Saturday 3 August 1940

Italian troops occupying British Somaliland.

British Somaliland: Italian General Guglielmo Nasi sends 25,000 troops into British Somaliland in three spearheads on the morning of 3 August 1940. The columns are aimed at Zeila, Hargeisa, and Odweina. Hargeisa, in the center of the line, is the primary initial objective.
The Italians have been building a position in the East African region for years. They hold Italian Somaliland, Ethiopia/Abyssinia, and Eritrea in the region. Today, they decide to join all those territories together into one big mass by invading British Somaliland. With the British fighting for their lives against the Germans on the Channel front, this seems like the perfect time and an easy pick-up.

The British are led by Brigadier Arthur Reginald Chater. His troops are almost exclusively local colonial soldiers armed with rifles and supplied by camels. His total man-count is about 4,000 soldiers.

The Italians, meanwhile, have 350,000 men in Abyssinia alone, and 30% of them are fully-armed Italians. General Nasi has support from the Regia Aeronautica and plenty of artillery, tanks and mechanized forces. Aside from the brief invasion of France in June that produced virtually no successes of consequence, this is the first real test (an extremely easy one) of Italian arms in World War II. It should be a "slam dunk" victory.

British Somaliland on the Gulf of Aden.

Battle of Britain: While the British traditionally have chosen 10 July 1940 as the "official" beginning of the Battle of Britain, the Wehrmacht never gave that date particular significance. Luftwaffe pressure has been building steadily on England since the Battle of France in mid-June. In the Wehrmacht view, the true air battle has not even begun as of 3 August 1940. That, however, is about to change.

After much study, the Luftwaffe General Staff (OKL) today finally sets forth a plan for a maximum effort. The true offensive is to begin shortly. Called the Eagle Attack (Adlerangrif), the Operation will commence with a one-day battle to be called Eagle Day (Adler Tag). There are three projected phases:

• Opening five days: attacks on a 60-90 mile radius from London;
• Next three days: attacks on a 30-60 mile radius from London;
• Next five days: attacks within a 30-mile radius of London.

The three Luftflotten that have been set up across from England will carry out the attacks:

• Luftflotte 2 in central France (General Albert Kesselring);
• Luftflotte 3 in northern France and the low countries (General Hugo Sperrle);
• Luftflotte 5 in Norway, primarily based at Stavanger (General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff).

Morning fog prevents full operations, and low clouds thereafter continue the pattern of poor summer weather. The main Luftwaffe target is Channel shipping, and the intrusions are mainly in the north where the weather is better. There are enemy aircraft reported over the usual locations such as Bristol Channel and Swansea, but not much bombing takes place.

Convoys off of Harwich, Clacton, and Orfordness receive attention, but there are few results. The Luftwaffe finds and destroys British freighter Statira.

RAF No. 85 Squadron reports shooting down a Bf 110 east of Southwold during the afternoon, while RAF No. 603 Squadron reports downing a Heinkel He 111 off of Montrose.

Night raids continue, but they are relatively minor. The Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton once again is attacked, this time by a pair of Heinkel He 111s at 22:16. There are multiple intrusions along the coast during the night, and many of these in the Essex region involved further leaflet dropping of Hitler's "Last Appeal to Reason" speech of 19 July. Bombs are reported at or near Bradford, Liverpool, Crew and the Firth of Forth.

The incessant air war is wearing on the RAF despite its continued successes in the duel with the Luftwaffe. Older planes are retained in service and can become deathtraps. As an example, today a Fairey Battle Mark 3 out of RAF No. 253 Squadron spontaneously bursts into flames on a routine target practice flight. Both crew parachute out (the rear gunner pulls his ripcord while still seated in the plane but gets pulled out with a broken leg) and the plane crashes near Causey. An incident like this might ground an entire class of airplanes in normal times, but these are not normal times.

More prototype Beaufighter 1F fighters are sent to the RAF for evaluation.

I,/JG52 (Hptm. Siegfried von Eschwege) moves from Bönninghardt to Cocquelles. I,/JG3 and Stab,/JG3 (ObLt Karl Vieck) move to Colembert.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues attacking airfields in northwestern Europe, including raids on Amsterdam/Schiphol, Haamstede and Abbeville. Oil facilities at Rotterdam, the Ruhr, and the Rhineland, as well as the Kriegsmarine base at Kiel, are raided.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-57 (Oberleutnant zur See Erich Topp) torpedoes and sinks 2,161-ton Swedish freighter Atos north of Ireland. There are 27 survivors and one crewman perishes.

U-A (Kapitänleutnant Hans Cohausz) stops 4,201-ton Yugoslavian freighter Rad about 300 miles off the Senegal coast. After a search discloses chemicals bound for South Africa, the U-boat disembarks the crew into lifeboats and sinks the ship. While all this sounds neat and clean, the ship's crew still has quite a journey to land in some random spot - or maybe getting lucky and being found by a passing ship in the middle of the ocean. The men eventually are found by a passing freighter (the Grodno) and everyone survives.

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

Convoy OA 193 departs from Methil, Convoy OG 40 departs from Gibraltar.

A Canadian troop convoy with 6 transport vessels makes port in Great Britain.

Destroyer HMS Quorn (L 66) is commissioned.

F/L Dennis L "Tage" Armitage is appointed A Fight leader of No 266 Squadron RAF on 3 August 1940. As of yet, he has no victories.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italian Regia Aeronautica raids Derna, damaging the airfield and damaging port facilities.

