January

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

1940 In Paris, Polish cryptographers break Luftwaffe Enigma code. 1941 During the night, the Italians evacuate Kassala and Gallalabat in the Sudan. Battle of Ko Chang: Vichy French battle Thai incursions into Indochina and defeat them in naval battle in Gulf of Siam. 1942 The last German garrison at Halfaya in Cyrenaica surrenders, with about

1940 Hitler orders the postponement of his attack in the west until the Spring. Likely reasons for this are the compromise of ‘Fall Gelb’ and increasing criticism from some commanders that the plan was too predictable. Led by Gerd von Rundstedt, they proposed instead that the main blow should come through the wooded Ardennes region

1940 Britain announces nearly twice as many Britons have been killed on the roads since blackout started than by enemy action. Belgium denies British & French troops the right to cross its territory. 1941 US labor leader Philip Randolph calls for march on Washington to protest discrimination and segregation in the armed forces and defense

1940 Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai forms a new government in Japan, but he is opposed by the pro-war military. British chemists (pharmacists) granted an exemption to sugar rationing in order to coat pills. 1941 Off Antarctica, German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin captures 14 Norwegian whaling ships without firing a single shot or causing a single casualty. 1942 General Wavell

1940 Belgium orders military mobilization. Netherlands cancels all Army leaves. FBI arrests 17 members of pro-Nazi “Christian Front” for plotting to kill congressmen; later acquitted. 1941 Hitler demands that Bulgaria joins the Tripartite pact, but the Bulgarians play for time. The Luftwaffe launches a heavy attack against Plymouth. Author James Joyce dies at age 58

1940 Soviet bombers raid cities in Finland. 1941 Recruiting of Norwegians for the ‘Nordland’ Regiment of the 5th SS Motorized Division ‘Wiking’ begins. 1942 Hitler orders Admiral Otto Ciliax, who commands the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen at Brest, to prepare to return to Germany. The new German battleship Tirpitz, sister

1941 Hitler confirms in Directive No.22, his intentions to send military support to the Italians in Albania. The operation is to be named ‘Alpine Violets’. The Cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Gloucester are attacked by German aircraft in the Sicilian channel. HMS Gloucester receives damage, while HMS Southampton is sunk. British submarines begin to make