1940 General Sir Edmund Ironside, C-in-C of British Home Forces, completes plans for the defense of Britain against German invasion. On the orders from General Weygand, C-in-C of the French Army, the French forces opposing the advance of Army Group A withdraw to the South, offering little resistance. The Germans cross the River Marne, consolidate […]
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1940 Householders in possession of Anderson shelters must by law have them up and earthed by today. The German forces capture Rheims. Paris prepares for siege as the Luftwaffe pounds the city. The RAF attacks Turin and Genoa with 36 Whitley bombers. RAF attack German ships in Trondheim harbour, Norway. Australia and New Zealand declare
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ivid, strikingly beautiful actress Anne Gwynne arrived in Hollywood a typical starry-eyed model looking to become a big film star, and ended up one of Universal Studio’s favorite screamers in “B” horror films. Born Marguerite Gwynne Trice in Waco, Texas on December 10, 1918
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On This Week in WWII History: June 9–15 1942 1940: Norway Falls, Italy Joins the War The last remaining forces of the Norwegian Army—specifically the 6th Division—surrendered this week in 1940, following Norway’s unconditional capitulation to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the war widened: Italy officially declared war on Britain and France, effective June 11, 1940. In
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1940 German forces advancing South from the Somme capture Rouen on the Seine. The British 51st Highland Division and part of the French 10th Army withdraw towards St-Valery-en-Caux, hoping to be evacuated to England. The French government evacuates from Paris to Tours. Norway officially surrenders to Germany. 1941 Fire Service Council established in Britain, with 1,400
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1940 The British aircraft carrier Glorious is sunk by the German heavy battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Southwest of Narvik. The evacuation of British and French troops (24,000 men) from Narvik and Harstad is completed. A Norwegian delegation negotiates with the Germans for a peace treaty. Off Norway, German battlecruisers Gneisenau & Scharnhorst sink British carrier HMS Glorious and British destroyers Ardent and Acasta (1537
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1940 Allied troops fall back on Bresles front, 60 miles north of Paris. French bomb Berlin. King Haakon of Norway, his family and government, evacuate from Norway to Britain as Germans advance. 1941 The first of five heavy night raids by the RAF begins on Brest as Prinz Eugen shelters there. First US Lend-Lease planes
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Jumping on the night of D-Day, the 82nd Airborne had to capture the town of Sainte-Mère-Église. Holding the town, however, would have meant little without also holding the roads to and from it. One such route had a bottleneck: the La Fière Bridge a small stone bridge at La Fière manor, 700 yards to the west
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Dead Man’s Corner: The 101st Airborne and the Battle for Carentan After D-Day After the Allied landings on D-Day, the mission wasn’t over once the beaches were secured. The hard-fought push inland through the Normandy countryside began immediately. Troops had to capture key crossroads and towns to link up the separate beachheads and expand the
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Before dawn, the Allied Expeditionary Force of British, American, Canadian, Polish, and Free French troops begins Operation Overlord, the long-awaited invasion of France.
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