 May 1940. This is only possible with effective air cover.

European Air Operations: The focus remains on the Dunkirk perimeter, where poor flying weather continues to aid the evacuation. German Gen. Halder notes that "Bad weather has grounded the Luftwaffe - now we must watch countless thousands of enemy getting away to England under our noses."

Eighteen RAF bombers attack the German at Nieuport during the night, inflicting major damage and spoiling plans for an attack there in the morning. Overall, 93 RAF planes attack the Germans around the perimeter during the night.

Operations slightly to the south continue as the French begin to worry more and more about a Wehrmacht breakthrough to the heart of France. The French send 20 LeO-451s against the German bridgeheads at Amiens and Abbeville. The attacks accomplish little - the panzers are at Dunkirk and Lille - and they lose 9 planes.

Douglas DB-7/A-20 Havocs strafe a German column near St. Quentin.

Battle of the Atlantic: For the month of May, shipping losses are:

In Atlantic:
100 Ships
 285,893 tons

 In Pacific: 
 1 Ship
 2,568 tons

The Kriegsmarine has lost 1 U-boat.

In fact, that one loss during May 1940 happens today. U-13 (Oberleutnant zur See Max-Martin Schulte) is sunk by depth charges in the North Sea, 11 miles southeast of Lowestoft by sloop HMS Weston (L 72).

U-101 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) torpedoes and sinks 5,775-ton freighter Orangemoor southwest of Roches Doures in the English Channel. There are 22 survivors, while 18 crew perish. U-101 then survives an 8-hour depth charge attack with 41 depth charges.

French destroyer Sirocco is attacked by German S-boats (Schnellboote) and Luftwaffe planes and sinks. About 600 French troops and 59 crew perish.

Norwegian ship Jadarland hits a mine and sinks. The mine had been laid by French submarine Rubis.

Convoy HG 32 departs from Gibraltar, Convoy SL 34 departs from Freetown, and Australian/New Zealand convoy US 3 departs from Cape Town for the UK.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Blackthorn (T 100) (J. G. Hilliard) is commissioned.

This rare color photograph was taken by Generalmajor Erwin Rommel personally around 31 May 1940. Rommel took it from his Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch" observation plane. It shows the mechanized column of his 7th Panzer-Division, perhaps on the way to Lille. Allied air intervention obviously was not a major factor at this stage, especially with the main thrust of air operations along the coast at Dunkirk. Rommel was an amateur photographer who took many snapshots like a tourist, without using fancy lenses and so forth - this is one of his more interesting shots from a technical standpoint.

Norway: The British complete the successful evacuation from Bodo. Colonel Gubbins comes off on the last destroyer during the night. The Norwegian 1st battalion, 15th Regiment is taken off by small boats and sent to the Lofoten Islands in the north.

General Auchinleck ultimately awards Gubbins the DSO. Gubbins goes next to organize the Auxiliary Units, a Home Guard force to defend against a German invasion of Britain.

Lieutenant Colonel Stockwell, who successfully led the ground troops during the retreat, also is awarded a DSO. His next command is to run the Commando Training Center at Lochailort.

The British Army Independent Companies are disbanded. However, some of their troops become the embryo for the commandos.

The Allies are still pressing General Dietl's mountain troops near Narvik as he slowly retreats toward the border. He is patiently awaiting the arrival of 2d Mountain Division troops, which today reach Sorfold north of Bodo. Dietl is reinforced by 80 German troops who arrive on the train from Sweden.

War Crimes: There are reports of Luftwaffe aircraft machine-gunning hospital ships at Dunkirk, which are clearly marked. It is very difficult to prove such attacks, and some or all may be accidental.

US Government: President Roosevelt sends a message to Congress. He states that the changing nature of war, with expensive tanks and planes, requires a "billion-dollar defense program." He sends a supplementary $100 million defense bill to Congress as part of his $1.3 billion plan. He also states that he wants a law giving him authority:

call into active service such portion of the National Guard as may deemed necessary to maintain our position of neutrality and to safeguard the national defense, this to include authority to call into active service the necessary Reserve personnel.

