1940 Soviet troops finally breach the Mannerheim line, forcing the Finns to withdraw to a secondary defense line. The Soviet Union and Germany sign a treaty to exchange Soviet raw materials for German manufactured goods. 1941 Former GOP presidential candidate Wendell Willkie testifies in favor of Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease Bill in Congressional hearings. Hanover is bombed […]

1939 Japanese occupy island of Hainan in French Indochina. 1940 Over 4000 members of American Youth Congress march in Washington to protest US being drawn into imperialistic war; President Roosevelt angrily confronts them. 1941 London severs diplomatic relations with Romania. The RAF attacks the oil storage tanks at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The raid sees

1941 Admiral Darlan becomes Vichy Vice-Premier. In a radio broadcast, Churchill warns Bulgaria against joining the Tripartite pact. U-boats and Fw 200 Condor bombers sink 5 of 16 ships in Allied Convoy HG-53 off the Azores (3 more will be lost in the coming days). British take El Agheila, Libya, but the advance halts. 1942

1941 Laval declines Petain’s offer of Cabinet seat in the Vichy Government. The first convoy of the newly formed Afrika Korps under the command of Lieutenant General Rommel leaves Naples for Tripoli in Libya. Force H from Malta bombards Genoa, without hindrance from the Italian Navy or Air force. The House of Representatives passes H.R.

1940 British railroads are nationalized. 1941 The Italian troops stay between Agedabia and El-Agheila. In Libya, the British are victorious at Beda Fomm; 20,000 troops of the Italian Tenth Army surrender. General Graziani ask Mussolini for substitution as a commander of the Italian forces at North Africa, and as Libyan Governor. 1942 After just over

1940 The Finnish 9th Division finally manages to encircle the Russian 54th Division in Kuhmo. Finnish pilot Lt. Sarvanto, flying a Fokker, shoots down six out of seven Russian SB-2 bombers in just 5 minutes. The Russian 44th Division’s commander General Vinogradov, authorizes the remainder of his troops to try escape back to Russian lines.

1940 British and French governments agree to land an expeditionary force in northern Norway without regard for Norway’s neutrality in order to aide Finland, although it was never carried out. First sinking of a U-boat by a lone British destroyer: in convoy OA-84 off Land’s End, HMS Antelope sinks U-41. 1941 An advanced column of armoured