Friday 8 November 1940

The ground is broken for the Detroit Chrysler Tank Arsenal on 8 November 1940. It is owned by the US government - an early example of Socialism - and is completed in record time, churning out tanks in well under a year.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Things are not going well at all for the Italian offensive on 8 November 1940. Mussolini relieves Visconti Prasca of overall command of the Italian forces in Albania and restricted to the command of the Epirus front, where some limited progress still appears possible. Any hopes for a continued Italian offensive, however, are wishful thinking.

The Italians are making no progress at all on the Elaia–Kalamas front in Epirus, so they suspend operations there. The Italians make no further progress past Igoumenitsa and Margariti and are pushed off the Grabala Heights again.

In the Pindus Mountains, the remaining troops of the Julia Division hear a broadcast from London which suggests that a Greek offensive is coming. The Italians begin trying to break out as best they can. The Italian 3rd Alpini (mountain) Division is stuck fast in the Vovousa Valley and is losing men daily. While some of the Julia Division men can get out of the trap, very few of the 3rd Alpini can escape.

General Ubaldo Soddu, State Undersecretary of War, replaces General Prasca. He immediately tells Mussolini that the Italian forces must go over to the defensive "while awaiting the reinforcements that would permit us to resume action as soon as possible." This is a wise suggestion to which Mussolini gives his consent, but illustrates the catastrophic posture of an offensive that only began less than two weeks ago. While the Italians will indeed receive reinforcements, so will the Greeks, and the Greek reinforcements only have to march to the front, not requiring risky ship transport.

The Greeks, meanwhile, are calling in reinforcements from their other fronts, such as the Metaxas Line facing Bulgaria. They are comfortable for the time being that no attack will be launched by the Bulgarians or the Turks. This, and the growing British presence in southern Greece which relieves the Greeks of defensive responsibilities there, enables Metaxas and his Generals to begin building up forces opposite the Italians for a counterattack.

Italian problems are only getting worse. There is a clear strain on Italian resources between the North African and Albanian campaigns. The British, meanwhile, are reinforcing their own forces in both Greece and Egypt.

The Italians bomb Monastir.

"Nighttime view of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London in 1940." © IWM (D 717).

European Air Operations: The air war over England picks up somewhat. Attacks in England proper are mostly at night now. London receives attention after dark, as always. British anti-aircraft fire over the capital is particularly effective.

While most Stuka dive-bombers have been withdrawn, the Luftwaffe still has some Stuka formations along the coast for special purposes. Today, they go back into action and bomb shipping in the Straits of Dover. Stukas may be slow and vulnerable relative to top RAF fighters, but they also are extremely accurate ground attack planes that are irreplaceable in the Luftwaffe (and the Luftwaffe tries to replace them several times, but fails to find anything better). The Stukas once again prove their value by sinking a ship.

RAF Bomber Command bombs Munich. There is a special reason for this: it is the anniversary of the 1923 Putsch, and Hitler always gives a highly touted speech in Munich to commemorate it. Not much damage is done, but Churchill and the RAF bigwigs make their little statement, one of several similar stunts they will engage in around this time. While some accounts state that "Hitler narrowly escaped" and so forth, in fact, it is extremely difficult and unlikely - especially at this stage of the war, with extremely imprecise bombing accuracy - to target and kill a specific individual. One might as well say that every time the RAF bombs Berlin with Hitler in residence there that it "almost killed Hitler."

This Munich attack damages railway installations and also the beer cellar where Hitler gives his speeches (but was largely destroyed exactly a year ago in a domestic terrorism incident).  The RAF also bombs other targets in Germany, including numerous airfields in northwest Europe. Coastal Command chips in with an attack on Lorient to disrupt U-boat operations.

Lt. Heinz Bär, 1./JG 51, shoots down two Hurricanes.

Major Heinz Bär, May 1944. Bär ultimately fought on every German front and is credited with 221 aerial victories.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is a big day for the Luftwaffe. Air attacks are one of the four legs of the stool that enforces the blockade of Great Britain, the others being U-boats, mines and surface raiders.

Luftwaffe Stukas attack Convoy FN 329 in the Thames Estuary. They bomb and sink 1930 ton Dutch freighter Agamemnon. Two crewmen perish. The Luftwaffe also damages 1350 ton British freighter Ewell, 5596-ton British freighter Empire Dorado and 1568 ton British freighter Catford in the Thames estuary. The Royal Navy escort ship HMS Winchester (Lt Cdr S. E. Crewe Read) shoots down two of the Junkers Ju 87 Stukas.

This raid begins a sequence of events that cripples HMS Winchester. It is only lightly damaged by near misses in the air attack, but then is damaged by a mine and, while anchored to get repairs, is attacked by air again. This all requires extensive repair in London that will take until 6 June 1941.

Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors (1,/KG 40) spot Convoy HX 84 in the Atlantic west of County Donegal, Ireland. They drop two bombs on and disable 2734 ton Swedish freighter Vingaland. There are 19 survivors and six men perish. The ship is left a blazing derelict and easy prey for any submarine which can spot the plume of smoke or the fire itself. The Italian submarine Marconi will finish the job and sink the Vingaland on the 9th.

Italian submarine Marconi itself is attacked by Royal Navy destroyer HMS Havelock off northwest Ireland. It sustains some damage but escapes.

In a separate attack, the Luftwaffe attack, Heinkel He 115 seaplanes (KGr 506) bomb and damage 1261-ton British freighter Fireglow in the North Sea off Turk Head.

