May

1940 The King signs proclamation canceling Whitsun holiday. Seven out of eight Fairey Battle Bombers fail to return from an attack on enemy forces in Luxembourg. No. 114 Sqn’s Blenheims are annihilated on the ground in a low-level German raid. German troops occupy the Duchy of Luxembourg. A glider-borne parachute detachment of 1st Fallschirmjager Regiment […]

1940 At 5.35am, the Wehrmacht begins ‘Operation Yellow’, the invasion of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, employing Army Group A (von Rundstedt) and B (von Bock), with Army Group C (von Leeb) in reserve. The attacking forces comprise 10 Armored, 5 Motorized, and 75 infantry divisions. The 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian), 20th Panzer Korps (Hoth) and

1940 The French submarine Doris is sunk by U-9 off the Dutch coast. Age for conscription in Britain is raised to 36. Hitler orders ‘Operation Yellow’, the great offensive in the West, to begin at 5:35 a.m.the next day. 1941 The Luftwaffe launches a massive night raid (507 bombers) against London which causes many fires

1940 Opposition censure motion against Chamberlain’s conduct of the war; rejected by 281 to 200, but over 30 government MPs vote for it. German commandos in Dutch uniforms cross the Dutch border to hold bridges for the advancing German army. 1941 During an attack against convoy OB318, U-110 commanded by Julius Lemp suffers serious damage

1940 British PM Neville Chamberlain resigns. All Dutch Army leave suspended. 1941 British capture U110 and its Enigma machine. The Luftwaffe launches the first of two consecutive night raids against the British port of Hull. 1942 Dutch Jews are forced to wear the yellow ‘Star of David’ badge. Vichy French resistance ends in Madagascar. The

1940 Hitler again delays X-Day, this time till the 10th May. Francis Sayre is sent to Tokyo for talks with Foreign Minister Arita. 1941 Bob Hope gives his first USO show at California’s March Field. US Secretary for War advocates US Navy protection for British supply convoys. Stalin declares himself ‘Chairman of the Council of

1940 Germans advance north to Trondheim. Norwegian government-in-exile established in London. 1941 Major General Bernard Freyberg VC, is appointed by General Wavell to command approximately 40,000 British, New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops which are stationed on Crete. While a strong force on paper, these troops have virtually no artillery or tanks and are very

1941 In a Luftwaffe raid on Liverpool, England, 32 ships and boats are sunk. 1942 The United States begins food rationing. Akyab on the Burmese coast is abandoned by the British. The Japanese Port Moresby invasion force leaves Rabaul, in New Britain. With its naval support stripped away, the Japanese invasion fleet at Tulagi is

1940 War Office announces withdrawal from Namsos; Allies remain only in Narvik to stop the supply of iron ore to Germany. Allied forces south of Trondheim surrender to Germans. Destroyer Afridi sunk by German bombers off Norway. Hitler postpones X-Day to the 6th May due to bad weather. 1942 Off the northern coast of Norway,

1940 Germans troops reach Aandalesnes. Allied forces are evacuated from Namsos. Chamberlain announces British forces are to withdraw from southern Norway. 1941 British Evacuation of Greece complete. Hostilities break out between British forces in Iraq and that country’s pro-German faction. Iraqis attack the British base at Habbaniya, but are repulsed. 1942 Admiral Chester J. Nimitz,