WWII History

1939 First Anglo-French Supreme War Council convenes under Chamberlain and Daladier and  agrees to postpone military operations. In response to the invasion of Poland, the French Army advances into Germany. On this day they reach their furthest penetration-five miles. The battle of the Vistula bend flares up near Kutno, the last major engagement of the […]

1939 Arrival of first British troops in France officially announced. Polish submarines ordered to break through to Britain or to be interned in Sweden. 1940 Afternoon attacks on London: 110 killed and 260 injured; Dover suffers worst attack of war. Dutch SS formed under Dutch Nazi collaborationist Anton Mussert. 1941 Charles A. Lindbergh sparked charges

1939 After a formal parliamentary debate, Canada declares war on Germany. German troops achieve a breakthrough at Kutno and Sandomir and reach the Vistula. 1940 Another heavy night attack (September 10/11) on London, 18 killed; Buckingham Palace damaged. Hitler decides to postpone Operation Sealion until the 24th September. 1941 British convoy SC-42 (64 ships), sailing

1939 Chamberlain’s Cabinet plans for a 3 year war. Advance elements of the BEF begin to a arrive in France. Hermann Goering boasts that Berlin will never be bombed by the enemy. The 4th Army (von Kluge) captures Lodz and Radom, as the 4th Panzer Division reaches the outskirts of Warsaw. Further penetrations in to

1939 Polish defenders of the Westerplatte at Danzig surrender after a week of continuous bombardment. The Polish government leaves Warsaw for Lublin, while its forces surrounded at Radom face a hopeless situation. At Bedzin, 200 Jews are burned alive in a synagogue by the Germans who charge Poles with the crime, and then execute 30

1939 King George VI gives assent to National Registration Bill, providing government control over labour and introducing identity cards. Nine divisions of the French Army penetrate in to the Saarland, but their advance is very slow and no effort is made to attack the ‘Westwall’ itself. Polish forces trying to hold the line at the Narew River,

1939 General Smuts wins cabinet battle in South Africa and declares war on Germany. German troops advancing through Poland occupy the former German industrial area of Upper Silesia. German troops take Krakow, Poland. 1940 The Luftwaffe bring to a close the third phase of their air offensive “Battle of Britain”, having lost 308 aircraft in

1939 President Roosevelt declares US neutrality and upholds ban on export of weapons. The US establishes Neutrality Patrol to monitor military operations in western hemisphere and declares Neutrality Zone 300 miles off east coast. French forces begin a limited offensive towards Saarbrucken. Under the relentless pressure by the Wehrmacht, the Polish Army withdraws behind the

1939 The RAF attacks German shipping at Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven and Schillig Roads, with negligible results (7 out of 30 Wellington bombers are shot down by German fighters and Anti-Aircraft). The German 3rd Army and 4th Army join in the Corridor and re-establish the land connection between East Prussia and the Reich that was severed in

1939The official beginning of World War 2: After Germany rejects the Anglo-French ultimatum of September 1st, which called for the withdrawal of all German forces from Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany at 11am. The Kriegsmarine begins its campaign against British merchant shipping with 17 U-boats putting to sea out of a total