Monday 8 July 1940

Operation Catapult, July 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-99 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer) continues its successful patrol on 8 July 1940, torpedoing and sinking 5,758-ton British freighter Humber Arm at 07:53. The steamer is sailing with convoy HX-53. All 43 on board survive and are picked up by British destroyers. The escorts then spend 14 hours dropping depth charges on U-99, but it escapes after diving to a dangerous 350 feet. The crew almost succumbs to oxygen deprivation and U-99 gradually exits the area under low power.

Convoy OA 179 departs from Methil.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Catapult, the neutralization of the French fleet, continues. At Casablanca, British torpedo boats attack the French battleship, Jean Bart. In addition, the British attack Dakar for the second day without inflicting any major damage.

Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi torpedoes Destroyer HMS Escort in the Western Mediterranean. The destroyer eventually sinks.

Admiral Cunningham in the Mediterranean is running Operation MA5, a convoy from Malta to Alexandria. He has provided massive protection for it, including virtually all of the Royal Navy forces in the Mediterranean. The Italian Navy under Admiral Campioni also is running an operation in the same general area covering a convoy to Benghazi. The British learn of the Italian operation and break off their own, but proceed to positions in the general vicinity of Taranto to intercept the Italians when they return to Italy. The Italians complete their own convoy and then learn of the British fleet presence. They arrange their own dispositions for possible fleet action. These are the preliminary stages of the Battle of Punta Stilo.

Force H under Admiral James Somerville, led by battlecruiser Hood and aircraft carrier Ark Royal, leaves Gibraltar to help cover the big Malta-Alexandria convoy and related operations.
The Regia Aeronautica damages Royal Navy cruiser Gloucester, killing the captain, 11 others, and wounding 9.

At Malta, quarrymen dig out 30 new rock shelters near Luqa aerodrome. There are international press reports about recent raids on the island. There is an attempted raid at 14:20, but defending RAF fighters disperse it before it reaches the coast.

Aircraft carrier HMS Hermes off Dakar during a convoy run. In the background, HMS Dorsetshire.

European Air Operations: The RAF mistakenly bombs two Swedish torpedo boats temporarily being held in the Faeroe Islands by the authorities. The boats had been bought from Italy. The two boats are damaged but proceed on to Sweden.

The fighter forces "mix it up" during the day, and the Luftwaffe shoots down 3 Spitfires and two Hurricanes. JG51 gets the kills.

Lt. Johann Bohm of 4./JG51 is forced down after being damaged in combat. He lands at Bladbean Hill, Elham, Kent. This gives the British a good Bf 109E to study and is the first largely undamaged Bf 109 to land in Great Britain. Coincidentally, later in the day another Bf 109E also lands later in the day at Sandwich, Kent, flown by Lt. A. Striberny of 3(J)./LG 2. This one is a Bf 109E-3. The British learn that there is heavier armor plating in the cockpit area on this series of aircraft.

Twin-engine Bf 110 Zerstorers are being used as fighter-bombers. A flight of them crosses the English coast at Dungeness and is intercepted by Spitfires from No. 54 Squadron. An escorting formation of Bf 109s then gets involved and shoots down two Spitfires and damages another.

Heinkel 111s of III./KG 54 attack industrial targets at Bristol.

RAF bombers attack Kiel, where heavy cruiser “Lützow” is being repaired following torpedo damage. A bomb hits the Lützow but fails to explode. They also raid Ostend, hitting a German supply ship, and also damage port infrastructure. The priority of RAF Bomber Command is shifting to the barges in canals in places like Zwolle, Haten, Weest, Elberg, and Deft.

RAF Fighter Command forms No. 10 Group for the defense of southwest England.

German/Swedish Relations: The governments sign a formal agreement permitting Wehrmacht troop and supplies transit on the Narvik railway under certain circumstances.

British/Swedish Relations: The British lodge a formal protest about the decision by Stockholm to allow German military transit on the Narvik railway.

Soviet/Finnish Relations: The Soviets demand transit privileges across Finnish territory to their base at Hango.

Soviet Military: The Soviets establish a Danube Flotilla on the territory they have occupied in Romania.

