WWII History

1940 Test platoon of 48 volunteers from 29thInfantry Regiment makes first US Army parachute jump from an aircraft. Luftwaffe again raids southern England. Death of Hector Bywater, author of 1925 Great Pacific War. 1941 Stalin acknowledges UK and US aid plan and agrees to the ‘apportionment of our joint resources’. Anglo-Soviet exchange agreement signed. 56th […]

1940 Although ‘Eagle Day’ was the 13th August, due to poor results, Goering decides that the 15th August with instead be known as ‘Eagle Day’. The Luftwaffe launches its greatest attacks so far against the RAF’s airfields, involving more than 1,000 German planes and 1,786 sorties. The Luftwaffe lost 76 aircraft, although these were mainly

1940 Air activity less pronounced, but Germans attack Southampton and Hastings; reported losses Germans 31, RAF 7. Ministry of Home Security announces that parachutes had been found in Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Scotland, but no evidence of Germans discovered. As Italians advance in British Somaliland, British evacuate Berbera, the capital. A plane crash in Canberra, Australia

1940 Roosevelt agrees to supply 50 First World War destroyers to Britain in return for the lease of naval bases in the Caribbean. Colonel E.L.M. Burns proposes developing a Canadian parachute force. The idea is rejected by the Director of Military Operations in headquarters. ‘Eagle Day’, the first day of the maximum offensive by the

1940 The Luftwaffe attacks Portsmouth, Isle of Wight and all along Kent and Sussex coast. They also attack forward RAF airfields and radar stations in preparation for ‘Eagle Day’. British claims are high as they report 62 Luftwaffe planes shot down against the RAF’s 13, while in reality it was just 26 Luftwaffe and 22

1940: The Battle of Britain begins in earnest with 400 German planes attacking channel convoys and the coastal areas of Britain including Dover, Weymouth and Portland. The British claim 65 Luftwaffe planes down for the loss of 26 RAF fighters. It actuality, only 35 Luftwaffe planes were shot down, while the RAF had lost 29.

1940 Italian ground forces make slow progress in British Somaliland. Both the Italians and the British conduct air raids against each other. British troops to be withdrawn from Shanghai and North China. 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. The meeting produces the Atlantic Charter, an agreement between

1940 The Luftwaffe renews its attacks against Channel convoys and its escorts, with heavy air battles occurring over the Channel. The Germans lose 31 aircraft against the RAF’s 16. The Home Secretary announces July civilian air raid casualty figures as 258 killed and 320 seriously injured. British forces pay increased by 6d per day; privates’

1941 Mussolini’s son Bruno killed in test-flight crash of P-108 bomber near Pisa. The United States Senate extends National Service to 18 months. Joseph Stalin appoints himself Generalissimo of the Red Army. Konoye asks FDR for summit meeting. He also proposes a Chinese police corps with Japanese officers and a timetable for a withdrawal of

1940 Goering sets the 10th August 1940 as ‘Eagle day’, the start of the Luftwaffe major offensive against the RAF and its Airfields. Italian forces reach Odweina in British Somaliland. Battles at Tug Argan and at Hargeisa. 1941 The Japanese foreign minister, Admiral Nomura, proposes to the USA a meeting between Roosevelt and Prime Minister Konoye. 1942