Thursday 23 May 1940

Photographed by their commander, Erwin Rommel, in a Fieseler Storch, this shot shows the 7th Panzer Division, advancing from Arras toward Rouen. 23-24 May 1940.

Western Front: French Commander-in-chief General Weygand on 23 May 1940 comes up with a new plan. This one is to hold a pocket on the coast in Flanders indefinitely, the Réduit de Flandres. Theoretically, this could be supplied from Great Britain and hold out indefinitely. In reality, the Allies' grasp on the region already is extremely tenuous.

The Allies have been holding on the Scheldt River line, but today that cracks. The Germans cross the river and seize Allied supply depots. The BEF goes on half-rations as a result. Ghent falls to the German 18th Army.

General Guderian in charge of XIX Corps in the Channel Ports region is convinced that the only remaining threat is that the British BEF will manage to escape. He orders an immediate assault by the panzers on the fly without waiting for the infantry to catch up. The Allies send 18 French Latecoere seaplanes to bomb the bridges between the Somme and Boulogne to slow Guderian up. The entire scene is a picture of mass confusion, with units intermingled, enemy forces locked into an "embrace," and nobody quite sure where the front is.

The panzers of 2nd Panzer Division are pressing against Boulogne. At 10:00, it attacks from the south and forces the Irish Guards back into town. The Allies in the port have radio problems and lose communications with headquarters. They are told at noontime by an arriving destroyer, HMS Vimy, that they are expected to hold at all costs. However, by 18:00, the order comes to evacuate.

The Royal Navy sends six destroyers to take off as many men from Boulogne as possible. They lose two destroyers, both French, the Jaguar and Drage, but take off 4,360 men. There is a highly unusual land/naval confrontation between the German ground troops, with the Germans firing artillery and tank shells at the British ships. A Panzer IV and one of the destroyers gets into an odd exchange in which the panzer sinks the ship. The panzer crew gets the right to paint a rare "ship" kill on their turret. Overall, though, the British warships provide an extremely effective port defense as they complete the evacuation, though several of the Royal Navy ships are badly damaged. The captains of both HMS Keith and HMS Vimy are killed.

The German 1st Panzer Division is advancing up the Pihen-Les-Guînes road (the Omer road) toward Gravelines. Fierce local battles erupt between the British 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, the 30th Motor Brigade and the panzers, with the British troops forced back into Calais. The 1st Panzer Division, which would have occupied Calais if weakly defended, decides to bypass the port and continue on toward Gravelines/Dunkirk.

The 10th Panzer Division secures the high ground near Calais, while the British 30th Infantry Brigade arrives to help with the defense there. The entire area is a scene of massive confusion, with random British and German units often taking the same roads and one side or the other mistaking the enemy as being friendly forces. The Germans are within sight of Calais, but their line is not continuous, and formations on both sides pass through enemy lines here and there. Tanks of the 10th PD are able to bombard Calais from their position on the overlooking hills.

General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division has been sitting before Arras for three days, and his patience pays off. Early in the morning, Lord Gort issues an order for the British to evacuate the city. Lord Gort has no faith in French promises of counterattacks or strategies in the area. Rommel's panzers head west toward Rouen.

The French mount local attacks near Peronne and Amiens that accomplish little.

General Gaston Billotte, former commander of 1st Army Group, passes away. He has been in a coma since a car accident on 21 May.

European Air Operations: While the RAF fighters have almost all been withdrawn across the channel, they at least are operating from established bases and, at least temporarily, have an advantage along the coast.

Air operations over Boulogne are intense. RAF fighters are needed elsewhere, and the Luftwaffe has free reign over the port for most of the day. The RAF fighters finally arrive at 19:20.

The Luftwaffe bombs French destroyer Orage and sinks it.

The Luftwaffe catches French destroyer Jaguar, which has been damaged by Kriegsmarine S-boats and sinks it.

French destroyer Chacal is sunk at Boulogne by combined Luftwaffe and shore fire.

Norway: Colonel Gubbins has had enough of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax, the commander of the Scots Guards, believing him to be too interested in retreating. Gubbins relieves him during the afternoon. Gubbins orders the entire unit withdrawn to Bodø. The German mountain troops take the high ground overlooking the Viskisnoia River, Gubbins' proposed stop line, so he has to retreat further. Gubbins now tries to hold Fauske on the north side of the Skjerstadfjorden, which is a key intersection on the road north. While there is a lot of ground left to hold, the British are giving it up in a hurry.