Swiss Military: The Swiss government mobilizes its army and allocates them to three Alpine fortresses. The Swiss have gotten wind of a German desk planning exercise, Operation Tannenbaum, the invasion of Switzerland. Hitler has some sort of grudge against Switzerland which leads to violent outbursts among his staff.

Japanese Military: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches battleship Yamato. Yamato has the largest guns in the world.

French Government: Free French leader Charles de Gaulle makes a BBC address in which he criticizes the British for their attacks on the French fleet, saying "all Frenchmen are dismayed."

The Vichy French prepare to withdraw their ambassador to the Court of St. James in London.

British Government: The nine divisions recovered from France are reorganized to face a possible invasion.

Norwegian Government: King Haakon refuses a request made by the German-controlled Storting (legislature) that he abdicate.

US Government: The US Joint War Planning Committee examines possibilities for the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean. The tentative plan is to send the US 1st Marine Brigade from New York to invade it.

British Homefront: Tea rationing begins, with 2 oz. per person per week. This is a big deal in the British Isles, with many extravagant literary expressions of calamity. This is a subtle but telling indication that the U-boat menace is real and growing.

The Republican ticket, Newsweek, 8 July 1940.

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

Thursday 4 July 1940

A bomb at the New York City World's Fair on 4 July 1940 kills two policemen. The incident remains unsolved and is a prime example of terrorism in the United States decades ago.

European Air Operations: Today is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the Kanalkampf, or English Channel Battle. The battles are said to take place on the Kanalfront.

The German recently have been focusing on British convoys sailing north past Spain and France, but today, 4 July 1940, they score some major successes at England itself with Convoy OA178. Kriegsmarine E-boats join with 33 Stukas of III/StG51 to mangle a British convoy at Portland, sinking auxiliary anti-aircraft vessel HMS Foyle Bank (157 men rescued, 176 crew lost), tug boat Silverdial and five freighters (Dallas City, Britsum, Deucalion, Kolga, and Elmcrest) in the Portland Harbor. The attackers lose one Stuka to anti-aircraft fire. One of the British seamen in the attack, Jack Foreman Mantle, receives the VC - posthumously - for firing his anti-aircraft gun to the end and going down with the ship.

There also are dogfights near the Kent coastline between III/JG27 and RAF No. 54 Squadron. Each side loses a couple of fighters.

A Heinkel of III/KG54 bombs the Bristol Aeroplane Company and damages the roof before getting shot down by RAF No. 92 Squadron.

During the day, the RAF attacks refineries near Hannover and Emmerich, and also airfields in Holland. After dark, the target is Kriegsmarine bases such as Wilhelmshaven, Emden, and Kiel, along with related naval targets such as the Dortmund-Ems Canal.

General Ernst Udet, Director General of Luftwaffe Equipment, and the Kommodore of KG76, Generalmajor Stephan Fröhlich, both receive the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz). Udet already has the Pour le mérite from World War I.

The Winnipeg Free Press of 4 July 1940 notes hopefully in its headline "British Get French Navy." Well, that's not exactly what happens.

Battle of the Atlantic: The French government issues an all-points bulletin to French ships to attack British vessels on sight due to yesterday's attack on the French fleet in Algeria.

Convoy SL 38F departs from Freetown.

Battle of the Mediterranean: At 15:30, British submarine HMS Pandora sinks French mine-layer Rigault de Genouilly off Oran, Algeria. This is part of Operation Catapult.

French battleship Strasbourg and destroyers Volta, Tigre, and Le Terrible complete their journey to Toulon from Mers el Kebir.
The French raid Gibraltar with little impact, but the British hurry up plans to evacuate women and children.

At Malta, there is an air raid alert at first light, 05:55. The Italian fighters conduct a strafing attack without causing any damage.

The Italians are broadcasting propaganda in Maltese to undermine morale. Malta’s own Rediffusion radio service begins counter-programming.

The French fleet is now the subject of interest to both sides. The Pétain government claims that the fleet at Alexandria has been recalled, but also says they are to be scuttled if they can't escape due to the wishes of Hitler that they do not fall into British hands.