In Montevideo, Uruguay, the US ambassadors to Uruguay (Norman Armour) and Argentina (Edwin C. Wilson) confer. They send a telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull. In it, they suggest that "if the situation in the Far East permits," that the US might send a "large U.S. naval force, 40 or 50 vessels...to the east coast of South America." The purpose would be to "strengthen the position of those who desire to combat Hitlerism, as well as restore the confidence of those who are now wavering." They state that a US presence  "more or less permanently in these waters would be an added assurance that we are prepared to give effective and immediate assistance if required."

The telegram is supported by the Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Laurence Duggan) in a conversation with the Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles. Duggan suggests that a higher profile be put on US interest in Latin American political developments. He says that a decision "to detach two or three cruisers to go down the east coast [of Latin America]" be made public "in order to put a little iron in the veins of our friends in those countries."

The telegram from the two ministers echoes one on 30 May from Wilson alone. To that one, Hull responds that the US is sending heavy cruiser Quincy (CA 39) to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and then to Montevideo for "friendly visits of courtesy."

US Military: General Spaatz arrives in London to take up his position as Military Air Observer.

China: The Japanese announce plans to launch a terror bombing campaign against Chiang Kai-shek's capital Chungking "until the spirit of Chinese resistance is broken."

At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Japanese 11th Army attacks across the Han River at Yicheng and Ouchiamiao.

Italian Homefront: Private cars are banned to conserve gasoline - for the coming offensive against France.

British Homefront: Among other things, all street signs at crossroads are removed as a precaution against paratroopers.

The Lowell Sun, 31 May 1940.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

Thursday 23 May 1940

Photographed by their commander, Erwin Rommel, in a Fieseler Storch, this shot shows the 7th Panzer Division, advancing from Arras toward Rouen. 23-24 May 1940.

Western Front: French Commander-in-chief General Weygand on 23 May 1940 comes up with a new plan. This one is to hold a pocket on the coast in Flanders indefinitely, the Réduit de Flandres. Theoretically, this could be supplied from Great Britain and hold out indefinitely. In reality, the Allies' grasp on the region already is extremely tenuous.

The Allies have been holding on the Scheldt River line, but today that cracks. The Germans cross the river and seize Allied supply depots. The BEF goes on half-rations as a result. Ghent falls to the German 18th Army.

General Guderian in charge of XIX Corps in the Channel Ports region is convinced that the only remaining threat is that the British BEF will manage to escape. He orders an immediate assault by the panzers on the fly without waiting for the infantry to catch up. The Allies send 18 French Latecoere seaplanes to bomb the bridges between the Somme and Boulogne to slow Guderian up. The entire scene is a picture of mass confusion, with units intermingled, enemy forces locked into an "embrace," and nobody quite sure where the front is.

The panzers of 2nd Panzer Division are pressing against Boulogne. At 10:00, it attacks from the south and forces the Irish Guards back into town. The Allies in the port have radio problems and lose communications with headquarters. They are told at noontime by an arriving destroyer, HMS Vimy, that they are expected to hold at all costs. However, by 18:00, the order comes to evacuate.

The Royal Navy sends six destroyers to take off as many men from Boulogne as possible. They lose two destroyers, both French, the Jaguar and Drage, but take off 4,360 men. There is a highly unusual land/naval confrontation between the German ground troops, with the Germans firing artillery and tank shells at the British ships. A Panzer IV and one of the destroyers gets into an odd exchange in which the panzer sinks the ship. The panzer crew gets the right to paint a rare "ship" kill on their turret. Overall, though, the British warships provide an extremely effective port defense as they complete the evacuation, though several of the Royal Navy ships are badly damaged. The captains of both HMS Keith and HMS Vimy are killed.

The German 1st Panzer Division is advancing up the Pihen-Les-Guînes road (the Omer road) toward Gravelines. Fierce local battles erupt between the British 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, the 30th Motor Brigade and the panzers, with the British troops forced back into Calais. The 1st Panzer Division, which would have occupied Calais if weakly defended, decides to bypass the port and continue on toward Gravelines/Dunkirk.