At Malta, the island's defenses have been successfully augmented by the arrival of the Hurricanes sent across by Operation Hurry (whose ships continue returning to Gibraltar today). There are no air raids today.

While the increased air defense is welcome, supplies on the island continue to run low. Ordinary convoys must make the long trip around South Africa and through the Suez Canal, which takes weeks. Governor Dobbie's people request that major convoys be run through every two months at a bare minimum.

Anglo/Japanese Relations: In a classic tit-for-tat, the British arrest two Japanese businessmen in London for suspicion of espionage. When the Japanese ambassador protests, the British adamantly deny that it has anything whatsoever to do with the Japanese arrest of about a dozen British businessmen in Tokyo six days before.

Franco/German Relations: Otto Abetz assumes office as German ambassador to Vichy France.

US Government: William Donovan heads back to New York by air after consultations with General Spaatz.

General Lesley McNair becomes Chief of Staff in charge of training ground troops.

Baltic States: Lithuania joins the other territories newly swallowed by the USSR in "voluntarily" becoming the Soviet Socialist Republic of Lithuania. This makes it the 14th constituent republic of the USSR.

Japan: The back-door path to the United States remains open for fleeing European refugees. Hikawa Maru out of Tokyo reaches San Francisco with 82 Jewish refugees, the latest in several such occurrences.

The Japanese government decries the United States ban on critical supplies such as aviation fuel. Both Prime Minister Prince Konoye and Foreign Minister Matsuoka issue statements emphasizing the importance of "the disposal of the China Affair" and the Japanese "mission" in the region.

American Homefront: A campaign is launched to solicit $500,000 in donations for the evacuation of British children to safer areas.

Future History: Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez is born in Dayton, Ohio. He moves to New York City around 1960, meets legendary Catholic activist Dorothy Day, fights for social justice, and drifts into an acting career. He changes his name to Martin Sheen (partially derived from legendary radio broadcaster Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen), gets a key break on "The Outer Limits" in 1963, and later stars on Broadway. After that, he begins getting regular guest appearances on the top television shows of the day such as "My Three Sons" and "Flipper." By the 1970s, he is starring in top Hollywood productions such as "Apocalypse Now." Martin Sheen remains active in the film industry to this day (2016) and has established an acting dynasty.

Martin Sheen, born on 3 August 1940, in Outer Limits episode "The Defenders."

August 1940


August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020

Monday 17 June 1940

The Lancastria sinking on 17 June 1940.

French Government: New French Prime Minister Petain, through his Foreign Minister Paul Baudouin, on 17 June 1940 has instructed his Ambassador to Spain to seek terms from Germany (and Italy). At 00:30, he broadcasts to the French people that "With a broken heart, I tell you fighting must stop":

Frenchmen, having been called upon by the President of the Republic, I today assume the leadership of the government of France. Certain of the affection of our admirable army that has fought with a heroism worthy of its long military traditions against an enemy that is superior in number and in weapons, certain that by its magnificent resistance it fulfilled its duties to its allies, certain of the support of veterans that I am proud to have commanded, I give to France the gift of my person in order to alleviate her suffering. 

In these painful hours, my thoughts go out to the unfortunate refugees who, in an extreme penury, are furrowing our roads. I express to them my compassion and my concern. It is with a broken heart that I say to you today that the fighting must stop. 

I spoke last night with the enemy and asked him if he is ready to seek with us, soldier to soldier, after the honorable fight, the means to put an end to the hostilities. May all Frenchmen rally to the government over which I preside during this difficult ordeal and calm their anxieties, so that they can better listen only to the faith they have in the destiny of the fatherland.

The French remain undecided as to whether to carry on the conflict from North Africa, where French possessions remain undisturbed. Italy, however, has large forces in Libya. The government is in a state of chaos. Petain (mistakenly) orders the arrest of Minister Georges Mandel on suspicion of staging a coup.

General Charles de Gaulle is in London with no authority and no troops. However, he has one thing the others in the French government do not have: British backing. He also has 100,000 French francs in gold, provided by (now former) PM Reynaud. One thing de Gaulle is certain of: he will not be serving any French governments on occupied French soil.

The other allied governments, such as the Polish government-in-exile, also are in flight. General Sikorski of the Polish government reiterates that his Polish forces will continue to fight.

Adolf Hitler on June 17, 1940, as he hears the French are surrendering. Taken by one of his photographers, Walter Frentz.

Western Front: While the French government wants an armistice, PM Petain is careful not to say in his speech how the Germans have responded. In fact, the German government is not ready to stop its wildly successful troops. Operations continue, with German troops advancing all along the front against largely nominal resistance. The French fortress of Metz surrenders.

Panzer Group Guderian reaches the Swiss Frontier south of Besancon at Pontarlier, completing the isolation of the 17 French Division of the Maginot Line. Otherwise, the front is so fluid and the German gains so extensive that the "front" no longer really exists.

The French 3rd Army Group is surrounded and on the verge of surrendering. News during the night of Petain's decision to negotiate robs the French troops of motivation. There also is massive confusion about whether the French government even wants its troops to continue fighting. Discipline disappears in some formations, with reports of looting by French troops. There are many luxuries, such as expensive champagne, to nullify the pain - and besides, the Germans will only take it themselves later.

Operation Ariel, the (third) evacuation of troops from France, is in high gear. This time, though, the Wehrmacht is in better shape to intervene than at Dunkirk.

The 16,243 ton British Cunard Liner HMT Lancastria (16,243 tons) (Captain Sharp) at St Nazaire is carrying an unknown number of soldiers - someone hears the captain say 6,700 are aboard. At around 15:45, sustained Luftwaffe bomber raids finally break past the defenses. Junkers JU 88 fast bombers strike the ship with three bombs, including one down the stack which blows a hole in the bottom, sinking the liner within 20 minutes.