At Alexandria, Admiral Cunningham and Admiral Godfroy agree to demobilize Godfroy's ships, but he does not turn them over. Talks continue.

Mrs. Hathaway, the Dame of Sark, greets the Germans.

Western Front: The Germans complete their unopposed occupation of the Channel Islands by sending a token detachment from Guernsey to Sark. Dame Sibyl Mary Hathaway, DBE rules the island independently by charter and has an American husband, and thus feels free to adopt a neutral stance. As the hereditary ruler of the island, she receives the German delegation cordially, sorts matters out quickly, and then serves them lobster dinner (which becomes notorious back in England). When the German commander asks if she is afraid, Dame Hathaway (her official title) replies, "Is there any reason why I should be afraid of German officers?"

North Africa: Italian troops advance north across the Abyssinia/Sudan border and take two British outposts, Kassala and Galabat. It is quite an aggressive move for a poorly equipped colonial garrison.

The Regia Aeronautica raids Alexandria and Malta. They lose 7 CR-42 fighters in various actions over the desert.

German/Romanian Relations: The Germans warn Romania to concede Hungarian territorial aspirations if it wants closer ties.

German/Hungarian Relations: The Germans warn Hungary against taking military action against Romania, but broadly hint that Hungary will get the territory it seeks from Romania.

Romanian Government: The political upheavals caused by the recent occupation of eastern territories continues. The Tatarescu government falls. Ion Gigurtu becomes Prime Minister, and the fascist Iron Guard goes from being imprisoned only weeks ago to having two members - Manoilesca (Foreign Minister) and Sima (Minister for Arts) - in the cabinet. Mr. Gigurtu, a wealthy industrialist, has extensive contacts with the Germans, including - according to him - friendship with Hermann Goering.

At the same time, the government expels 22 British oil technicians in an indirect swipe at the British for failing to keep the Soviets away. Romania is casting about for a "big brother" protector against the Soviets, and this is yet another indication that Germany is it.

French Government: The final rupture between former allies takes place when the Vichy government severs diplomatic relations with London.

Charles de Gaulle becomes a wanted man when a Toulouse court sentences him in absentia to four years in prison for treason.

Finnish Government: The Finnish Foreign Minister tells German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop that his country desires closer relations with Germany.

British Government: Winston Churchill goes before the House of Commons and receives his first standing ovation as Prime Minister when he denies:

“...that we have the slightest intention of entering into negotiations in any form and through any channel with the German and Italian Governments. We shall, on the contrary, prosecute the war with the utmost vigour by all the means that are open to us.”

China:  Japanese bombers attacked Chungking, China.

A bomb exploding at the World's Fair is big news in New York.

Terrorism: A bomb explodes at the New York World's Fair. Since it is at the British exhibit, German saboteurs are suspected. Two policemen are killed. Many countries' exhibits already are closing, since their home countries have been occupied.

Canadian Homefront: The government is banning many US publications. Today, the New York Post and Chicago Tribune join 115 others.

German Homefront: The German demobilize some troops to release them for industries that badly need workers.

American Homefront: Sonja Henie, Norwegian skating champ, marries baseball executive Dan Topping in Chicago.

The United States celebrates independence day as one of only 14 quasi-democracies remaining in the world. The others are Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Iceland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Chile.

Future History: During a professional appearance at the Manistee National Forest Festival, a faulty brace irritates the ankle of Robert Pershing Wadlow. At 8' 11", he is the tallest person ever recorded in human history. The chafing causes a blister and subsequent parasitic infection. Doctors treat him with a blood transfusion and emergency surgery, but his condition worsens due to an auto-immune disorder, and on July 15, 1940, he dies in his sleep at age 22.

Karolyn Grimes is born today. She becomes a child actress who concludes "It's a Wonderful Life" in 1946 with the line, "Look, Daddy. The teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings” as Zuzu Bailey.

Karolyn Grimes, Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in "It's a Wonderful Life."