The 10th Panzer Division secures the high ground near Calais, while the British 30th Infantry Brigade arrives to help with the defense there. The entire area is a scene of massive confusion, with random British and German units often taking the same roads and one side or the other mistaking the enemy as being friendly forces. The Germans are within sight of Calais, but their line is not continuous, and formations on both sides pass through enemy lines here and there. Tanks of the 10th PD are able to bombard Calais from their position on the overlooking hills.

General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division has been sitting before Arras for three days, and his patience pays off. Early in the morning, Lord Gort issues an order for the British to evacuate the city. Lord Gort has no faith in French promises of counterattacks or strategies in the area. Rommel's panzers head west toward Rouen.

The French mount local attacks near Peronne and Amiens that accomplish little.

General Gaston Billotte, former commander of 1st Army Group, passes away. He has been in a coma since a car accident on 21 May.

European Air Operations: While the RAF fighters have almost all been withdrawn across the channel, they at least are operating from established bases and, at least temporarily, have an advantage along the coast.

Air operations over Boulogne are intense. RAF fighters are needed elsewhere, and the Luftwaffe has free reign over the port for most of the day. The RAF fighters finally arrive at 19:20.

The Luftwaffe bombs French destroyer Orage and sinks it.

The Luftwaffe catches French destroyer Jaguar, which has been damaged by Kriegsmarine S-boats and sinks it.

French destroyer Chacal is sunk at Boulogne by combined Luftwaffe and shore fire.

Norway: Colonel Gubbins has had enough of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax, the commander of the Scots Guards, believing him to be too interested in retreating. Gubbins relieves him during the afternoon. Gubbins orders the entire unit withdrawn to Bodø. The German mountain troops take the high ground overlooking the Viskisnoia River, Gubbins' proposed stop line, so he has to retreat further. Gubbins now tries to hold Fauske on the north side of the Skjerstadfjorden, which is a key intersection on the road north. While there is a lot of ground left to hold, the British are giving it up in a hurry.

The Luftwaffe continues its daily reinforcements of General Dietl's troops at Narvik, this time dropping 65 mountain troops by parachute from Junkers Ju 52 transport planes. For many of the men, it is their first parachute drop.

The 14 Gladiator Glosters of RAF No. 263 Squadron enter into operation from Bardufoss north of Narvik.

P/O John "Jack" Benzie of No 242 Squadron RAF, shown at RAF Coltishall in 1940. He is a 25-year-old Canadian who bails out wounded south of Dunkirk on 23 May 1940. He is KIA 7 September 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-9 (Oberleutnant Zur See Wolfgang Lüth) at 12:54 torpedoes and sinks 3,256-ton Belgian freighter Sigurd Faulbaum (a captured German ship) off of Zeebrugge. The crew survives.

Convoy HG 31 departs from Gibraltar, Convoy SL 33 departs from Freetown.

The British commission destroyer HMS Harvester (H 19) ( Lt. Commander Mark Thornton).

Terrorism: The British arrest 76 IRA suspects in Northern Ireland.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Irish head of state Éamon de Valera informs the British that Ireland will result in a German invasion and will require British assistance if any landings take place.

Holocaust: The Germans turn their attention to the "Roma" peoples, the Gypsies. Mass round-ups begin, and they are sent to occupied Poland for internment in concentration camps.

British Homefront: The authorities arrest Sir Oswald Mosley, MP Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay, and dozens of others for being Fascist sympathizers, a crime under Defence Regulation 18B. Mosley is notorious for giving fascist speeches and being the leader of the British Union of Fascists, while Ramsay is associated with the Right Club, which opposes "organized Jewry." The Right Club is considered fertile ground for German spies.

The Crown approves the Treachery Act 1940.

German Homefront: German media applauds the British for implementing the Emergency Powers Act, noting that "At last England has seen sense and abandoned decadent democracy."

Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, featuring Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers, with Buddy Rich.

American Homefront: President Roosevelt wins the Vermont Democratic primary.

