WWII Today in History. On these pages you will find of some of the most important events that shaped World War 2.
1940 Hitler again delays X-Day, this time till the 10th May. Francis Sayre is sent to Tokyo for talks with Foreign Minister Arita. 1941 Bob Hope gives his first USO show at California’s March Field. US Secretary for War advocates US Navy protection for British supply convoys. Stalin declares himself ‘Chairman of the Council of […]
World War II Today: May 6 Read More »
1940 Germans advance north to Trondheim. Norwegian government-in-exile established in London. 1941 Major General Bernard Freyberg VC, is appointed by General Wavell to command approximately 40,000 British, New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops which are stationed on Crete. While a strong force on paper, these troops have virtually no artillery or tanks and are very
World War II Today: May 5 Read More »
1941 In a Luftwaffe raid on Liverpool, England, 32 ships and boats are sunk. 1942 The United States begins food rationing. Akyab on the Burmese coast is abandoned by the British. The Japanese Port Moresby invasion force leaves Rabaul, in New Britain. With its naval support stripped away, the Japanese invasion fleet at Tulagi is
World War II Today: May 4 Read More »
1940 War Office announces withdrawal from Namsos; Allies remain only in Narvik to stop the supply of iron ore to Germany. Allied forces south of Trondheim surrender to Germans. Destroyer Afridi sunk by German bombers off Norway. Hitler postpones X-Day to the 6th May due to bad weather. 1942 Off the northern coast of Norway,
World War II Today: May 3 Read More »
1940 Germans troops reach Aandalesnes. Allied forces are evacuated from Namsos. Chamberlain announces British forces are to withdraw from southern Norway. 1941 British Evacuation of Greece complete. Hostilities break out between British forces in Iraq and that country’s pro-German faction. Iraqis attack the British base at Habbaniya, but are repulsed. 1942 Admiral Chester J. Nimitz,
World War II Today: May 2 Read More »
1940 Amalgamated Engineering Union agrees to allow women workers in munitions factories. German mine-carrying bomber crashes on Clacton, Essex; two civilians and four Germans killed, 156 people injured. Norwegians surrender in Lillehammer. Rudolf Höss is chosen to be kommandant of Auschwitz. 1941 The Luftwaffe begins a series of 8 consecutive night raids against Liverpool. Dissident
World War II Today: May 1 Read More »
1940 Germans announce they have established communication between Trondheim and Oslo. RAF attack Oslo airfield. The Lodz Ghetto in occupied Poland is sealed off from the outside world with 230,000 Jews locked inside. 1941 British air raid casualty figures in April: 6,065 killed, 6,926 injured. Bristol, Coventry, Birmingham, Belfast, London and Portsmouth all badly hit.
World War II Today: April 30 Read More »
1940 King Haakon VII and his government are evacuated from Molde and taken to Tromso in northern Norway, from where they can continue the fight. 1941 British intelligence ‘Ultra’, intercept numerous messages giving a positive indication that the Germans plan to attack Crete. Another Brigade from the British 10th Indian Division lands at Basra, ignoring
World War II Today: April 29 Read More »
1940 Allied reinforcements arrive in Andalsnes, Norway. 1941 The British evacuation of Greece is completed A clampdown is made in Norway against degenerate literature, with large-scale book burnings being held. 1942 Coastal “dimouts” go into effect along a fifteen-mile strip on the Eastern Seaboard, in response to German U-boat activity of the U.S. Atlantic coast.
World War II Today: April 28 Read More »
1940 Himmler signs the order that initiates construction of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. 1941 German troops cross the Egyptian border and capture the Halfaya Pass, forcing the British to pull back to defensive a line running from Buq Buq on the coast to Sofafi, some 50km in to the desert. The British also begin
World War II Today: April 27 Read More »