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

Wednesday 3 July 1940

Destroyer Mogador beaching itself after having been hit by a 15-in round at Mers El Kebir, 3 July 1940.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Admiral James Somerville of Force H executes his orders to neutralize the French fleet at Mers El Kébir, Oran Province, northwest Algeria on 3 July 1940. He gives the French commanders the options to surrender the fleet, scuttle it, sail it to the Carribean, or be interned. French Admiral Marcel Gensou remains loyal to the Vichy government. He tells Captain Holland, sent to negotiate, that any attack will be a declaration of war. He refuses to act in concert with the Royal Navy, but drags things out. By 13:00, Somerville tires of Gensou's obstinacy and mines the harbor but continues talking.

At 16:46, the Admiralty sends Somerville an order "to settle matters quickly." Somerville gives Gensou until 17:30 to choose an option. With no response, Somerville's force opens fire at 17:56. The gunfire continues for 15 minutes, including 15-inch shells. 23,936 ton French battleship Bretagne is sunk, with 977 killed. Battlecruiser Dunkerque is heavily damaged, with 210 killed, and also battleship Provence. The French lose 1,297 killed and 350 wounded.

Battlecruiser Strasbourg, aircraft carrier Commandant Teste and four destroyers that survive the battle later cross the Mediterranean to the naval base at Toulon under pressure from RAF attacks launched from the Ark Royal. Other ships follow. Both sides launch ineffective air attacks against the other's ships.

Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham conducts negotiations in Alexandria with French Admiral René-Émile Godfroy about his battleship Lorraine and four cruisers. Godfroy is much more reasonable and not as much of a Vichy supporter. The situation is not as critical there because France is much further away and British power much stronger. The day ends with no conclusion there and negotiations continuing, but prospects are good.

Prime Minister Churchill regrets the whole affair, which is the first Anglo-French naval conflict since the Napoleonic Wars, and later says that he carries its "scars," but considers it absolutely necessary. He rejects a suggestion by First Lord of the Admiralty Dudley Pound that the Royal Navy should abandon the eastern Mediterranean altogether.

At Malta, the day begins with another air raid alert at 09:45, right on schedule. However, this is just a reconnaissance mission. The Italians lose an SM 79 bomber, while the British lose a Hurricane whose pilot is unhurt. Another raid at 17:55 causes no damage.

Mers El Kebir before the attack in 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Operation Grasp is implemented. At dawn, the British seize 59 large French warships in British harbors at Plymouth and Portsmouth. Among these are battleships Courbet and Paris, submarine Surcouf and destroyer Mistral. In all, 2 battleships, 4 cruisers, and 8 destroyers are taken. There are scattered instances of the French resisting, including some minor casualties on the latter two vessels. In all, three British and 1 French sailor perish.

The Admiralty suspends all shipping in the British Channel due to Luftwaffe attacks.

U-29 sinks British freighter Athelaird in the North Atlantic.

British submarine HMS Snapper sinks Norwegian freighter Cygnus.

HMS Coquetmouth (447t), which is used to keep Amble Harbor dredged, strikes a mine and sinks. Three crew perish.

German raider Komet departs Gdynia for Bergen. Its ultimate destination is the Pacific.

Convoy OA 178 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 178 departs from Liverpool, Convoy OG 36 forms off Gibraltar, Convoy HX 55 departs from Halifax.

USS Tautog (SS 199, Lt. Commander Joseph H. Willingham, Jr.) is commissioned.

European Air Operations: The Royal Air Force redirects its priorities from German industrial targets such as oil installations and airplane factories to German shipping and ports along the Channel coast.

The Luftwaffe raids Cardiff, Wales for the first time.

At around 15:00, three Ju 88s of I/KG51 attack the Portishead docks in Bristol, and some Dornier Do 17s from KG77 bomb the Kent area. Seven Dorniers go down.

At Maidenhead, a lone Dornier 17 attacks the aerodrome and destroys half a dozen Tiger Moths on the ground and damages 25 others.

The RAF's Fighter Command institutes standing patrols over the Channel.

The Regia Aeronautica has lost 60 aircraft to date.