Kriegsmarine auxiliary submarine chasers 520 ton UJ-117 "Uhlenhorst" and 445-ton UJ 1104 "Westfalen" spot 934 ton Royal Netherlands Navy submarine HNLMS O-22 off Lindesnes, Vest-Agder, Norway. They depth-charge and sink the O-22. Everybody on board perishes. The wreck is found in 1993 some 60 miles away from the supposed spot of the attack. The Dutch believe that the O-22 may have survived the attack, but was damaged (the wreck does show depth charge damage) and either managed to get part-way home before succumbing to the damage or hit a mine afterward. There are 42 Dutch and 3 British deaths.

Royal Navy 221 ton converted whaler HMS A.N.2 hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel off Falmouth, Cornwall in southwest England.

Royal Navy 192 ton tug HMS Muria hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea north of Margate, Kent. Everyone on board perishes.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Elgin is damaged by an acoustic mine off the Sunk Light Vessel and requires repairs at Lowestoft.

Royal Norwegian Navy offshore patrol boat HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen runs aground and is lost on an unmarked shallow off the south coast of the Norwegian Arctic island Jan Mayen. Before the Nansen founders, the crew manages to get off some emergency messages. The crew reaches land on the Eggøya peninsula and finds an abandoned Norwegian radio station and is rescued some days later by naval trawler HNoMS Honningsvåg. This was the first Norwegian naval ship built purposefully for the coast guard and fishery protection. The ship was one of thirteen Royal Norwegian Navy ships that had escaped from Norway when the government capitulated.

U-47 spots Portuguese freighter Goncalo Velho off Portugal and surfaces. The U-boat fires a warning shot to stop the ship, but it turns toward the U-boat. The Germans, confused as to its intentions, fire another two shots, one of which damages the neutral ship in the stern. Once examined, the ship is allowed to proceed because no contraband is found.

Convoy OB 240 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 329 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 331 departs from Methil.

Royal Navy Hunt-class destroyer Southdown ( (L 25, Commander Edward R. Conder) is commissioned. It now heads to Scapa Flow for working up.

"A female member of Air Raid Precautions staff applies her lipstick between emergency calls." 8 November 1940. © IWM (D 176).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Royal Navy is engaged in a complex series of operations in the Mediterranean under the overall rubric Operation MB8. This involves all sorts of moving parts, including convoys to Malta, attacks on Italian bases, and diversionary activities. As part of these operations, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal launches an air attack against the Italian seaplane base at Elmas, near Cagliari. This is Operation Crack. After this, the Ark Royal and its accompanying cruiser and destroyers return to Gibraltar. However, other Royal Navy forces are heading for Taranto and Operation Judgement.

French battleship Provence arrives at Toulon from Mers el Kebir, where it was damaged in the Royal Navy attack.

RAF bombers bomb Turin aircraft factories and the Pirelli magneto factory in Milan. The RAF also bombs Tobruk and Derna, Libya, and also Italian bases in Abyssinia.

Five Wellington bombers based on Malta attack Brindisi. They hit the railway station there and demolish it. Four other Wellingtons bomb Naples with incendiaries. On Malta, RAF Station Ta Qali (sometimes termed Takali) becomes operational. The airfield has had to be cleared of obstructions to prevent enemy landings - it is a former civilian field - and to host a Hurricane squadron.

Some native Maltese have been accused of distributing anti-British leaflets "and other seditious material." Today, two are acquitted, three are sentenced to three years of imprisonment. and two are sentenced to four years.

Battle of the Pacific: Another ship falls afoul of the mines being laid off Southern Australia. This time, it is the US City of Rayville. It sinks in the Bass Strait off Cape Otway. There are 37 survivors and one crewman perishes. Some accounts place this on the 9th.

The Australian authorities are now fully aware that German minelayers are operating in the vicinity of Southern Australia, so they close the port of Melbourne for the time being. German raider Pinguin and the Passat, who have been laying the mines, have completed their work and are heading west for the middle of the Indian Ocean to plan their next operation.

Aerial view of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge after the collapse, taken November 8, 1940. Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, PI- 20796. Courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry, Seattle.

German/Soviet Relations: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, overdoing it a bit in advance of Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov's planned arrival in Berlin on 12 November, sends Molotov a fulsome message. He asks that Molotov bring with him a portrait of Stalin. Molotov immediately replies in the affirmative.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt vows to send half of all US military output to Great Britain. Now that the election is past, he can be more aggressive in his support of England.

Japanese/US Relations: The Japanese appoint Admiral Nomura Kichasaburo as ambassador to the US.

German Government: Hitler gives his annual speech in Munich to commemorate the failed 1923 Putsch. Speaking in the Löwenbräukeller, he vows retribution for RAF attacks on Berlin. Somewhat ironically, Hitler has had to move the speech up due to fears of RAF attacks on the site of his speech (fears that prove well-founded).

Hitler states that he has always felt that "the Germanic races had to come together" and that as part of this effort "I wished to establish close bonds of friendship with England." In this, however, "we  met with failure regarding England." Hitler blames the war on "war profiteers" and states that he is "indifferent" to the war because it will only go on "until we end it."

As he continues, Hitler drops his conciliatory tone and begins to rage against Winston Churchill, calling him "World History's 'General Liar'" (Generallugner der Weltgeschichte) and a "common criminal." "I will show them who shall be destroyed!" he vows. One somewhat humorous aspect for those reading the speech now is that at one point he says, "And, summing up," but then proceeds to give the bulk of his speech.

US Military: The US War Department announces that it will set up a new training center in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It will be known as Camp Croft Infantry Replacement Training Center, after Major General Edward Croft who came from the state and retired as Chief of Infantry. The camp will be officially activated on 10 January 1941 as part of the Fourth Service Command.