Frank Sinatra records "I'll Never Smile Again" (written by Ruth Lowe) with Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, backing vocals by the Pied Pipers (including Jo Stafford). The single will become number one on Billboard's first "National List of Best Selling Retail Records" — the first official national music chart — on July 27, 1940. It will stay at the top spot for 12 weeks, until October 12, 1940. This is considered Sinatra's major breakthrough and begins his rise to legendary status.

Captured French soldiers of the 158eme Regiment d'Infanterie (43eme Division d'Infanterie) carry a wounded comrade past a damaged French 25mm Hotchkiss (SAL Mle 34) anti-tank gun positioned at a crossroads in the Belgian village of Thulin. 23 May 1940 (colorized).

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020

Wednesday 22 May 1940

Isle of Man ferry Mona Queen steams toward Boulogne on 22 May 1940, carrying Welsh and Irish Guards to reinforce the port defenses. It returned to England carrying 2,000 women and children (photo by Lt. Peter Kershaw RNVR).

Western Front: From the grand occupation of all of Holland and Belgium beginning on 10 May, the French and British in the Low Countries have now, on 22 May 1940, been pushed back into a shrinking perimeter north of Amiens and south of Antwerp. The main changes now are the steady compression of the eastern face of this "box," which is well west of Brussels, toward the sea.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flies to Paris (Vincennes) to hash out a strategy with the Anglo-French Supreme War Council. General Weygand advances the idea of cutting off the German spearhead at the Channel by launching concentric attacks from north and south. Everyone agrees that it is a good idea, but the mass of French forces remain behind the Maginot Line in the south. Deposed Commander-in-chief General Gamelin not only had proposed this plan but tried to implement it - and now more precious days have passed.

In the morning, the OKW orders Guderian's XIX Corps to head north, toward the isolated BEF and associated French forces. Reorienting the Axis of a major offensive is extremely difficult, and the Wehrmacht has to do it on the fly at the end of a long, tenuous supply network for its advanced troops.

The initial objectives are Boulogne (2nd Panzer Division) and Calais (1st Panzer Division), but this soon changes. The 10th Panzer Division is retained to guard the southern flank. Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk collectively are referred to as the "Channel Ports."

British troops at Calais are under the protection of RAF fighters based in England, and the air battle begins at first light. Both sides take losses, but the RAF is able to attack the advancing panzers. The 1st Panzer (Generallautnant Friedrich Kirchner) and other formations get across the Authie River at 08:00. They meet only scattered resistance at Desvres, Samer, and near Boulogne. Guderian quickly tinkers with the plan and sends the 10th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Ferdinand Schaal) toward Samer/Calais, and the 1st toward Dunkirk. The 10th Panzer has to stop to garrison Amiens until infantry units arrive.

The British at Boulogne have been reinforced by the 20th Guards Brigade and have had time to dig in. The 2nd Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Rudolf Veiel) is advancing in two columns makes steady progress toward Boulogne after brushing aside French 48th Infantry Regiment troops at Nesles. A panzer attack on the Boulogne perimeter at 17:00 is repulsed, and another at 19:00. Fighting continues into the night, with the Germans isolating some Irish Guards at 22:00. As the day concludes, 2d Panzer is attacking Welsh Guards positions along the coast.

General Rommel still stands before Arras, waiting for the infantry to aid his assault on the key town. He also is recuperating from the large British tank attack of the 21st, which gave him quite a fright.

The German 18th Army attacks the retreating Belgians near Eeklo. German 6th Army presses forward near Courtrai against the British 4th Infantry Division and 44th Infantry Division.

With the German spearheading turning north, the main front on the Somme/Oise/Aisne starts to solidify. The Belgian army retreats to the Lys River.

View of Rotterdam in May 1940 (Instytut Pamieci Narodowej).

European Air Operations: All the action is over the besieged Allied troops congregating near the Channel Ports. The action starts at 06:00, with 151 Squadron sending up Hawker Hurricanes, shooting down a Junkers Ju 88. No. 74 Squadron Spitfires also get a Junkers Ju 88 - both of the Junkers are from Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1). One Spitfire is lost. There also are some major dogfights over the area, with 54 Squadron and 92 Squadron mixing it up with JG 27 - both sides lose a couple of planes. The numbers become difficult to track, but both sides are taking roughly even losses.