North Africa: Acting Brigadier Ralph A. Bagnold, pursuant to previous orders from General Wavell, commences his long-range reconnaissance patrols with the Long Range Patrol Unit (LRP) in the desert with his "desert rats." They operate under the 8th Army and have two officers and 85 men, mainly volunteers from the 2nd New Zealand Division.

Exiled Abyssinia leader Haile Selassie, who had been in England, arrives in Khartoum to participate in the reconquest of his country from the Italians who have occupied it since 1935.

The Regia Aeronautica bombs a British base in Aden.

French ships under fire at Mers El Kebir, 3 July 1940.

German/Romanian Relations: The Germans reject a Romanian request for a full military alliance. This would be an obvious provocation to the Soviet Union. However, the Wehrmacht has a free hand and is uncertain what to do next, and this draws their attention to the area. General Franz Halder of OKH asks his staff as a desk exercise to consider military alternatives in the East.

US/Latin American Relations: Heavy cruisers USS Wichita (CA 45) and Quincy (CA 39) complete their visit to Montevideo, Uruguay and head back to Brazil.

British Government: The Duke of Windsor, who has fled France, arrives in Lisbon from Madrid. He is widely believed to be pro-German.

Norway: The Norwegian parliament places pressure on King Haakon to abdicate, but he refuses.

Argentina: Presidente Roberto Maria Ortiz falls ill and delegates power to VP Ramon Castillo.

China: At the Battle of South Kwangsi:, the Japanese halt their offensive and both sides adopt a defensive posture.


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

Saturday 29 June 1940

Tommies in action in North Africa, June 1940.

Western Front: Wehrmacht forces on 29 June 1940 are relinquishing some areas allocated to the French government pursuant to the Armistice Agreement of 22 June 1940.

In the demilitarized Channel Islands, the remaining islanders are instructed to paint white crosses on the aerodromes and fly white flags. Five thousand children and their schools have been evacuated to England, in places such as Marple in Cheshire. Many of the children have been individually sponsored by wealthy Americans, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who sponsors a girl named Paulette. They also have received clothing and school supplies. England itself, of course, may not be safer for much longer.

The Germans ready two battalions for an assault on the Channel Islands. The BBC has broadcast that the islands are "open towns," but the Wehrmacht is taking no chances.

European Air Operations: After a Heinkel He 111 of Aufklarungsgruppe Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (AufklGr. Ob.d.L.) (German air force high command) performs reconnaissance over the Bristol dockyards, several others from I/KG27 attack the port facilities at 01:00.

The RAF attacks various points in Holland and western Germany, including the harbor at Willemsoord, a chemical factory at Hochst near Frankfurt, and the Dortmund-Ems Canal. A dozen planes of Bomber Command attack the airfield at Abbeville during the day.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-51 (Kapitänleutnant Dietrich Knorr) sends 3 torpedoes into 4,724 ton Royal Navy decoy ship (special service vessel) HMS Edgehill (X 39) southwest of Ireland and sinks it. There are 24 survivors, 15 perish. The ship takes some time to sink and requires three torpedoes because these ships are packed with buoyant material ("ping pong balls," as the US Navy would say half-jokingly about similar Japanese ships) to prevent sinking.

U-47 ((Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien) torpedoes and sinks British freighter Empire Toucan southwest of Ireland. There are 31 survivors, 3 crew perish.

U-26 (Kptl. Heinz Scheringer) sinks 6,701 ton Greek freighter Frangoula B. Goulandris southwest of Ireland. There are 32 survivors, 6 crew perish.

Unlucky U-boat U-99 (Otto Kretschmer), which had been attacked by Luftwaffe planes off Norway and then while heading to Wilhelmshaven for repairs, once again is attacked while leaving the port. It avoids the three bombs dropped at it, but damages itself on the ocean floor.

British submarine HMS Talisman (N 78,  Lt. Commander Philip S. Francis) is commissioned.

Troop Convoy WS 1 departs for Suez, Convoy OA 176 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 176 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 54 departs from Halifax.

A Short Sunderland.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Royal Navy destroyers Dainty, Defender, Voyager, and Ilex sink Italian submarine Uebi Scebeli southwest of Crete. Before it sinks, they recover valuable Italian naval codes. The destroyers also sink Italian submarine Argonauta and damage Italian submarine Salpa.