Gabon: General Koenig's troops have landed at Pointe La Mondah, near Libreville, which is still held by Vichy forces. The Vichy forces resist vigorously, but they have few sources of reinforcement or supply. Success in this operation is vital to General de Gaulle's reputation, as the failed invasion of Dakar has cast a cloud over his military reputation.

French Homefront: The Vichy government bans union confederations.

American Homefront: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation releases "The Mark of Zorro," starring Tyrone Power as Diego, Linda Darnell as Lolita Quintero and Basil Rathbone as Captain Esteban Pasquale.

"The Mark of Zorro" starring Tyrone Power is released on 8 November 1940.

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Thursday 7 November 1940

"Galloping Gertie" in its last moments.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The slow Italian advance against stiffening Greek resistance reaches its point of maximum advance along the coast on 7 November 1940. The Italians that have crossed the Kalamas River reach Margariti, Greece. On the Greek side, the Thesprotia Sector begins receiving reinforcements from Katsimitros. On the other fronts, the situation remains unchanged, with the Greeks gradually destroying the remnants of the Julia Division on the Pindus front.

The RAF raids Valona, Albania, a big Valona airbase. The planes come in low and strafe the field in addition to bombing it.

European Air Operations: After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 50 bombers against the Krupp munitions factory at Essen, synthetic oil installations at Cologne, Dusseldorf blast furnaces, the Oberhausen docks in the Dortmund-Ems Canal, the port of Duisburg, Dunkirk Harbor, Lorient U-boat installations, and various airfields in northwestern Europe.

The Luftwaffe attacks across the Thames Estuary and sends two attacks against Portsmouth. The attacks accomplish little. After dark, the Luftwaffe concentrates on London, hitting a children's hospital, and sends a few bombers against the Midlands and southwest. Overall, the Luftwaffe loses seven planes and the RAF five.

Ten-victory ace Wilhelm Müller is killed in combat over England.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge giving a vivid demonstration of the aeroelastic principle and resonance.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe (KGr 506) attacks Convoy FS 28. It bombs and damages 1673 ton British freighter Astrologer. The crew manages to beach the ship, but a storm wrecks it on the 15th. Everyone survives. Other ships in the convoy also are damaged: 1993 ton British freighter Dago II and 2163 ton British freighter Medee. The Germans lose a Junkers Ju 88 to gunfire from sloop HMS Egret, which takes some damage.

British 2645 ton freighter Herland hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary northeast of Sheerness, Kent. There are 18 deaths.

Free French 350 ton auxiliary minesweeper Poulmic hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel off Plymouth, Devon. There are 7 survivors and 11 men perish.

Royal Navy 99 ton trawler HMT Reed hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. All 15 onboard perish.

Royal Navy 364 ton trawler HMT William Wesney hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Felixstowe, Suffolk. There are five men dead, the survivors are picked up by HMS Sheldrake and two nearby trawlers.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Swordfish hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel off St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight. All 41 crew perish.

Working in conjunction, an RAF Supermarine Walrus and destroyer HMS Milford damage Vichy French submarine Poncelet off Gabon. The submarine manages to surface, and then the crew scuttles the sub later. The crew is picked up by HMS Foxhound and Fortune except for Commander de Saussine, who intentionally goes down with his ship.

Early in the morning just past midnight, German torpedo boat T-6 hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea forty miles off Kinnaird Head, Aberdeenshire. The torpedo boat is traveling with several other torpedo boats ( T.1, T.4, T.9, T.10 of the 1st Torpedo Boat Flotilla and T.6, T.7, T.8 of the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla) operating out of Trondheim on a sweep off the Scottish coast. T=7 and T-8 pick up the survivors and then head back to France.

Royal Navy submarine Utmost, damaged in the Bay of Biscay on the 6th in a "friendly fire" incident by HMS Encounter, makes it to Gibraltar.

Convoy FS 330 departs from Methil.

U-551 (Kapitänleutnant Karl Schrott) is commissioned.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Bangor (J 00, Commander Jack Peterson) is commissioned.

American submarine USS Gar is launched. It has been sponsored by the wife of  Rear Admiral George Pettengill.

USS Gar is launched.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italians attempt to retake Gallabat, on the Abyssinia/Sudan border, which the British have just taken. There are fierce dogfights overhead. The 10th Indian Brigade which took the base finally retreats under pressure due to tank losses and RAF losses. At the end of the day, the Italians occupy the town.

Force H departs from Gibraltar, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and battleship HMS Barham. The Barham actually leads a separate group that will split off from Force H. This is Force F, and it is carrying 2000 troops to Malta. The Italians are aware of these movements and send three destroyers to intercept Force F.

At Malta, Governor Dobbie sends a letter to Secretary of State for War. He expresses the impression that "it would not take a great deal to get the Italians to quit." He suggests replacing the large Wellingtons operating on the island with Blenheims (two of the Wellingtons recently crashed upon take-off).

A multi-turret Soviet tank T-35 Model 1939, in the 7 November 1940 October Revolution parade.

Battle of the Pacific: British refrigerated freighter Cambridge hits a mine in eastern approaches of the Bass Strait. The mine recently was laid by German raider Pinguin. There are 55 survivors and one man perishes. HMAS Orara picks up the survivors.

The Pinguin and the Passat head for a pre-arranged meeting 700 miles west of Perth in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Spy Stuff: Tyler Kent, a cipher clerk at the US Embassy, is convicted of espionage in the Central Criminal Court in the Old Bailey. He is sentenced to seven years.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Irish Taoiseach Éamon de Valera refuses a British request that it be allowed to use naval ports and airfields in Ireland.