The Luftwaffe continues its daily reinforcements of General Dietl's troops at Narvik, this time dropping 65 mountain troops by parachute from Junkers Ju 52 transport planes. For many of the men, it is their first parachute drop.

The 14 Gladiator Glosters of RAF No. 263 Squadron enter into operation from Bardufoss north of Narvik.

P/O John "Jack" Benzie of No 242 Squadron RAF, shown at RAF Coltishall in 1940. He is a 25-year-old Canadian who bails out wounded south of Dunkirk on 23 May 1940. He is KIA 7 September 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-9 (Oberleutnant Zur See Wolfgang Lüth) at 12:54 torpedoes and sinks 3,256-ton Belgian freighter Sigurd Faulbaum (a captured German ship) off of Zeebrugge. The crew survives.

Convoy HG 31 departs from Gibraltar, Convoy SL 33 departs from Freetown.

The British commission destroyer HMS Harvester (H 19) ( Lt. Commander Mark Thornton).

Terrorism: The British arrest 76 IRA suspects in Northern Ireland.

Anglo/Irish Relations: Irish head of state Éamon de Valera informs the British that Ireland will result in a German invasion and will require British assistance if any landings take place.

Holocaust: The Germans turn their attention to the "Roma" peoples, the Gypsies. Mass round-ups begin, and they are sent to occupied Poland for internment in concentration camps.

British Homefront: The authorities arrest Sir Oswald Mosley, MP Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay, and dozens of others for being Fascist sympathizers, a crime under Defence Regulation 18B. Mosley is notorious for giving fascist speeches and being the leader of the British Union of Fascists, while Ramsay is associated with the Right Club, which opposes "organized Jewry." The Right Club is considered fertile ground for German spies.

The Crown approves the Treachery Act 1940.

German Homefront: German media applauds the British for implementing the Emergency Powers Act, noting that "At last England has seen sense and abandoned decadent democracy."

Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, featuring Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers, with Buddy Rich.

American Homefront: President Roosevelt wins the Vermont Democratic primary.

Frank Sinatra records "I'll Never Smile Again" (written by Ruth Lowe) with Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, backing vocals by the Pied Pipers (including Jo Stafford). The single will become number one on Billboard's first "National List of Best Selling Retail Records" — the first official national music chart — on July 27, 1940. It will stay at the top spot for 12 weeks, until October 12, 1940. This is considered Sinatra's major breakthrough and begins his rise to legendary status.

Captured French soldiers of the 158eme Regiment d'Infanterie (43eme Division d'Infanterie) carry a wounded comrade past a damaged French 25mm Hotchkiss (SAL Mle 34) anti-tank gun positioned at a crossroads in the Belgian village of Thulin. 23 May 1940 (colorized).

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020

Saturday 11 May 1940

Belgian soldiers surrender to German paratroopers at the bridge at Veldwezelt, 11 May 1940 (Ang, Federal Archive).

Western Front: The German offensive continues rolling on 11 May 1940. William Shirer, a US journalist, notes that there are "Great headlines today in Berlin papers over 'shameful' protests of the Low Countries against being invaded."

The 9th Panzer Division crosses the Meuse and finds an undefended bridge over the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal 50 miles from Rotterdam, enabling it to continue rolling westward.

The trapped Belgian troops at fortress Eben Emael surrender to the German 7th Flieger Division, clearing the pathway for the 6th Army to proceed over the Maas Canal and completing one of the most brilliant aerial assaults in history. German 6th Army pulls up to the Albert Canal below the fortress and sends tank spearheads across, which requires rushed reinforcements from further south - where the Germans are quietly rolling their main force through the Ardennes.
The Battle of the Grebbeberg gets rolling. This is the main defense line forward of "Fortress Holland" in the west. The Grebbeberg is a hill near Rhenen which offers panoramic views (a zoo which is a major tourist attraction is on the hill). German artillery of the 18th Army opens fire before dawn on the line's outposts, disabling Dutch communications. At first light, the SS brigade attacks. The Germans breach the right side of the line, which enables the attackers to surround the rest of the line. The entire outpost line falls. However, the hill itself - protected by a 47 mm (1.85 inches) gun) remains inviolate. The Dutch counterattack, but it degenerates into a chaotic disaster with Dutch units firing on each other - but it does forestall the Germans' own night attack.