Roughly 4-5,000 British, French, Canadian and Belgian men (and some women) aboard perish - the exact number cannot be determined. There are 2,477 survivors. The men on the doomed ship sing "Roll Out the Barrel" as the Lancastria rolls over on them. The Luftwaffe reportedly strafes the oil-slicked water, hoping to set the entire scene on fire and incinerate everyone, but this is completely unprovable.

The Lancastria sinking goes down as the worst British maritime tragedy of the war and, indeed, in history. It is the largest loss of life for the UK during the entire war and includes both soldiers and civilians. Churchill, reportedly weeping, issues what is known as a "D-Notice" on the Lancastria, which prevents any government official from communicating about it, even to the families of the deceased.

Elsewhere, the evacuation proceeds smoothly. Men of the 1st Canadian Division are taken off at St. Malo. In a mini-repeat of Dunkirk, private boats of the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club of Jersey arrive to help ferry troops to the larger British ships.

At Cherbourg, the Beauman Division and Norman Force, both improvised BEF formations, leave in the evening. They are not too far ahead of advancing German forces.

At Brest, mostly RAF ground crew are taken off. With the evacuation completed, the French troops wreck the port facilities with assistance from British demolition squads.

Evacuations also take place from Nantes. It is 50 miles (80 km) up the Loire. There is a large fleet of destroyers and some larger ships available, but the British troops need time to get there. The RAF provides vital air cover to protect numerous vulnerable transports.

At Bordeaux and nearby ports on the Garonne River and nearby, Polish and Czech soldiers and civilians board the British destroyers after the Admiralty gives permission. There also are certain VIPs such as the President of Poland who embark here.

General Rommel has re-oriented his axis of attack once again. This time, he heads southwest toward Normandy. His objective is the key port of Cherbourg, which is the closest deepwater port to Great Britain. His troops face no significant opposition, and he covers 125-150 miles during the day.

The Lancastria still crowded with passengers as it rolls over and sinks on 17 June 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-48 (Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass) torpedoes and sinks 3,651 ton Greek freighter Elpis hundreds of miles off of Cape Finisterre, Spain. All 28 crew survive.

Troop Convoy US 3, carrying troops from New Zealand and Australia, departs from Suez.

Convoy HX 51 leaves Halifax for Liverpool, carrying the 150 US aircraft originally intended for France.

Convoy OA 169 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 169 departs from Liverpool, Convoy OG 34F forms off Gibraltar.



European Air Operations: The RAF sends 139 bombers to attack oil installations and other industrial targets in the Rhineland, Ruhr and northwest Germany.

North Africa: The RAF attacks Massawa, Eritrea.

German/Italian Relations: Italian Duce Benito Mussolini departs for Germany to meet with Hitler.

Spanish/French Relations: Spanish Generalissimo Francisco Franco instructs his ambassador to France to demand the transfer of some French North African territory to Spain.

US Government: Admiral Stark requests sufficient appropriations from Congress to establish a "two-ocean" navy.

Soviet Government: Nikita Khrushchev is with Stalin as news of the French decision to seek terms arrives. He later recalls that Stalin is furious that France "rolled over for Hitler" - even though he purportedly is Hitler's ally. Khrushchev also states that while the rest of the world tries to figure out who is winning, Stalin just adds the German and French casualties together to see if he is winning. A quick German win is not what he wants.

Baltic States: Pursuant to the pro forma ultimatums delivered to the Estonian and Latvian governments on 16 June, The Soviets occupy the two nations. As anticipated, the western Allies - preoccupied with larger events - take no official notice of this blatant land grab. There is some scattered resistance, and the Single Signal Battalion holds out in Tallinn with no hope of succor.

A new puppet government is formed in Lithuania, which already has been occupied. President Antanas Merkys, who assumed power on 16 June, is arrested by Soviet authorities

North Africa: British patrols remain active. The Regia Aeronautica attacks Buq Buq.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Chinese 5th War Area recaptures Ichang in a seesaw battle. Japanese 11th Army, however, immediately recovers it. The Japanese 22nd Army captures Suilou west of Nanning on the road to French Indochina.

US Homefront: The British Purchasing Commission assumes French arms contracts and seeks additional contracts to purchase war material from the United States. This is done pursuant to the "cash and carry" rules. The French representatives, understanding the larger situation, give their consent.

The Lancastria settles in the water, still crowded with survivors.

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 16 June 1940

A German officer in the French heavy tank Char 2C №90 'Poitou' (Poitou), destroyed on a railway platform near the village Meuse in Lorraine. This is a tank of the 1st company of the 51st battalion of heavy tanks. Battalion commander, Major Fournet. On June 16, 1940, the tank was blown up by its crew in the village Meuse because of the inability to disembark from the train platform without special lifting equipment.

French Government: French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud on 16 June 1940 loses his argument that the French nation should continue to resist. The final straw is an offer contained in two telegrams from London that are presented by British Ambassador Sir Ronald Campbell (Churchill apparently feeling relations are now too touchy to risk a visit of his own). The telegrams demand the retreat of the French fleet to UK harbors and a Franco-British Union - which would make the two countries into one.

Reynaud wants to agree to both proposals, but the rest of the Cabinet wishes for an Armistice, many because they think that the UK is finished, too. Reynaud loses the vote on the proposals and resigns, asking President Lebrun to form a new government.