Joan Crawford takes in the National Horse Show. 7 November 1940. Say what you will about the old days, folks knew how to dress.

German Military: OKH Chief of Staff General Franz Halder has a meeting with Colonel Heusinger and his adjutant, Major Gehlen. They review Heusinger's preliminary plans to invade Greece from Bulgaria, as adjusted by Halder. Key issues are the fact that German troops would have a long march through Poland or Hungary and through Romania. Once they reached Bulgaria, moreover, the launching points themselves would be remote and conspicuous to the enemy. In addition, the Greeks have fortified the border with the "Metaxas Line" chain of barriers and fortresses. Even after the German troops broke through this line, they would be far removed from their allies, the Italian troops in the west, and require breaking out of Thrace over inhospitable terrain. This would create supply issues, no small matter with an advance by 100,000 men or more. Thus, the Wehrmacht would face large problems even before they began the campaign.

All of these issues point to a single solution: take the short route through Yugoslavia. That is something that Hitler already has considered, and of course, the decision rests with him. This all eventually comes under the rubric of Operation Marita.

Gabon: Free French troops of the Foreign Legion land at Libreville. They arrive in troopships Fort Lamy, Casamance, and Nevada. These troops are necessary to complete the conquest of the territory, as Vichy French troops still control key areas. The Free French forces are under the command of Colonel Leclerc.

The Vichy naval forces are operating in the area. Submarine Poncelet attacks troopship Milford but misses. It then is attacked as described above under "Battle of the Atlantic."

Australia: In the "Blue Draft," which is the training of RAAF pilots in Canada, Draft No. 3, which had embarked at Sydney on 16 October, arrives in Vancouver.



American Homefront: Pursuant to the meeting between engineering Professor F. Bert Farquharson of the University of Washington and state engineers on 6 November, state bureaucrats are drafting up contracts to modify the brand-new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Farquharson recommends installing wind deflectors in order to disperse the effect of the strong gales that sweep down the river valley during the fall change of seasons.

Professor Farquharson has found from studying scale models of the bridge that these winds can cause extreme oscillations in the bridge deck, vertical wave motions that cause the roadway to "bounce." Well, you learn something new every day, right? Farquharson's studies, however, have taken about eight months to complete and lasted into the high-wind autumn season that is most dangerous.

The condition, which has given the bridge the nickname "Galloping Gertie," has been noticed by bridge workers and others even before the bridge was completed. Now, with all of their boxes checked - formal study completed, a conference held to discuss the issue, higher officials notified and so forth - state engineers finally take steps to correct the issue. They understand the urgency and plan to implement the remedies within ten days, which is an extreme speed for such a massive project which requires making architectural sketches, obtaining steel and other materials, and finding workers.

At this point, Mother Nature intervenes. Before dawn, the winds pick up from the southwest. As it has before, the Tacoma Narrows bridge begins undulating, or "galloping." These are not small waves - some are as high as 5 feet high. The wind speed increases after daylight and reaches 38 miles per hour at 07:30 and 42 mph at 09:30. The chief bridge engineer drives across the bridge at 08:30 and decides that the undulations, while noticeable, are not as large as in some previous instances.

Professor Farquharson arrives at 09:30 from Seattle and begins filming the bridge for his engineering study, with no notification that anything unusual is in store. The undulations are so intense that a college student walks out on the bridge around this time "for a thrill" and to watch a coast guard ship, the Atlanta, pass under it. Just before 10:00, the last few vehicles pay their tolls and start driving across. At 10:30, the bridge adds a lateral twisting motion to the vertical oscillations. The movements seem to feed on each other (resonance), and the undulations reach 28 feet, with the roadway tilting 45 degrees.

The State Police close the bridge, but there are people still on it, some clinging to the railings for their lives. One of the cars gets tossed against the curb, and the driver crawls on the roadway toward one of the towers. The Tacoma News Tribune hears about the situation and sends out a photographer. At 10:30, the bridge starts coming apart, with concrete chunks falling into the river.

The winds die down for a little while but soon pick back up again. At around 11:00, the bridge span begins to rip apart. The entire span then starts ripping from the cables which hold it up. Farquharson, who has run onto the bridge to save a dog left in a car, runs for his life as the bridge starts oscillating in 60-foot waves (the dog, Tubby, wedges himself under the seat, biting the owner who tries to get him out). The entire bridge then twists apart and crashes into the river at around 11:10.

The event receives world-wide attention due to the excellent color filming of the collapse. American POWs in the jungles of southeast Asia a few years later report being ribbed about the incident by their guards, who find it quite amusing. The bridge only lasted four months. Incidentally, the concrete remains of the bridge that fell into the river remain in situ, forming a natural reef. New bridges with better wind tolerance have replaced the collapsed bridge.


November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Wednesday 6 November 1940

Hurricane Mk Is of No 245 Squadron, based at Aldergrove, November 1940

Italian/Greek Campaign: In the coastal sector on 6 November 1940, the attacks against the Kalpaki front continue. The Italians continue trying to re-take the Grabala heights, without success. Nearby, Italian troops take Igoumenitsa on the coast, where the natural barriers are less formidable.

The Italian Julia Division continues being slaughtered in the Pindus sector. The Greek troops of the 2nd Army Corps continue pressing in on them. All attempts at the relief of the Italian troops in the Vovousa Valley fail.

The RAF raids Italian airfields in Albania.

The British government gives the Greek government £5,000,000.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe raids Southampton during the day, causing casualties and property damage. They hit two churches, one of which has 600 people sheltering in the crypt, but there are no casualties. This is estimated to be the 175th raid against Southampton. During the night, the Luftwaffe sends 190 bombers to London and surrounding areas.

