WWII History

1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt approves the sale of U.S. war planes to France. 1940 Hitler personally takes over planning for the invasion of Norway, ’Plan Weser’. 1941 The 7th Armoured Division captures Mechili. Meanwhile the Australians have bumped into strong Italian defences at Derna and so Wavell decides to halt further offensive action until […]

1940 US-Japan Trade Treaty of 1911 lapses—US refuses to negotiate while Japanese troops are in China. Brooms in Britain to be made with square handles to save timber. 1941 The Italians evacuate Mechiliduring the night. 1942 The US-Filipino withdrawal to the Bagac-Orion line is successfully completed. The Japanese quickly followed up the withdrawal and made

1940 Nazis choose the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland near Krakow as site of new concentration camp. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King dissolves Parliament; new elections to be held. US auxiliary ship Bear reaches deepest penetration by any ship yet into Antarctica. 1942 Thailand declares war on Britain and the US. Japanese troops begin landing at

1940 Chinese take Dongyangyuan Pass, Shanxi Province, China in war with Japan. 1941 General Cunningham’s ‘Southern Force’ invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya. 1942 More reinforcements arrive at Singapore to boost its defenses as the British 18th Division is landed. Japanese troops land at Balikpapan in Dutch Borneo. Four US destroyers and

1940 Britain and France say they will not honor 200-mile Pan-American neutrality zone and will attack German ships there. Animals in Berlin Zoo placed on war rations—less meat, no bananas or peanuts. 1941 Before Congress, Charles Lindbergh suggests the US negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler. HMS Illustrious, heavily damaged, leaves Malta for repairs in Alexandria.

1940 Destroyer Exmouth torpedoed off Wick, Scotland by U-22; all hands killed. British Ministry of Information begins censoring newsreels. 1941 The Destroyer HMS Hyperion sunk by mine off Cape Bon. Tobruk surrenders to British and Australian troops who capture 25,000 Italians, along with 208 guns and 87 tanks. Combined British and Australian losses were about 450.

1940 Admiralty announce sinking of the Grenville, 8 dead, 73 missing, presumed dead. The Russian 8th Army launches an attack against the Finnish forces of Group Talvela, without success. The Finnish 9th Division is transferred from Suomussalmi to Kuhmo. 1941 Communist newspaper, The Daily Worker is suppressed in Britain. The US informs the Soviet Union

1939 Adolf Hitler dismissed Hjalmar Schacht as President of the Reichsbank and appointed Walther Funk to replace him. 1940 Britain and France agree to send troops and supplies to aid Finland, but they do not arrive in time. 1941 Compulsory fire watching duty introduced in Great Britain. With Hitler’s tacit support, Marshal Antonescu suppresses a

1941 Hitler and Mussolini meet at Berchtesgaden, with Mussolini accepting German military help in North Africa, but not Albania. British troops under General Platt, re-occupy Kassala in the Sudan and advance into Eritrea. 1942 British North Borneo surrenders to Japanese at Sandakan. Actor James Stewart receives his wings and commission in the US Army Air

1940 British begin seizure and censorship of air mail passing through Bermuda. The Battle of Kunlun Pass ended with the Chinese holding the pass. 1941 The Greeks complete the Capture of Klisura Pass. The British complete Operation Excess with all convoyed freighters reaching their destinations. However, the light cruiser HMS Southampton was bombed and sunk off Malta by the Luftwaffe. Hitler issueds Directive