Reynaud's replacement is Philippe Pétain, the recent ambassador to Spain and a Great War hero. Pétain is an odd choice unless you recognize that the government was tired of trying to resist the unstoppable Wehrmacht onslaught. Pétain is an 84-year-old defeatist, but he is a highly respected war hero and the perfect noble figure to get the public to accept an armistice. Basically, he is a figurehead. Commander-in-chief Weygand is vice president of the council.

Among those who wish to continue to resist is General de Gaulle, who is not included in the new cabinet. He flies to London during the day and begins to plot his next move.

Pétain reviews the situation throughout the day and decides that the situation is hopeless. At midnight, he instructs his Cabinet Secretary, Henry du Moulin de Labarthète, to request France's ambassador to Spain to seek terms from Hitler.

Generalleutnant Franz Landgraf (16 July 1888 – 19 April 1944). Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 June 1940 as Oberst and commander of 4. Panzer-Brigade.

Western Front: While certain people in various headquarters have a clear picture of the situation, for the vast majority of troops and civilians, the entire situation is completely unknown. About all that anyone knows is that the Germans are in Paris. Other than that, they basically could be in the next town over for all anyone knows. This results in panic throughout the country.

Panzer Group Guderian reaches Besancon, near the Swiss border. He is in position to link up with troops advancing through the Maginot Line from the direction of Colmar and encircle the entire French fortress system. Guderian is astounded at the poor condition of the fleeing French forces, noting: "Exhausted French soldiers fall from their truck to be crushed by the next. The Middle Ages were more humane than this."

German troops cross the Seine near Melun and Fontainebleau. Other troops occupy Auxerre in the direction of Clamecy and Avallon.

German 4th Army approaches Alencon, while the 18th Army reaches Orleans. German 2nd Army and 9th Army reach Dijon. German 1st, 7th, and 16th Armies attack French 3rd Army Group.

General Erwin Rommel, fresh off his spectacular operation north of Le Havre, receives orders to head south and take the key embarkation port of Cherbourg. It is 150 miles to the south, but French resistance is collapsing.

Operation Ariel, the evacuation of the BEF from France, continues. While a smaller operation than Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk, tens of thousands of British and Canadian soldiers are taken off from the ports of Brest, St. Malo, Nantes and St. Nazaire. British ships Arandora Star, Strathaird and Otranto are active in the operation.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-boat UA (Kapitänleutnant Hans Cohausz) torpedoes and sinks British armed merchant cruiser HMS Andania northwest of the Faroe Islands. All 347 aboard survive when they are picked up by the Icelandic trawler Skallagrímur. The UA has been tracking the ship for three days.

U-101 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) torpedoes and sinks 13,212-ton British freighter Wellington Star 300 miles off Cape Finisterre, Spain at 16:45. All 69 aboard survive when they either are picked up by French freighter Pierre L.D. or reach shore in lifeboats after 8 days.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Tetrarch sinks German boat Samland.

A French warship approaches German vessel Konigsberg, whose crew scuttles it.

Convoy HG 34 departs from Gibraltar.

Battle of the Mediterranean: French sloop La Curieuse depth charges Italian submarine Provano, forcing it to the surface 30 miles south of Cabo de Palos, Spain. The French ship rams the Italian submarine, sinking it.

Italian torpedo boats catch British submarine HMS Grampus with depth charges, sinking it 105 miles east of Sicily. All 59 crew perish.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: Italian submarine Galilei sinks Norwegian tanker James Stove.

European Air Operations: The French air force raids Cagliari, Sardinia with six bombers. The Italians launch a raid on Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio, Corsica. The RAF sends 22 planes to attack Genoa and Milan.

Italian Savoia Marchetti SM 75 "Ala Littoria" - Tobruk - 16 June 1940.

North Africa: A British force including the 7th Hussars under the command of Lt. Colonel G. Fielden ambushes a column of Italian vehicles east of Bardia. It captures the Italian Tenth Army's Engineer-in-Chief, Lt. General Romolo Lastucci. Perhaps more importantly than his capture, the Italian has"up to date plans for the Bardia defenses."

The Regia Aeronautica attacks Sollum, Sidi Barrani, and Mersa Matruh, British outposts in Egypt. It also attacks Malta again. Italian bombers based in Sardinia attack Bizerte.

A tank battle takes place at Sollum in which the Italian light tanks come off worse.

The South African Air Force attacks Iavello and Mega, bases in Italian East Africa.

The RAF raids Tobruk, causing extensive damage.

Baltic States: The Soviet Union, having occupied Lithuania after an ultimatum, now issues similar ultimatums to Estonia and Latvia.

In occupied Lithuania, Prime minister Antanas Merkys deposes the absent Antanas Smetona from the post of president. Without constitutional authority, he assumes the presidency himself.

Applied Science: British ship SS Broompark leaves the Gironde (western France). It carries 26 containers of "heavy water." The heavy water was imported from the only source of that water, a plant in Norway that is now under German control, by atomic physicist Joliot-Curie.

German/Spanish Relations: Franco's personal envoy, General Vigon, chief of General Staff, meets with Hitler at Acoz Castle. They discuss possible Spanish entry into the war, which would be strategically devastating to the Allies due to Spain's ability to close the Mediterranean.

Iceland: Canadian Z Force arrives to supplement the British occupation force.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Chinese 5th War Area opens an offensive against the Japanese 11th Army near Ichang.

British Homefront: Local Defence Volunteers shift into high gear, as fears of a German invasion mount.