During the day, RAF Bomber Command attacks a convoy off Den Helder and oil installations at Salzbergen, Cuxhaven, and the airfield at Haamstede, Zeeland. After dark, the bombers attack Spandau, Berlin and nearby locations.

Major Helmut Wick, commander of JG 2 "Richthofen," shoots down a Hurricane flown by Hubert Adair. The plane comes down at Pigeon House Farm, Widely, Hampshire. The plane is excavated on 6 October 1979 and the pilot's remains removed. His loss is listed on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, Surrey.

There are dogfights over the Isle of Wight, one of which leads to the death of Ofw. Heinrich Klopp of 5./JG 2.

Overall during the day, the Luftwaffe loses about 6 planes and the RAF loses four.

Battle of the Atlantic: During the night, the Germans send seven E-boats on a sweep of the east coast of Scotland during the night. The area is heavily mined, however, and T6 hits one and sinks. The other torpedo boats then return to their base.

Italian submarine Comandante Faà di Bruno attacks Convoy HX 84. It makes a surface attack, using its deck gun, on freighter Melrose Abbey. However, its attack is unsuccessful, and the submarine, in turn, is attacked by Royal Navy destroyers HMCS Ottawa and HMS Harvester. The Faà di Bruno is sunk southwest of Ireland and all 57 aboard perish. It is an unusual situation, not just because of the brazen surface attack in the face of escorts, but because the zone of operations for Italian submarines lies much further to the south.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sturgeon torpedoes and sinks 1294 ton Norwegian freighter Delfinus in the North Sea west of Varhaug, Jæren. Everybody survives. The Sturgeon fires two torpedoes, one of which hits the Delfinus and the other which misses and hits the beach.

In a "friendly fire" incident, Royal Navy destroyer HMS Encounter misidentifies and rams submarine HMS Utmost off Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. The submarine makes it back to port.

The Luftwaffe has a good day against shipping.

A Heinkel He 115 seaplane (KG 706) attacks Convoy WN 31 in the North Sea off Noss Head, Caithness. It bombs and sinks 6418-ton British freighter Clan Mackinlay. Five crew perish.

In the same attack, 5415-ton British freighter Harborough also is hit. Tugs take it back to port.

A Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor (1,/KG 40) bombs and sinks 7206-ton British freighter Nalon west of Ireland. Everyone survives.

Royal Navy 253 ton whaler HMS Sevra (T/S.Lt. Francis Brooks Richards, RNVR) hits a mine and sinks off Falmouth, Cornwall in the English Channel.

Royal Navy 63 ton trawler (drifter) HMT Girl Helen hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea off Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. There are two deaths of men serving with the Royal Naval Patrol Service.

Swedish 52 ton fishing ship Elly hits an air mine and sinks in the Skagerrak about 37 km west of the Pater Noster Lighthouse. There are five deaths. It is the third Swedish fishing vessel lost to mines in the area in the past month.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Elgin hits a mine and is damaged. Fellow minesweeper Gossamer tows it to Harwich.

British minesweepers HMS Teviotbank and Plover, along with destroyers HMS Icarus and Impulsive, lay minefield BS 45.

Convoy FN 328 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 329 departs from Methil, Convoy BS 7 departs from Port Sudan.

Tanker San Demetrio arrives in port. This tanker was shelled by the German cruiser Admiral Scheer on 5 November 1940. The crew abandoned ship, but then saw the tanker intact on the 6th. They reboarded it on the morning of the 7th and got it running again, making it to port under its own power. The crew was awarded salvage rights. In the picture of it above, you can see the "SOS" signs the crew has put on the sides.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British under General Slim, accompanied by Sudanese and 10th Indian Brigade troops, counterattack the Italian troops at Gallabat and Metemma. Gallabat falls. The frontier post of Gallabat on the border of Sudan/Abyssinia has changed hands a couple of times, most recently in July.

Operation Coat gets underway. It is a fleet operation out of Gibraltar and part of overall Operation MB8. It is an attempt to ferry Hurricane fighters to Malta. This is the second such operation to ferry fighters (the first was Operation Hurry in August 1940). HMS Argus carries the 12 Hurricanes. The entire operation will continue over the next ten days.

At Malta, there are rumors that the BBC has broadcast that the recent air attacks on Naples have come from Malta. The bombers' base is supposed to be a secret as if the Italians believe that Malta is an offensive threat, that would make them more likely to invade it. This also is a particularly bad time to antagonize the Italians because of the extensive Royal Navy fleet operations in motion, including convoys to Malta.

Battle of the Pacific: German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin lays another 40 mines off southern Australia, this time in the Spencer Strait near Melbourne. It is now finished with its minelaying activities and departs for a rendezvous with converted minelayer Passat.

German Military: Colonel Adolf Heusinger, chief of the operations department at the army high command (OKH), submits his first draft of the proposed invasion of Greece from Bulgaria. General Franz Halder, OKH Chief of Staff, reviews it - the plan is based on his general instructions - and decides to beef up the motorized troops involved. He adds the 60 Motorized Division and the SS Adolf Hitler Division to the 40th corps which forms the backbone of the invasion. This effectively doubles its strength. He also adds 30th corps, which has to be taken from Army Group B in Poland, giving that corps the 5th and 6th mountain divisions.

In effect, Halder doubles the size of the forces involved. Taking some of these top units from forces based in Poland that otherwise would be available later for Operation Barbarossa leads some historians to reach the conclusion that this operation - which eventually becomes Operation Marita - dilutes the forces for that more important invasion.

By Illingworth, 'The Daily Mail', November 6, 1940, At Stake: "The sovereignty of the Mediterranean."