The German columns pushing through the Ardennes face logistical issues on the forest roads, but no significant defenders. General Erwin Rommel's 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division is in the lead of Army Group A and disperses a French Cavalry Unit guarding the road. Allied bombers are noticeably absent, partly due to Luftwaffe air superiority.

The French 1st Army, 7th Army, 9th Army, and British Expeditionary Force execute the "Dyle Plan," advancing to take up defensive positions on the Dyle River line. The German main assault does not lie there. Retreating Belgian troops join them. Hitler, when informed of his classic decoy move producing the desired results, says "I could weep for joy!"

The Fallschirmjäger (paratroops) operation at The Hague is one of the few blemishes on the Fall Gelb offensive. Generalleutnant Hans Graf von Sponeck's paratroops are scattered across dunes and do not control any of the airports they were dropped to capture. With his objective now impossible, von Sponeck receives orders to aid the assault on Rotterdam. In reality, he and his men now are hunted fugitives behind enemy lines, with hundreds of wounded and missing troops.

The paratroopers at Rotterdam are doing somewhat better. The 22nd Flieger Division holds bridges over the Niewe Maas River. The Dutch Marines launch furious attacks, but the paratroopers have nowhere to retreat to anyway, so a stalemate develops - which is to the Germans' benefit.

'The biggest traffic jam in history': German armor squeezes through the narrow gorges of the Ardennes on its way to France on 11 May 1940.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe is concentrating on ground support missions - a key element of "Blitzkrieg." The Allies are hampered by few airbases close to the scene of the battles and, quite frankly, often inferior equipment.

In terms of that equipment, the Fairey Battle light bomber is struggling. The RAF sends eight of them to attack German troops in Luxembourg and only one returns.

The Luftwaffe also is aggressively targeting Allied airfields. They make a low-level attack on the field of No. 114 Squadron and destroy its Bristol Blenheim bombers on the ground.

The Luftwaffe sinks Dutch liners Statendam and Veendam at Rotterdam.

The RAF sends 23 aircraft to attack bridges over the Maas at Maastricht, which the Germans captured on the 10th.

Overnight, the RAF sends 37 bombers to attack Monchengladbach - the first RAF bombing of a German town without military priority.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-9 (Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth) torpedoes and sinks 1,930-ton British freighter Tringa just off the West Hinder buoy at the mouth of the Scheldt River. There are 6 survivors and 17 perish.

U-9 also sinks 1,908-ton Estonian freighter Viiu. There are 5 survivors and 15 perish.

British submarine HMS Narwhal sinks Kriegsmarine vessel V-1109.

HMS Seal, the only British submarine captured during the war, arrives in Frederikshavn, Denmark, under tow by German "UJ 128" (Unterseebootsjäger 128). It is immediately investigated by German technicians.

Convoy OA 146 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 146 departs from Liverpool.

US Government: President Roosevelt fulfills various obligations under the Neutrality Laws, issuing executive orders :

1. Recognizing the state of war that exists between Germany and Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; 
2. Proclaiming American neutrality in the conflict; and 
3. Restricting belligerent submarines from using American ports and territorial waters, exclusive of the Panama Canal Zone.

War Crimes: The British Air Ministry takes the radical step of authorizing attacks on purely civilian targets in Germany. This is a clear violation of international law which the Germans have violated as well in Poland and Finland. While this particular decision is not considered a war crime by many historians and "they did it first"... if things had turned out differently, it would be. War can be unavoidably morally ambiguous.

Dutch Commander of 2nd Corps General Harberts at Grebbeberg impanels a summary court-martial of a sergeant, Chris Meijer, accused of abandoning his post. Meijer is shot by firing squad the same day. There are possible issues of undue influence of Harberts in the matter with murky motivations.

Norway: British General Claude Auchinleck is in command of the British-French ground forces of what has become a classic sideshow campaign. Even that is not going well for the Allies.