RAF Bomber Command sends 59 planes to attack the advancing Wehrmacht spearhead.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-37 (Kapitänleutnant Victor Oehrn) sends four torpedoes at 9,494-ton British freighter Dunster Grange south of Ireland. When they all miss, it surfaces to use the deck gun. The Dunster Grange is armed, and when the U-boat surfaces, the British ship returns fire. The U-boat departs, and the Dunster Grange continues toward Liverpool.

Convoy OA 153 GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 153 departs from Liverpool.

Norway: The British retreat from Mo i Rana north toward the British base at Bodø continues apace, and local commander Colonel Gubbins has difficulty trying to stop it. His plan is to man a defensive line at Storjord, 20 miles (32 km) south of the ferry stop at Rognan. His Scots Guards troops, though, under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax, are in motion toward the north and showing no signs of stopping. In fact, Trappes-Lomax is putting his men on requisitioned buses to make the trip faster and easier. The German 2d Mountain Division is hot on their heels. The bottom line is that the intended line at Storjord becomes a nullity and some other solution must be found.

The Luftwaffe continues its gradual reinforcement of General Dietl at Narvik, dropping off an additional 63 men there from seaplanes.

The Luftwaffe sinks Royal Navy anti-submarine trawler Melbourne near Narvik.

More RAF units depart from the Continent for England as their bases come closer to the front lines.

British Government: Parliament passes the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940. While not quite martial law, it gives the government extensive new powers of citizens and property (banks, munitions production, wages, profits, work conditions).

Military Intelligence: Bletchley Park crack some Luftwaffe Enigma settings. Luftwaffe signals officers are notoriously lax about following even the simplest security protocols, whereas, say, Kriegsmarine signallers are much more rigorous.

War Crimes: The Soviet men who liquidated the Polish officers at Katyn Forest - 21,000 without a single escape! - are being given medals and cash awards. The Soviets are also busy deporting relatives to Siberia based on the "last letters" the deceased men were allowed to write,

Belgium: King Leopold has told General Weygand that the area still controlled by Allied troops only has enough food left for two weeks.

Romania: The government mobilizes the reserves.

Albania: Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano arrives in Durres aboard the Italian Cruiser Garibaldi for an inspection tour.

Finland: In an early sign of Finlandization, the pro-Moscow Finland - Soviet Peace and Friendship Society forms.

Gibraltar: Non-essential personnel are being transported to French Morocco.

Australia: The government authorizes the formation of the 8th Infantry Division.

China: The Japanese aerial attacks on Chungking continue.

After returning late from a strafing run near Arras on 22 May 1940, F/O Roderick MS "Roddie" Rayner (pictured) and F/O Richard Lindsay "Dick" Glyde of No 87 Squadron RAF found their base at Merville in disarray. Carrying only what could be put in the plane, they evacuated to RAF Debden.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020

Monday 20 May 1940

One of General Rommel's SdKfz 263 six-wheeled radio armored cars near Arras. A burnt-out SdKfz 231 eight-wheeled Armoured Car is in the background. 20 May 1940.

Western Front: General Guderian's XIX Corps panzers of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions race westward on the morning of 20 May 1940 after having taken a few days to regroup. Amiens falls to 1st Panzer Division at 09:00, Abbeville to 2nd at 17:00 in the evening. A reconnaissance unit of 2d Panzer takes Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme Estuary at 20:00.

General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division also takes off at 01:40. He advances from Cambrai to the outskirts of Arras in six hours. Rommel pauses there to allow the infantry to catch up, as there are BEF forces in the town. He occupies Valenciennes just to the east of Arras. Rommel is performing an invaluable service to the Wehrmacht of protecting Guderian's northern flank.

The two divisions have advanced 240 miles in 11 days and now constitute a block against communications between France and the BEF and French/Belgian forces fighting in Belgium (French 1st Army, 7th Army, and 9th Army and British Expeditionary Force). They sweep aside the British 12th and 23rd (Territorial) divisions. Guderian has a corridor 20-miles wide. The infantry is lagging but on the way.

The Germans also capture Laon, which Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle has been using as a staging area for attacks by his 4th Armoured Division.