Gabon: The Free French remain on the move. They take Lambarene.

South Africa: Former Prime Minister General J.B.M. Hertzog, who some have accused of having Hitlerite sympathies, resigns as leader of the Nationalist Party. The reason is Hertzog's loss of support by his coalition partners due to his platform of equal rights between British South Africans and Afrikaners.

Chile: The country makes a claim to some territory in the Antarctic region.

Today's papers are full of the election results.

German Homefront: The first Canadian prisoners arrive at the new Oflag IV-C POW camp at Colditz Castle.

British Homefront: The government takes another step toward regularizing the Home Guard by authorizing the commissioning of Home Guard officers. The British Under-Secretary for War promises to provide the Home Guard troops with better equipment.

American Homefront: Professor F. Bert Farquharson at the University of Washington, who recently has completed a study of the "Galloping Gertie" Tacoma Narrows Bridge, meets with Bridge engineer Clark Eldridge and PWA engineer L. R. Durkee. Farquharson tells them that they will have to modify the brand-new bridge in order to make it more streamlined to eliminate or at least dampen a "twisting motion" which his scale models had shown were caused by high winds. The engineers agree and tell their superiors that they need to contract with suppliers to install wind deflectors on the south side of the bridge. State authorities being drafting the contracts.

Fats Waller and His Rhythm records "Tain't Nobody's Biz-Nezz If I Do."

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Saturday 2 November 1940

U-31 going on its final dive.

Italian/Greek Campaign: At the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas on 2 November 1940, Italian infantry of the Ferrara Division attack Greek forces on their main defensive line of Elaia-Kalamas, north of Ioannina. The Italians make no progress despite having light L3/35 tankettes and medium M13/40 tanks because the mountainous terrain is hostile to vehicles.

In the central Pindus Mountain sector, the Italian Julia Division struggles forward and captures the villages of Vovousa, Samarina, and Distrato. This is still 30 km short of their objective, Metsovo, whose capture would have strategic significance (it is a key transit point to Greek supplies). Greek Colonel Konstantinos Davakis, in charge of the two battalions, cavalry and artillery of the Pindus Detachment, is badly wounded during reconnaissance near Fourka. The Greeks work through the night to prepare an ambush of these advanced Italian troops.

On the Coastal Sector, the Italians begin their attack on Kalamas River along the Kalpaki front. It starts to snow, which aids the defense. An Albanian battalion captures the Grabala heights in the Negrades sector and holds it through the night, but otherwise, the attack makes little progress.

In the Koritsa sector, the Greek 9th Infantry Division and 4th Infantry Brigade attack static Italian positions at the border.

The Italian air force bombs Salonika again, killing 200 civilians. Other targets include Corfu, Patras, and Janina. The attack on Salonika is especially strong, with 15 Italian Cant 1007Z bombers escorted by Fiat CR 42 fighters. The Greeks intercept the formation and shoot down three of the Italian bombers.

A downed Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM-70 bomber, 2 November 1940.

The Greeks bomb Koritsa airfield.

The Greeks report repelling an Italian naval attack near the Corinth Canal with antiaircraft guns and fighter attacks.

Royal Hellenic Air Force pilot Marinos Mitralexis, out of ammo in his PZL P-24 (serial no: Δ 130) because he already has shot down one bomber, rams another Italian bomber in its rudder, causing it to crash. Mitralexis then lands nearby (his engine is out) and, knowing where the Italian plane crashed, runs over with his pistol and arrests the Italians who parachuted to safety. Mitralexis is promoted to Wing Commander and received Gold Cross of Valour, Greece's highest award.

Turkey, which has declared its neutrality in the Italian/Greek war and warned Bulgaria to stay out also, pointedly keeps 37 divisions on the Bulgarian border "just in case."


European Air Operations: During the day, the Luftwaffe sends a couple of raids against London, but the RAF scatters the German planes, which drop their bombs at random over the Kent/Sussex countryside. The weather is bad during the night, so the RAF bombers stay on the ground today, and the Luftwaffe bombers finish their minor raids by midnight.

Michael Marwood in later years.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-31 (Kptlt. Wilfried Prellberg) is sunk by depth charges by Royal Navy HMS Antelope (Lieutenant-Commander RT “Dick” White) in the shipping lanes northwest of Ireland. Prellberg is stalking Convoy OB 237 when the Antelope spots it. After several hours, during which Asdic contact is lost and regained, a depth charge ruptures the U-boat's ballast tanks. Captain Prellberg manages to surface the boat and even opens fire with his deck gun. The U-boat still has its engines running when the crew abandons it and the sub collides with the destroyer before sinking (the men of the Antelope get a boat in the water to board U-31, but it sinks before they can get to it). The Antelope will require a month of repairs.

This is the second time that U-31 goes under, having been sunk in shallow water on 11 March 1940 by the RAF and later raised and repaired. This time, the sinking is permanent, and U-31 still rests where it fell that day. U-31 has sunk 11 ships of 27,751 tons and an additional auxiliary warship of 160 tons.

Prellberg gets off 43-44 of the 45-46 man crew (two ratings are lost) to become POWs. Lieutenant Commander Michael Marwood, the navigator who guides the destroyer by Asdic to the U-boat's location, receives the DSC for the action. At this point in the war there is still some civility at sea, and Marwood lends some of the German officers his own clothes, “but received little thanks. They thought we were mad. As the war became total and cruel, we treated future prisoners very differently!” Michael Marwood passes away on 5 January 2016.

Royal Navy 429 ton tug HMT Rinovia (Chief Skipper T. Fraser RNR) hits a mine in the English Channel off Falmouth, Cornwall, and sinks. There are 14 deaths.