Destroyed French superheavy (69 t) tank, the Char 2C "Alzac" Meuse in Lorraine train station, June 16, 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

Saturday 15 June 1940

Soviet troops enter Lithuania, 15 June 1940.

Western Front: General Weygand on 15 June 1940 follows the French government to the south, evacuating Briare for Bordeaux. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud and the rest of his government engage in heated debate about surrender, with Reynaud wanting to fight on. Admiral Darlan suggests that he can move 30,000 troops to North Africa, but not the entire 800,000 that are still fighting.

At dawn, German 7th Army (Friedrich Dollmann) crosses the Rhine near Neuf Brisach between Strasbourg and the Swiss border, taking Strasbourg from French 8th Army and approaching Colmar. They break out into the Alsace Plain and have little between them and Panzer Group Guderian advancing from the north.

Elsewhere, the Germans capture the town, citadel and two forts at Verdun.

German 1st Panzer Division approaches Besancon, isolating the French 2d Army.

German 1st Army attacks French 3rd Army at Sarreguemines.

The Italian forces in the Alps still have not attacked the French. Mussolini orders Marshal Badoglio to attack by the 18th regardless of all other factors.

Operation Ariel, the withdrawal of the BEF, begins. 20-30,000 British and Canadian troops begin evacuating northwest France via Cherbourg and St Malo. This operation is often confused with Operation Cycle, which was a previous evacuation from Le Havre which concluded on 13 June. Today, the 52nd Lowland Division and survivors of the 1st Armoured Division begin embarking.

Commander of German XVIII Armeekorps Hermann Ritter von Speck perishes on the battlefield at Pont-sur-Yonne, France. His daughter later claims (in 2010) that he deliberately sought death on the battlefield, somewhat in the manner of General von Fritsch in Poland. This was due to an inner struggle between what he knew was right and his oath to the army and Hitler.

European Air Operations: Italian aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica raid Propriano, Corsica and southern France.

The RAF raids Bergen, destroying ammunition stored on the quays.

RAF Bomber Command sends strategic raids against the Ruhr and southern Germany. It also sends eight aircraft against Genoa.

The British drop leaflets over Rome.

No. 151 Squadron Hurricane I's equipped with Rotol Constant Speed Propellers fly off from North Weald, June 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) spots convoy HX-47 at 01:00 and goes to work. First, U-38 torpedoes and sinks 9,973-ton Norwegian tanker Italia. There are 16 survivors, while 19 perish.

Then, it torpedoes and sinks 2,238-ton Canadian freighter Erik Boye 60 miles west of the Scilly Isles. All 22 aboard survive.

US passenger liner Washington, having embarked an additional 852 American passengers in Galway, departs from Ireland for New York. It is transporting 1,872 US passengers who have been evacuated from North Africa, France, and the UK.

U-137 (Oberleutnant zur See Herbert Wohlfahrt) is commissioned.

Convoy 168 GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 168 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL 36 departs from Freetown.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Italian submarine Macalle runs aground and sinks off Port Sudan in the Red Sea.

North Africa: The RAF sends raids against Italian forces at Sidi Areiz, Assab and Jarabub.

The Italians send an airstrike against British positions at Sollum.

The French send 6 bombers against Tripoli.

German Military: Adolf Hitler sets forth plans to demobilize portions of the Wehrmacht once the campaign in France concludes, which appears to be in the offing.

British Military: The UK War Cabinet decides that the Channel Islands, British territory within sight of France, "are of no strategic importance and they won't be defended."

Anglo/US Relations: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a telegram to President Roosevelt asking for destroyers. He states that his country will carry on the struggle "whatever the odds," but the destroyers are a matter of "life and death." Churchill, as former First Lord of the Admiralty, notes that England's survival "may well be beyond our resources unless we receive every reinforcement and particularly do we need this reinforcement on the sea."

Char B1 bis Fantasque destroyed in June 1940.

US/French Relations: President Roosevelt promises French Prime Minister Reynaud that he will continue to provide France with material support (by illegally evading the US neutrality laws), but he states that he cannot commit troops.

German/Swedish Relations: Stockholm grants a German request for railroad transport of non-military supplies to Narvik.

Norway: German 3rd Mountain Division occupies Harstad.

Baltic States: Soviet troops enter Lithuania with no opposition. This is pursuant to the secret Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact of 23 August 1939, and a last-minute agreement by the Lithuanian government to their ultimatum of 14 June. They occupy Kaunas and Vilna. President Antanas Smetona flees to Germany, barely escaping an attempt to capture him by Prime Minister Antanas Merkys. However, the Soviets do capture a minesweeper named... President Smetona.

Vladimir Dekanozov arrives in Kaunas as the new governor.

Soviet troops also take the Latvian border posts of Masļenkos and Smaiļi.

Albania: The Italian-controlled government declares war on France and the UK.

Applied Science: Dr. Vannevar Bush, pursuant to his 12 June 1940 discussion with President Roosevelt, becomes the head of the National Defense Research Committee.

The University of California's Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence begins supervising the construction of a giant cyclotron. This is a key step in the development of plutonium, the essential ingredient of an atomic bomb.

US Government: A new Navy bill becomes law that provides for 10,000 planes and 16,000 aircrews. The numbers are increasing every day now, as this new figure is more than twice the figure from the bill of 14 June.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Chinese 2nd Army Group and 31st Army group arrive to support the Ichang sector against the Japanese 11th Army.

Italian Homefront: A Roman man becomes the first civilian casualty of the war in that city when he is struck down by falling anti-aircraft shrapnel during an RAF leaflet drop.

