1940 British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, tells the British people that Hitler has ‘missed the bus’, meaning that a German invasion of the west is now unlikely to succeed. Norway and Sweden are both informed of the allied intention to mine Norwegian waters. RAF launch attacks against ships at Wilhelmshaven. 1942 Fuhrer Directive 41 rolls […]

1940 In France, spreading Communist or antiwar propaganda is declared a capital offense. 1941 Field Marshal Erwin Rommel captures the British held town of Benghazi in North Africa. Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, is abandoned by Italians. 1943 Newly built gas chamber/crematory V opens at Auschwitz. 1944 Charles de Gaulle becomes the head of Free

1940 War Cabinet reshuffle, Churchill to chair committee directing general war policy. Soviets begin massacre of 20,000 Polish officers in Katyn Forest. The United States Congress cuts military spending 10 percent and refuses to fund heavy bombers as “aggressive weapons.” 1941 Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki commits suicide rather than collaborate with Germany. In Iraq,

1940 Hitler gives orders that the invasion of Denmark and Norway is to begin on the 9th April 1940. Germans again attack Scapa Flow and North Sea convoys. 1941 The 5th Light Division recaptures Agedabia from the British and fans out into three columns, two of which race across the desert in an attempt to

1940 The United States 1940 Census taken: population 131,669,000, a 7.2% increase since 1930. The British Minister of Food announces Dig for Victory campaign to encourage growing food at home. 1941 General Platt and his ‘Northern Force’ capture Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. A pro-axis coup, led by Raschid Ali seizes power in Iraq. The