A Short Sunderland of RAF Group No. 201 sinks Italian submarine Rubino in the Ionian Sea. The flying boats land and take off some survivors.

Short Sunderlands of RAF 230 Squadron damage Italian submarine Sirena off Tobruk.

Admiral Somerville of Force H prepares to neutralize the French fleet anchored at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria under Operation Catapult. He has several different methods to do so, but the French ships must not remain afloat under French control. He has battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Resolution, the battlecruiser HMS Hood, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Arethusa and HMS Enterprise, and 11 destroyers. This is a "by any means necessary" operation.

Malta, under daily air attack, has only four flyable Hurricanes with two Gloster Gladiators. Governor and Commander in Chief Lt. General William Dobbie requests more planes and ground support. He also requires planes if the island is to serve as a point of interdiction of Axis convoys from Sicily to North Africa.

North Africa: An Italian attack across the Eritrean border is repelled by two British light tanks.

The RAF attacks Tobruk.

Gandhi in 1940 (by Kulwant Roy).

India: Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow, Governor-General and Viceroy of India, meets with Mohandas Mahama Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the Indian National Congress in an effort to build support for the British war effort. While Gandhi is no fan of Hitler and Germany, and in fact sent a letter to Hitler in 1939 pleading with him not to start a war, Gandhi is uninterested in cooperating with the Allies until India is granted full independence. Great Britain has no intention of doing that, so negotiations are at a standstill.

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

Japanese troops are on the outskirts of Hong Kong, effectively blockading it from the landward side.

German Military: In the first of a parade of promotions and awards for the recent campaign, General Maximilian von Weichs is awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz). He has commanded Army Corps Weichs during the Polish campaign and the 2nd Army during the Battle of France. He also receives a promotion to Colonel-General.

German Government: The Germans release a "white paper" outlining Allied plans to occupy the Low Countries. This is another in a long line of such white books accusing the "other side" of nefarious plans.

French Government: The government transfers from Bordeaux to Clermont-Ferrand, evacuated by the Wehrmacht on 28 June.

Japanese Government: Japan continues its gradual campaign to assert dominion over the entire western Pacific. Japan's Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita broadcasts that there is a "new order in Asia: unity into a single sphere revolving harmoniously around Japan." This language echoes the future Japanese colonial organization, the "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere."

Pianist Paul Klee passes away on 29 June 1940.

Romanian Government: The government is mobilizing the armed forces because of new threats posed by Hungary and Yugoslavia, which smell weakness due to Romania's quick capitulation to the Red Army.

Romanian Homefront: Another wave of refugees hits Europe, as inhabitants of Eastern Romania flee westward to avoid living under the occupying Soviets. The number of refugees is estimated at 100,000.

German Homefront: Berlin travel agents begin offering tours of the newly conquered Maginot Line.

Painter Paul Klee, who has lived in Switzerland for the past 7 years, passes away.

British Homefront: The authorities arrest Diana Mitford, the wife of jailed fascist leader Oswald Mosley, under Defence Regulation 18B. She had escaped jail to date due to giving birth to son Max. Unity Mitford, Hitler's former girlfriend, has recovered somewhat from her attempted suicide on 3 September 1939, but the bullet remains lodged in her brain. While mobile, she acts somewhat erratically.

War hysteria is in full swing throughout southern England. Aside from constructing military installations and erecting beach obstacles, the authorities are filling open fields such as cricket pitches with old cars which can prevent glider landings.

As noted previously in this blog, there were rumors floating around during Fall Rot that the Germans were killing black French African soldiers on sight. The natural tendency is to believe anything negative, particularly racist, about the Germans and nothing positive (and, yes, there are good reasons for that). Simply to show that there are two sides to such situations (one of my aims in writing about World War II), and without trying to disprove anything, here is a photograph that was taken in June 1940 of a German motorcyclist transporting a wounded Colonial French Senegalese Tirailleur POW. (It may be purely a propaganda shot).

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