French Homefront: The Swastika is raised over the Palace of Versailles, which saw the birth of the so-called Second Reich of Wilhelmine Germany.

Crowds, which were absent during the German victory parades, assemble to watch French POWs being transported through town.

Southern France is packed with refugees, and supplies of everything are tight.

British Homefront: George Orwell suddenly realizes that his French publisher now can't publish his next book, and notes "If so, I am £30 to the bad...  The sensible thing to do now would be to borrow money right and left and buy solid goods."

The Cahuenga Freeway opens in California. This is a view of Cahuenga Freeway with 8 traffic lanes divided by Pacific Electric tracks, looking north from Cahuenga-Highland intersection showing Pilgrimage Play Bridge in background and subway underpass to Cahuenga Avenue. Note entrances to service roads on right and left with intersectional islands. July 1940 issue of California Highways & Public Works.

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 14 June 1940

Western Front: With the French retreating in disarray and many Parisians heading south, the Wehrmacht on 14 June 1940 walks into a quiet Paris. There are only 700,000 inhabitants left in a city of 5 million.

French General Aubert Frere follows orders and pulls his French 7th Army out of Paris. Since the city is not defended, all of its businesses - such as the Renault tank factory at Billancourt and Schneider-Creusot armament works - are intact and ready to churn out weapons for the German conquerors. General Henri Dentz surrenders Paris at the Hotel Crillon.

The Germans stage victory parades with Major General Bogislav von Studnitz's 87th Infantry Division of the 18th Army at the Place de la Concorde and at the Arc de Triomphe. General von Bock of Army Group B reviews the parades, which glide through silent streets. As a fine point, the Wehrmacht men do not march under the arch, but around it.

Elsewhere, the war continues. Hitler, chafing at his Wolfsschlucht headquarters, issues Fuhrer Directive No. 15. Noting the "collapse" of the Allied front, he sets two objectives:

1. Prevent the formation of a new Allied front in the south; and
2. Destroy the Maginot Line.

To accomplish these objectives, Hitler orders quick seizure of the naval bases on the Atlantic coast (to avoid another Dunkirk) and attacks by the Saarbrucken Shock Group against the Maginot Line. Basically, he is implicitly revoking his previous Directive which anticipated a strong French defense of Paris - the shock at the absence of which the text of the Directive conveys between each line.

The Wehrmacht's Army Group C (von Leeb) sends its 24 divisions against the Maginot Line. The attack is led by the 7th Army against the French 8th Army and has mixed success, scoring some advances in some areas. German 1st Army (Erwin von Witzleben) breaks through at Saarbrücken. To support those attacks, Panzer Group Guderian and other troops swing east to encircle the French positions.

The German spearheads approach Romilly and St. Dizier to the east of Paris.

The 1st Panzer Division reaches Chaumont. German 12th Army is in a position to surround the French 2nd Army Group.

British Prime Minister Churchill, still reeling from the French decision to go it alone on 13 June 1940, telephones Sir Alan Brooke, commander of the BEF, and orders the evacuation of all British personnel from France. Brooke, who has only just arrived, heartily endorses the decision. For its part, French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud's government leaves General Weygand's headquarters at Briare for Bordeaux.

Contrary to virtually every other source you will find, this extremely famous photo was not taken in Paris on 14 June 1940. In fact, it was taken in Marseilles in September 1940 during a French military parade prior to sending the French battle flags to North Africa. I include it here just to make note of that - and also because the photo aptly summarizes French feelings of 14 June, even if it wasn't actually taken then. Incidentally, his name was Monsieur Jerôme Barzetti, and it appeared in Life Magazine in its 3 March 1941 issue. The photographer was W. Eugene Smith, a Life Magazine staff photographer who used a 35 mm camera, which was somewhat unusual in those days for professional photographers.

European Air Operations: The RAF attacks German ammunition dumps in the St. Michel area, the Boulogne docks, and Dunkirk Flushing and Ostend. It also sends 29 aircraft against the Ruhr during the night.

The French air force attacks oil storage facilities in the Venice region. They are scrupulously careful not to bomb the historic islands of Venice.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-101 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) spots 3,557-ton Greek freighter Antonis Georgandis northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain. The U-boat surfaces and forces the crew to disembark, and then sinks the Greek ship by gunfire using its deck gun.

U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) spots 5,403 ton Greek freighter Mount Myrto south of Ireland. It also surfaces and attacks the Greek ship with gunfire, but when that proves ineffective, sinks it with a torpedo. There are 24 survivors and 4 crew perish.

U-47 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien) torpedoes and sinks 5,834-ton British freighter Balmoralwood about 70 miles southwest of Cape Clear. All 41 aboard survive and are picked up by British freighter Germanic. The Balmoralwood is a straggler from convoy HX-47 and, among other things, was transporting four aircraft to England.

German raider Widder sinks British tanker British Petrol in the north Atlantic.

US destroyer USS Gleaves (DD 423, Lt. Commander Edward H. Pierce) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Three fast Italian destroyers (Turbine, Nembo, and Aquilone) shell Sollum, Egypt.

French warships of the 3rd Squadron (cruisers Foch, Algerie, Dupleix, Colbert and 11 destroyers) bombard oil storage tanks on the Italian Coast in the Genoa/Vado region. Nine civilians perish. French light cruiser Albatross is damaged by Italian coastal fire, with 12 crew perishing.

North Africa: The British 7th Hussars, a company of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and the Royal Engineers, all led by Lt. Colonel G. Fielden of the 7th Hussars, attack and capture Italian Fort Capruzzo and Maddalena on the Libyan border. The Italians put up little resistance, and 16 Italian officers and 200 other soldiers become POWs.

