WWII Today in History. On these pages you will find of some of the most important events that shaped World War 2.
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 […]
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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,
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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
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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
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1939 Britain and France agree to support Poland if Germany threatens to invade. 1940 German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis sets sail, will sink 22 ships before being sunk November 22, 1941. 1941 British civilian casualties for March are 4,259 killed and 5,557 injured. Italian naval forces sink the British Cruiser, HMS Bonaventure off Crete. The 5th Light
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1940 The Japanese set up a puppet government called Manchuko in Nanking, China. 1941 Claiming their crews are engaged in sabotage, President Roosevelt orders the government to seize sixty ships belonging to Axis countries that are currently docked in American ports. 1942 First trainloads of Jews from Paris arrive at Auschwitz. The RAF makes a
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1936 Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar. 1940 In German-occupied territories, only Jewish doctors are now allowed to treat Jews. 1941 A ‘Commissariat’ for Jewish Affairs is set up in Vichy France. The Italians spot a British convoy escorted by 4 Cruisers and 4 Destroyers and close in. The British ships lure the Italians
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1933 Nazis order a ban on all Jews in businesses, professions and schools. 1940 Dutch fighters shoot down a British bomber near Rotterdam by mistake, killing one flier. The British and French decide to start mining neutral Norwegian waters from the 8th April 1940. 1941 In an attempt to intercept British convoys sailing to Greece,
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1941 A coup in Yugoslavia by General Simonic and other army officers overthrows the pro-German government. King Peter takes control and a new cabinet is formed. This upsets Hitler, who decides to delay his surprise attack on the Soviet Union in order to launch “Operation Union”, whose intent is the destruction of Yugoslavia. British troops finally
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1938 Herman Goering warns all Jews to leave Austria. 1940 Canadian election returns Mackenzie King as prime minister. First flight of Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo plane in St. Louis MO. 1941 The German Army High Command gives approval to RSHA and Heydrich on the tasks of SS murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) in occupied Poland. The British
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