German aerial mines of IX Air Corps sink British 168 ton tug Lea and 148-ton Deanbrook in the River Thames. Six crew perish on the Lea and everyone on board the Deanbrook (apparently also six crew) also perishes. The tugs sink in shallow water and are salvaged for scrap.

British 28 ton drifter Goodwill hits a mine and sinks in the Firth of Forth.

British 138 ton grain schooner Penola collides with another ship during the morning and sinks in the Clyde off Toward Point, Argyllshire (just west of the Toward Lighthouse). The crew abandons ship safely. The ship comes to rest upright in shallow water but later breaks up. Some sources place this incident on November 9th.

Greek 1588 ton freighter Menelaos capsizes in heavy weather and sinks in the outer Owers in the English Channel south of Selsey Bill, West Sussex.

Minelayers HMS Teviotbank and Plover and destroyers HMS Intrepid and Icarus lay minefield BS 44 in the North Sea. The Intrepid itself hits a mine off Hartlepool (it is unclear if it is one that it itself is laying, it appears not), which damages its engines. It limps into Hartlepool for repairs, joining the 50 other Royal Navy destroyers currently under repair.

Royal Navy HMS Campbeltown, one of the destroyers received from the US Navy in the destroyers-for-bases deal, collides with 793-ton Norwegian freighter Risoy. The Campbeltown sustains only minor damage which requires repairs of about three weeks at Liverpool.

Royal Navy Armed Merchant Cruiser Ranpura has a fire onboard which causes minor damage.

Royal Navy submarine Taku (Lt J. F. B. Brown) attacks 8923-ton German freighter Gedania in the Bay of Biscay off the Loire but misses.

Royal Navy submarine Tigris also spots an enemy ship, the Italian submarine Veniero, off the Gironde. Its attack also is unsuccessful. Submarines are difficult for other submarines to attack.

Convoys FN 324 and FN 325 depart from Southend, Convoy OB 238 departs from Liverpool,

U-69 (Kapitänleutnant Jost Metzler) is commissioned.

Adolf Hitler with Günther von Kluge, 1940. Von Kluge was known as der Kluge Hans, a play on his name which translates as "Clever Hans." Hans also was a famous horse of the day who supposedly was good at arithmetic. Hans also happened to be Kluge's own nickname, and English-speakers can somewhat grasp the nickname with the incorrect translation "Clever Hands Hans." Kluge was known as being extremely slippery in a political sense for a general (Federal Archive).

Battle of the Mediterranean: With the Crete landings successfully completed, the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet, led by battleship Warspite and aircraft carrier Illustrious, returns to Alexandria. Italian bombers attack the departing ships and score some near misses against cruisers HMS Ajax and Coventry.

Royal Navy submarine Tetrarch joins the other Royal Navy submarines making unsuccessful attacks today, missing an Italian freighter off Benghazi.

At Malta, there is an air raid around 12:30 when 20 SM 79 bombers escorted by 30 Macchi 200 and CR 42 fighters fly over the island from the north. There is a massive dogfight. One Macchi 200 is shot down by Hurricanes (pilot killed when chute fails to open), and a second Macchi and two CR 42s badly damaged. The bombs hit Luqa airfield and four houses near Aabbar.

A Maryland of RAF No. 431 Squadron is photographing Taranto Harbor when the pilot is wounded by a fire from an Italian fighter and knocked unconscious. The navigator takes over the controls until the pilot recovers sufficiently to pilot the aircraft back to base.

Spy Stuff: Free French submarine Rubis (CC Cabanier), which was in the port of Dundee, Scotland at the time of the French surrender on 22 June, drops off a British agent at Korsfjord, Norway during the night.

US Military: Rear Admiral John W. Greenslade arrives in Fort-de-France, Martinique. This is a continuation of amicable discussions between the US and the local commander, Vice Admiral Georges A.M.J. Robert, about the French situation there. The French have an aircraft carrier there which is immobilized.

US Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson contracts with a subsidiary of the Pan American Airport Corporation to construct airfields and seaplane bases from the border of French Guiana along the Brazilian coast and down to Uruguay.

American Homefront: Doc Holliday's common-law wife, Hungarian "Big Nose" Kate, passes away at age 89.

Professor F. Bert Farquharson at the University of Washington completes studies he has been conducting of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State. Contracted by the Toll Bridge Authority in March, Farquharson has built a 1:200 scale model of the bridge to try to duplicate in a wind tunnel the vibrations which have given the bridge the nickname "Galloping Gertie." He is successful at this and decides the bridge has a major problem. Farquharson, however, believes one of two solutions should be implemented: drill holes in the bridge's girders to allow wind to pass through or affix wind deflectors. The State, meanwhile, has taken the temporary expedient of tying the bridge spans down with cables. The State plans a meeting with Farquharson on the 6th to discuss the remedies.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge around 2 November 1940. In the foreground are cables (anchored restraining wires 1-9/16 inches in diameter) that were affixed in October to suppress the bridge's twisting motion during high winds. One of the cables snapped on 1 November but was quickly repaired. There were no cables, however, on the critical center span.

