July

1940 The Luftwaffe carries out raids on Aberdeen in Scotland and Cardiff in Wales. Britain and Russia sign mutual assistance agreement in Moscow, pledging ‘no separate peace’. Britain launches “Pots into Planes” campaign to collect aluminum for military use. The last Vichy French troops in Syria surrender to British and Free French forces. 1941 Britain […]

1940 Lord Beaverbrook, Minister for Aircraft Production, says ‘the sky is the limit’ for plane purchases from US, with spending running at £2.5 million per day on aircraft. Marshal Henri Pétain assumes position as Chief of State of Vichy France, with Pierre Laval as Prime Minister Admiral Raeder, C-in-C of the German Navy expresses his

1940 Birthday Honors list includes only service recipients. British Union Party (Fascists) banned. Preliminary phase of Battle of Britain begins with German air attacks on Channel convoys with the aim of tempting the RAF in to battle. The Luftwaffe launches its first large scale attack on Britain as 70 aircraft attack the dock facilities at

1940 Commons passed War Credits of £1,000,000,000. Tea rationing of 2oz per head per week introduced in Britain. RAF begins night bombing of Germany. The British submarine Salmon is lost south-west of Stavanger, Norway. The German raider Komet leaves Bergen in Norway for operations in the Pacific via the Northwest Passage in the Arctic Ocean

1940 British Metropolitan Police to be armed when guarding vulnerable positions. The Swedish government agrees to transport German war material across Sweden to Norway. Swordfish aircraft damage the French battleship Richelieu at Dakar after the French reject demilitarization proposals. 1941 Soviet military mission arrives in London. Twenty B-17s fly in their first mission with the

1940 A French naval squadron that has sought refuge at Alexandria is disarmed and interned by the British Navy. Italy allows French Mediterranean bases to remain armed. At Dakar, French West Africa, British torpedo bombers damage French battleship Richelieu when she refuses to surrender. 1941 Under the pretext of defending the western hemisphere against Axis incursions, the

1940After spending 8 weeks in the west supervising the German offensive, a triumphant Hitler returns to Berlin and is cheered wildly by the population of Berlin. German aircraft and minesweepers sink 4 British submarines, Narwhal, Spearfish, Shark and Thames. The first German U-boat base in France is opened at Lorient. First German U-boat base opens

1940 President Roosevelt lays down ‘five fundamentals of freedom’: freedom from fear, of information, of religion, of expression, and from want. The RAF carries out night raids on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. The British destroyer Whirlwind is sunk by U-34 off Land’s End. Romania announces its alignment with the Axis powers. In retaliation for the British

1940In the House of Commons, prime minister Churchill declares,’ I leave the judgment of our actions with confidence to Parliament. I leave it to the nation and I leave it to the United States. I leave it to the world and to history.’ German Stukas and MTBs attack a British convoy South of Portland, sinking

1940 Fifty nine French warships that had sought refuge at Plymouth and Portsmouth are seized by the Royal Navy, but only after overcoming armed French resistance in some cases. The British Auxiliary AA ship Foyle Bank is sunk in German air attacks on the docks at Portland, Dorset. Due to heavy losses at the hands