About 3000 Spanish Moroccan troops occupy Tangiers, heretofore an "International Zone" condominium under joint Spanish, French and British administration. Franco is counting on his "partners" being distracted by larger events, such as the fall of Paris, and he is correct. True to his nature, however, Franco does not actually annex the territory as many in his government urge but instead announces that this is only a temporary wartime measure.

The Regia Aeronautica attacks Sollum in Egypt and Berbera in British Somaliland.

The first dogfight between Italian and RAF fighters takes place over North Africa.

Norway: The German 2nd Mountain Division has been dutifully marching north to relieve General Dietl's 3rd Mountain Division at Narvik. Today, they link up. The event, of course, is of little consequence due to the Allied evacuation. The two divisions now form Mountain Korps Norway under the command of Dietl, who has become one of Hitler's favorite Generals due to his deft handling of his troops when the outlook was very dark.

The German troops marched around the Arc de Triomphe, not under it (Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-126-0347-09A).

Soviet/Lithuanian Relations: Stalin, like Franco, sees a golden opportunity to clean out his inventory of invasions while the western powers are otherwise occupied. His overall objective is to restore the pre-1918 Tsarist borders, which included both Estonia and Lithuania.

Accordingly, the Soviets decide to issue an ultimatum to Lithuania. It demands unrestricted access to the country by the Red Army, with the proviso that these troops would form a pro-Soviet government. This is done pursuant to the "secret protocols" of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact of 23 August 1939.

The president of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, proposes to stand and fight. However, the rest of the government has a somewhat more realistic view of the situation and decides to capitulate, so Smetona goes into exile rather than be used to legitimate the takeover.

As part of its emphasis that "Stalin means business," two Soviet DB-3T torpedo bombers shoot down a French-owned Junkers Ju 52 "Kaleva" being used on a Finnish route from Tallinn to Helsinki. All 9 onboard perish. The French government does not lodge any diplomatic protest due to its tenuous military situation. Soviet submarine Щ-301 surfaces and does not rescue anyone, but does fish French diplomatic mail out of the wreckage.

French/US Relations: French Prime Minister Reynaud sends another appeal to President Roosevelt for assistance, pleading that he "throw the weight of American strength into the scales." Roosevelt, however, has no authority or ability - while it would still count - to do any such thing.

French Military: General de Gaulle departs for London.

US Navy: President Roosevelt signs the 11% Naval Expansion Act. Once fully implemented, this will increase the naval tonnage of aircraft carriers, cruisers, and submarines by 187,000 and auxiliary shipping by 75,000 tons. It also will increase naval aircraft by 4,500 planes.

Spies: French and Polish codebreakers, who have been working on cracking the Wehrmacht's Enigma codes, flee south toward Toulouse with their Enigma machines.

Holocaust: Initial shipments of inmates (after those who actually built the camps) arrive at Auschwitz and Theresienstadt in occupied Poland: 728 Poles are marched through Tarnow to Auschwitz.

Cyprus: The company begins forming its Cyprus Volunteer Force.

China: The Japanese are continuing their aerial assault on Chiang Kai-shek's capital of Chungking. They advise the British, American, Russian and German diplomatic communities to seek safer quarters.

The Wehrmacht turned a blind eye to fraternization in Paris, as evidenced by this photograph outside of a prehistoric ancestor of Starbucks. The Germans found that it was a good stop for a first date.

French Homefront: The final broadcast of French radio before the occupation is a recording of French National Anthem, La Marseillaise.

The French operators of the Eiffel Tower cut the elevator cables. Wehrmacht troops climb 900+ steps to hang the Swastika flag.

The German occupation forces settle comfortably into Paris immediately. Overall, the Wehrmacht does not discourage fraternization with the locals, many of whom reciprocate.

The Wehrmacht sets up headquarters at the finest hotels in St. Germain and elsewhere, including most notoriously the Hotel Ritz. The draw up a "Parisian campaign map" that shows the best cafes, restaurants and other assorted amusements.

On the whole, the occupation troops act with restraint. However, inevitably there are instances of troops acting with cruelty, taking without paying, and the like. Troops accustomed to rough life in the field are somewhat over-awed with the varied decadent opportunities in Paris and often lose the edge off their military discipline.

The Wehrmacht imposes a 20:00 curfew in Paris using loudspeakers on trucks.

American Homefront: MGM releases "The Mortal Storm," a James Stewart/ Margaret Sullavan drama that is distinguished by being overtly anti-German (though in an abstract fashion that does not name any actual German politicians and so forth). This film directly leads to a ban of MGM films in Germany - though Adolf Hitler continued to snag copies for his own private viewing pleasure. As such, the release of "The Mortal Storm" is a very rare pre-war instance of an American company willingly abandoning the lucrative German market.

The flow of refugees continues. Here, a tandem bicycle carries a whole Belgian family of four with their possessions strapped to their backs. June 14, 1940 (AP).

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

Wednesday 12 June 1940

General Rommel surveys the Allied POWs at St.Valery-en-Caux on 12 June 1940.

Western Front: The situation is darkening rapidly for the Allies on 12 June 1940. General Weygand bows to reality and orders a general withdrawal. British General Sir Alan Brooke arrives in Cherbourg to take over the reconstituted BEF.

US Ambassador to France William Bullitt is the last accredited ambassador remaining in Paris, as everyone else - including the French government - has left for points south. Bullitt actually becomes the provisional governor of Paris as he awaits the Wehrmacht.

