WWII Today in History. On these pages you will find of some of the most important events that shaped World War 2.
1937 Japanese troops invade Shanghai, China. 1938 Nazis kill 35 Jews, arrest thousands and destroy Jewish synagogues, homes and stores throughout Germany. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, the night of the shattered glass. 1940 Start of a counter-offensive by the British Army against the Italian forces that have advanced into Egypt. Germany expels 180,000 […]
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1939 A bomb intended to kill Hitler explodes at the annual meeting of the veterans of the 1923 Nazi Putsch in Munich, but the Führer had already left the beer cellar. The German media accused Britain of orchestrating the assassination attempt on Hitler. Two British SIS agents, Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best,
World War II Today: November 8 Read More »
1939 The Belgium and Dutch Monarch’s emphasize their country’s neutrality, but offer to act as peace negotiators. Hitler rejects the proposal, as do both Britain and France. Paul Thummel, a double agent, passes details of the German plans for the western offensive to the Czech government-in-exile. 1940 The Royal Air Force attacks the Krupp munition
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1939 The Gestapo rounds up 183 professors of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and sends them to Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. In Soviet occupied Poland, Ukrainian peasants murder 200 Polish refugees after offering them food and accommodation. First big air battle on Western Front. 1940 Under-Secretary for War announces measures to give Home guard
World War II Today: November 6 Read More »
1940 Roosevelt is elected as President of USA for an unprecedented third term with 54 percent of the popular vote. He defeats Republican Wendell L. Willke. Armed merchant-cruiser Jervis Bay sunk by pocket-battleship Admiral Scheer in attack on Atlantic convoy. 1941 Japanese war plans agreed at an imperial conference, with a deadline of December 1941.
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1939 The United States modified its neutrality stance in World War II to allow ”cash and carry” purchases of arms by belligerents, a policy favoring Britain and France. Rear-Admiral Hugh Sinclair, head of British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), died of cancer. Succeeded by his deputy, Colonel Stewart Menzies. 1941 Finnish forces capture the Baltic naval
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1940 U99 sinks armed merchant-cruiser Laurentic off Iceland. Greek troops trap the Italian 3rd Alpine Division taking 5,000 prisoners. British troops arrive in Greece. 1941 Germans troops capture Kursk. Off Greece, HMS Proteus makes first radar attack by a sub, damaging Italian tanker Tampico. General Auchinleck is forced to postpone ‘Operation Crusader‘ for 1 week so as to
World War II Today: November 3 Read More »
1939 Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov boasts: “One swift blow to Poland, first by the German Army and then by the Red Army, and nothing was left of this ugly offspring of the Versailles Treaty!”. He also accuses the British of aggression. 1940 The Battle of Britain is now considered as over by the British Air
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1939 German U boat U-56 fails in attack on battleship HMS Nelson with Winston Churchill, Dudley Pound, and Charles Forbes aboard. 1940 RAF Bomber Command is given its first directive sanctioning area-bombing. Lt. Gen. Henry H. “Hap” Arnold named as US Acting Deputy Chief of Staff for air (combat). 1941 The worsening weather and seas
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1940 A blindfolded secretary of war draws the first number – 158 – in the Selective Service draft. (Not all men are willing to register. In one case, a man goes to his draft board posing as his own widow to announce his death.) British troops set sail for Crete. Italians claim to have made
World War II Today: October 29 Read More »