The Belgians retreat around Ghent and Eeklo.

The Newly appointed French Commander-in-chief Maxime Weygand cancels a planned counteroffensive planned by his predecessor, Maurice Gamelin. This thrust would have attempted to sever the German spearhead advancing toward the coast by a concentrated attack from the trapped BEF. Weygand then takes time to "assess the situation" (he has been in the Middle East), saying, "You will not be surprised if I cannot answer for victory."

The French have extensive forces along the border with France behind the Maginot Line. These include the 6th Army, 2nd Army, 3rd Army, 4th Army, 5th Army, and 8th Army. So far, they have had little to do as they basically get out-flanked on the north.

French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud meets with US Ambassador Bullitt and requests aid.

A captured Renault D2 tank in the Festё (Festieux) area just south of Laon. May 20, 1940.

European Air Operations: The RAF launches ineffectual attacks against the advancing panzers in the Arras-Cambrai sector. They send 47 planes during the day to attack around Arras, and 92 aircraft during the night.

The RAF launches a night raid on the Rotterdam oil storage tanks.

The RAF bombs German bridges and other communications at Dinant, Givet, and Charleville.

Luftwaffe fighter pilot Max-Hellmuth Ostermann scores his first victory.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British Admiralty begins drawing up plans for a possible evacuation of the BEF. The Admirals are looking at Dunkirk (Dunkerque) as a likely collection point, but there are still other options.

The Luftwaffe sinks British freighter Mavis at Calais and Royal Navy minesweeper Rifnes.

The Kriegsmarine has S-boats operating off the Belgian coast.

Convoy OA 152 departs from Southend, COnvoy OB 152 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 31F departs from Gibraltar, and Convoy HX 44 departs from Liverpool.

The British commission Minesweeping trawler HMS Olive (T 126) (G. C. C. Mileham).

Battle of the Pacific: German raider Atlantis has been sailing as the Japanese passenger freighter Kasii Maru. The German intelligence service intercepts a message from Ceylon to the Admiralty warning of a raider disguised as a Japanese ship. The captain of the Atlantis promptly switches the disguise to the Dutch freighter Abbekerk.

German/Romanian Relations: King Carol tells the German ambassador to Romania that it is time the countries worked more closely together.

Norway: The commander of the forces which have evacuated Mo i Rana, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax, has been retreating too far for the taste of his commanders, General Auchinleck and Colonel Gubbins. Gubbins believes that his retrograde movement has been disorganized, leaving behind units that have become stragglers. Gubbins orders Trappes-Lomax to stop retreating and square up against the German 2d Mountain Division, which is advancing toward Bodo.

The Luftwaffe drops another 16 men at Narvik to help Dietl's troops.

The Luftwaffe catches British ship Pembroke Coast at Harstad and sets it afire.

US Air Force: Igor Sikorsky gives the first public demonstration of the VS-300 helicopter which first flew in August 1939 at Vaught-Sikorsky in Stratford, Connecticut.

US Government: President Roosevelt sends a memorandum to Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles about the recent report from US Ambassador Wilson there about German sympathies within the government. "Is there some way in which the Minister of Uruguay in Washington and Mr. Wilson in Montevideo can get word to the Uruguayan Government that the United States is concerned...?" Welles promptly replies that the Uruguayan government says that it is investigating.

Japanese Government: The Japanese request raw materials from the Netherlands East Indies.

Middle East: British, French and Turkish military representatives hold conferences in Beirut. They discuss possible allied assistance to Turkey.

Holocaust: According to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, this is the day that the SS establishes Auschwitz Camp.

US Homefront: The US Supreme Court decides Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), a key First Amendment case. It extends free speech protections to the actions of the individual states.

Future History: Stan Mikita is born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic. He becomes famous as a center for the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1960s.

Sadaharu Oh is born in Sumida, Japan. He goes on to hold the world lifetime home run record, earned in the 1960s and 1970s with the Yomiuri Giants in the Nippon Professional League.

Igor Sikorsky preparing to give the public demonstration of his helicopter in Connecticut, 20 May 1940.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020