The Supreme Allied War Council at Briare continues. The French are promising to keep their fleet out of German hands. Otherwise, not much is accomplished, but the lines on the map showing the front continue getting readjusted closer.

General Erwin Rommel's 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division captures the remaining 40,000 or so Allied troops of the 51st (Highland) Division and French IX Corps at St.Valery-en-Caux, north of Le Havre (the British officially admit to losing 6,000 of their soldiers there). The blow to the Allies is greater than at Dunkirk, with no corresponding salve of a propaganda victory. There are RAF patrols over the area that accomplish little. A "small flotilla of ships" in the early morning light takes off about 3000 Allied soldiers, but that is it. It is one of Rommel's greatest if least publicized victories.

German 6th and 9th Armies push ahead across the Marne against ineffective resistance. Panzer Group Guderian takes Chalons-sur-Marne, about 80 miles east of Paris (now an open city). The deficiencies of the hedgehog defense of the Weygand Line are coming into sharp relief, as once the crust is penetrated, there are no mobile reserves to stop the attacking spearheads. The panzers are crossing the Langres plateau in the Champagne sector.

The crew of Char B1 tank No 350 "Fleurie." In the center is Sergeant-Chef Jacques Dumay, KIA June 15, 1940, at Montsuzain. Adjutant Levasseur, also in the picture, was killed on June 12, 1940, at Murmelon.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-101 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) torpedoes and sinks 5,250-ton British freighter Earlspark off Cape Finisterre, Spain at noon. There are 31 survivors, 7 perish.

U-46 (Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass) spots Convoy SL-34 and attacks. It torpedoes and sinks 4,223-ton British freighter Barbara Marie off Cape Finisterre at 19:38. There are 5 survivors, 32 perish.

U-46 also torpedoes and sinks 5,041-ton British freighter Willowbank at 19:46. All 51 onboard survive.

The Italian submarine fleet is at sea in the Mediterranean and dangerous. Royal Navy cruiser HMS Calypso is torpedoed and sunk by an Italian submarine off Crete, and Norwegian freighter Orkanger is sunk by a combination of Italian submarines Nereide and Naiade.

French submarine Saphir torpedoes and sinks Italian freighter Alicantino off Sardinia.

Royal Navy cruisers operating off Tobruk sink Italian minesweeper Giovanni Berta.

British transport Baron Saltoun hits a mine and sinks off Cherbourg.

The Royal Navy raids Trondheim, where the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Admiral Hipper are hiding out.

Royal Navy submarines lay mines off Norway.

Korvettenkapitän (Kriegsmarine) Kapitän zur See (Bundesmarine) Herbert Emil Schultze (24 July 1909 – 3 June 1987). Schultze was a U-boat ace, sinking 169,709 gross register tons (GRT) of shipping in eight patrols during the early part of the war. He is in eighth place on the Aces of the Deep list. He received the Knight's Cross on 1 March 1940, and he became the 15th recipient of the Oak Leaves on 12 June 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-48.

European Air Operations: The RAF bombs Genoa, Milan, Venice, and Turin, focusing on Fiat factories. The RAF scrupulously avoids bombing historic portions of Venice.

Regia Aeronautica sends BR.20s against Toulon, Hyères, and Saint-Raphaël, as well as the Corsican communes of Calvi and Bastia and the Tunisian city of Bizerte. French anti-aircraft fire is effective at minimizing damage. The attack on Bizerte destroys French aircraft on the ground.

Italian bombers attack the British base at Aden and at Moyale in Kenya, where the 1st King's African Rifles is based.

North Africa: The British and Italians engage in skirmishes along the Egyptian/Libyan border. The British take 62 Italian prisoners.

A British cruiser squadron bombards Tobruk. The Italian fleet sorties to defend the port, but the British withdraw. The attack is only marginally successful, with Italian cruiser San Giorgio in the harbor surviving the attack.

Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Italy after pressure from London.

Turkey breaks commercial relations with Italy.

Norway: A final tranche of soldiers sailing from Narvik reaches the Clyde. The French are immediately transshipped to Brest and Lorient in the south of France.

Soviet/Lithuanian Relations: The Soviet government issues an ultimatum to the Lithuanian government, requiring additional territorial concessions and a new government. Ultimatums in this day and age often presage military action.

Soviet/Estonian Relations: The Kremlin orders the Soviet Baltic Fleet to blockade Estonia. This is part of a planned invasion of Estonia and Lithuania.

Applied Science: President Roosevelt meets with Dr. Vannevar Bush of the Carnegie Institute of Washington. Bush proposes the creation of a National Defense Research Committee. Roosevelt takes up the suggestion, which is to be part of the Council of National Defense.

US Government: Pursuant to President Roosevelt's "show the flag" decision, heavy cruiser USS Quincy (CA 39) makes a port visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its next destination is planned to be Montevideo, Uruguay, which is said to be a German hot spot.

The US Navy Department issues contracts for 22 new warships.

Italian Government: The Italian government temporarily bans the Vatican's newspaper, Osservatore Romano, for publishing British and French war communique.

British Government: Sir Stafford Cripps arrives in Moscow as British Ambassador.

Dutch Government: Princess Juliana and daughters Beatrix and Irene arrive in Canada.

Thailand: Britain and France sign non-aggression treaties with Thailand. Thailand also signs a "Treaty of Friendship" with Japan.

China: The Japanese 11th Army captures the port of Ichang, east of Chungking on the Yangtze River.

Melrose Place at Cienega Boulevard on 12 June 1940. That is a Foster and Kleiser billboard for 76 brand gasoline.

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

2021