November 1940

November 1, 1940: Hitler Irate
November 2, 1940: U-31 Sunk - Again
November 3, 1940: Kretschmer's Master Class
November 4, 1940: Spain Absorbs Tangier
November 5, 1940: Jervis Bay Meets Admiral Scheer
November 6, 1940: San Demetrio Incident
November 7, 1940: Galloping Gertie
November 8, 1940: Italian Shakeup in Greece
November 9, 1940: Dutch Fascists March
November 10, 1940: Fala and Doc Strange
November 11, 1940: Taranto Raid
November 12, 1940: Molotov Takes Berlin
November 13, 1940: Molotov Foils Hitler
November 14, 1940: Moonlight Sonata
November 15, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Sealed
November 16, 1940: France Keeps Battleships
November 17, 1940: Malta Hurricane Disaster
November 18, 1940: Hitler Berates Ciano
November 19, 1940: Birmingham Devastated
November 20, 1940: Hungary Joins Axis
November 21, 1940: Dies White Paper
November 22, 1940: Italians Take Korçë
November 23, 1940: U-Boat Bonanza!
November 24, 1940: Slovakia Joins In
November 25, 1940: Molotov's Demands
November 26, 1940: Bananas Be Gone
November 27, 1940: Cape Spartivento Battle
November 28, 1940: Wick Perishes
November 29, 1940: Trouble in Indochina
November 30, 1940: Lucy and Desi Marry

2020

Monday 6 May 1940

French troops in the Narvik sector, 1940.

Norway: The saga of the Norwegian gold reserve reaches a turning point on 6 May 1940, as £33,000,000 arrives in London. Having traveled most of the vast length of Norway by train and British cruiser, there were some anxious moments before it finally wound up safely in England.

Norway Army Operations: With the Germans in control of all of Norway south of Trondheim, the Allies are massing strength around the vital transit hub Narvik. The South Wales Borderers (part of British 24th Brigade) are assembling five miles to the west, and the French Chasseurs Alpins and Colonial artillery troops continue to try to force their way through Labergdal Pass to the north, across the fjord. Getting into position on the opposite shore would provide prime artillery positioning for the Allies, so the pass must be held if the Germans are to hold the town.

Colonel-General Dietl in Narvik is sitting tight in Narvik. It is a small port whose only value is the rail line to Swedish ore mines. While easily defensible due to the towering mountain ranges on all sides, Dietl's regiment does not have the manpower to hold off a determined assault from all directions.

The Wehrmacht high command (particularly Hitler) is well aware that General Dietl's regiment is in trouble. The German 2d Mountain (Gebirgsjäger ) Division continues marching north from Trondheim across snow-covered mountain roads to help Dietl. It remains far away. Sea transport is out of the question due to British naval dominance.

Norway Naval Operations: Allied supply convoys reach Harstad and Tromso, jumping-off points for an attack on Narvik. The French 13th Demi-Brigade Legion Etrangere arrives at Harstad.

The Kriegsmarine is sending reinforcements to Norway across the Skagerrak and is somewhat careless about possible Allied interference. British submarine HMS Sealion sees two transport ships, Moltkefels and Neidenfels, at 14:00. Sealion fires six torpedoes at them but all miss.

In addition, HMS Snapper sees German armed merchant cruiser Widder, which left port on 5 May for its raid, about 30 miles east of Denmark around 15:25. Snapper fires two torpedoes - and both miss.

Norway Air Operations: While the British control the sea around Narvik, the Germans increasingly control the skies. Today, the Luftwaffe attacks part of the British fleet sitting nearby, with one bomb just missing cruiser HMS Enterprise, causing some damage and killing a Marine.

The Luftwaffe can operate from Værnes Air Station near Trondheim, which is rapidly upgraded to handle large forces, and also Hattfjelldal Airfield in Hattfjelldal, Norway. While not very close to Narvik, their planes outmatch anything that the British can put in the air over the isolated port.

Western Front: Hitler's Wehrmacht is silently moving over 90 divisions into launching points for the invasion of the Low Countries and France. Meanwhile, the Allies are focused on the sideshow in Narvik. The Germans, incidentally, are preparing more divisions for combat operations than the United States fielded at any point in World War II.

Belgian reconnaissance notices a large Wehrmacht Armoured column moving west through the Ardennes. It is part of General von Rundstedt's force for Fall Gelb.

Battle of the Atlantic: The HMS Seal, captured by the Wehrmacht on 5 May, is gone but not forgotten. During its patrol, it released some 50 mines. Today, German cargo ship Vogesen hits one and sinks.

British freighter Brighton hits a mine and sinks near Dunkirk.

Convoy OA 143GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 143 departs from Liverpool.

British corvette HMS Calendula (Lt. Commander Alan D. Bruford) is commissioned.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Ash (George A. Harrison) is commissioned.

Italian Battleship Vittorio is completed.

European Air Operations: RAF bomber command sends a dozen aircraft on minelaying operations during the night.

Vatican: The Vatican has been acting as a clearinghouse for off-and-on behind the scenes peace negotiations with Wehrmacht dissidents and thus has good sources. The Pope has been trying to get the word out that the Germans are preparing to attack. He faces massive Allied indifference or disbelief. The Pope tells Princess of Italy Marie José, the wife of the Italian Crown Prince, that Germany is about to attack the Low Countries. The Princess informs her brother, King Leopold of Belgium. Unfortunately, there have been several false alarms that have greatly embarrassed the Belgians and cost some highly placed officials their jobs, so one more alarm does not create as much excitement as it otherwise might.

Olympics: The International Olympics makes formal a decision that has been obvious for some time, canceling the 1940 Summer Olympics - the winter Games already having been canceled.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Japanese 11th Army captures Fengyao and Changchiachi.

British Homefront: The government releases employment figures showing that unemployment is at its lowest level in 20 years.

American Homefront: John Steinbeck wins the Pulitzer Prize for "The Grapes of Wrath," which already has been turned into a classic Hollywood film starring Henry Fonda.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge nearing completion, May 6, 1940. James Bashford Press Photos. PH Coll. 290.9 University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. The bridge opened in July 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

2019