WWII History

1940 Liner Lancastria, with 3,000 British troops aboard, bombed and sunk at St. Nazaire, in North West France. German troops cross the Loire near Orleans. Petain orders French to stop fighting and sues for ‘honourable’ peace terms. Churchill broadcasts to the nation, saying the British will defend their island home and fight on until the […]

1940 French front cracking as the Germans break through in Champagne to Dijon, with units of 19th Panzer Korps reaching Besancon on the Swiss border. German forces, supported by heavy artillery and Stuka dive bombers, continue their assault against the Maginot Line on a broad front. The French government of Paul Reynaud resigns and is

1940 Roosevelt assures Reynaud that US aid will be redoubled. Germans take Verdun. German forces of the 7th Army cross Rhine and break into the Maginot Line above Strasbourg. Weygand refuses to surrender French Army on its own. 30,600 British and Canadian troops are evacuated from Cherbourg, Brest and St. Malo. New Russo-German frontier agreement

1940 Germans enter Paris as Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division takes Le Havre. The French government leaves Tours for Bordeaux. Army Group C, with 24 divisions, prepares to cross the upper Rhine to attack the Maginot Line in Alsace. All remaining British troops in France are ordered to return to England. Spanish troops enter Tangier. British

1940 Germans troops advance on both sides of Paris. General Weygand declares the French capital an open city. Armed merchant-cruiser Scotstown is torpedoed by U-25 off Ireland, 6 crew lost. The first US arms ship, ‘Eastern Prince’, sets sail for Britain. Italian bombers attack the French naval base at Toulon. The British submarine Odin is

1940 General Sir Edmund Ironside, C-in-C of British Home Forces, completes plans for the defense of Britain against German invasion. On the orders from General Weygand, C-in-C of the French Army, the French forces opposing the advance of Army Group A withdraw to the South, offering little resistance. The Germans cross the River Marne, consolidate

1940 Householders in possession of Anderson shelters must by law have them up and earthed by today. The German forces capture Rheims. Paris prepares for siege as the Luftwaffe pounds the city. The RAF attacks Turin and Genoa with 36 Whitley bombers. RAF attack German ships in Trondheim harbour, Norway. Australia and New Zealand declare

On This Week in WWII History: June 9–15 1942 1940: Norway Falls, Italy Joins the War The last remaining forces of the Norwegian Army—specifically the 6th Division—surrendered this week in 1940, following Norway’s unconditional capitulation to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the war widened: Italy officially declared war on Britain and France, effective June 11, 1940. In

1940 German forces advancing South from the Somme capture Rouen on the Seine. The British 51st Highland Division and part of the French 10th Army withdraw towards St-Valery-en-Caux, hoping to be evacuated to England. The French government evacuates from Paris to Tours. Norway officially surrenders to Germany. 1941 Fire Service Council established in Britain, with 1,400

1940 The British aircraft carrier Glorious is sunk by the German heavy battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Southwest of Narvik. The evacuation of British and French troops (24,000 men) from Narvik and Harstad is completed. A Norwegian delegation negotiates with the Germans for a peace treaty. Off Norway, German battlecruisers Gneisenau & Scharnhorst sink British carrier HMS Glorious and British destroyers Ardent and Acasta (1537