The two Independent Companies and accompanying British light anti-aircraft detachments (who have to abandon their equipment) at Mosjøen evacuate during the early morning hours on Norwegian vessel Erling Jarl. Lt. Col. Gubbins pays the owners 5000 kroner for their assistance. The accompanying Norwegians are forced to retreat by road after the Germans occupied Hemnesberget on the 10th by using the commandeered vessel Nordnorge.

The German 2nd Mountain Division troops at Hemnesberget attack toward Mo i Rana. Other troops from the division occupy the evacuated Mosjøen. Still, other units of the division continue their march north toward Narvik to relieve General Dietl's regiment there.

German/Swedish Relations: A Swedish delegation meets with Hermann Goering regarding German use of the Narvik railway which runs through Sweden.

Caribbean: British and French troops continue occupying Dutch islands such as Curaçao and Aruba. President Roosevelt states that these actions do not violate the Monroe Doctrine (no foreign military actions in the Americas).

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Chinese 5th War Area attacks the Japanese 11th Army around Tsaoyang, Tungpo, and Mingkang, but the Japanese break out of the encirclement and retreat eastward.

Belgian Homefront: The roads are clogged with refugees fleeing westward and southward. Most are on foot or on their bicycles. The Mayor of Bouillon, in a classic "business, is business" reaction to the war, refuses to quarter troops in hotels: "This is a resort town! Hotels are  reserved for tourists."

Dutch Homeland: Former Kaiser Wilhelm, living in exile in Holland, has had a somewhat dismissive opinion of Hitler. However, he refuses Winston Churchill's offer of sanctuary in the UK.

British Homefront: The  Manchester Guardian publishes an editorial stating that new Prime Minister Churchill "takes office with greater goodwill than any of our modern history."

"Contraband" starring Conrad Veidt hits the theatres. Veidt is a Lutheran German World War I veteran who fled Germany in 1933 due to the specter of Hitler's persecution of his Jewish wife.

The victors of Eben-Emael: Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch. (By Bundesarchiv, Billd 146-1971-011-27 / Büttner / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5441177)

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020

Thursday 9 May 1940

Hitler with Goering at Felsennest.

British Government: Prime Minister Chamberlain's fate is a done deal, though early in the morning he is determined to fight on. The opposition Labour Party rejects an offer to join the government and keep Chamberlain in power, though the official communication of this is dragged out until the afternoon of the 10th.

The question is who shall replace Chamberlain. Foreign Minister Lord Halifax is a leading candidate, and he would garner a majority of support if put to a vote. As a member of the House of Lords, however, it is seen as poor public relations to elevate him at a time of crisis. Halifax also feels that Churchill would continue to control defense policy anyway, the only thing that really matters in wartime, and thus he would be relegated to a sort of supernumerary status. In the event, Halifax could have accepted the position, but he bows out and helps a meeting of conservative leaders choose Winston Churchill as the new Prime Minister.

Norway: The Germans north of Narvik drive the Norwegian defenders out of Fellingfors. The Germans advance in the direction of Mosjøen, which is 25 miles (40 km) to the north. There are strong British forces at Mosjøen, with other Allied forces at intermediate positions.

British No. 3 Independent Force occupies Bodo.

The Polish Armed Forces in the West (Podhale Brigade) arrive near Narvik, four battalions strong. They assemble five miles to the west of the port, reinforcing the South Wales Borderers. They are supported by 24 guns (French 75's & British 25-pounders) and 10 small French tanks - which is overwhelming firepower against the German regiment holding the town.

The RAF sinks Kriegsmarine minesweeper M-13 at Bergen.

Western Front: No more postponements. The invasion date for Fall Gelb, the invasion of France and the Low Countries, remains 10 May 1940 as the day drifts into night. Hitler departs on his command train Amerika for his forward headquarters at Felsennest (Rock Nest). It is located near the small village of Rodert, 30 km south of Bonn and consists of four bunkers and three barracks. While his presence there is not necessary for the conduct of the war, it symbolically places Hitler at the head of the army during Fall Gelb.

German troops silently move into their jumping-off positions. In the late evening, Wehrmacht troops cross the border into Luxembourg and occupy the country without a shot being fired.

Colonel Oster of the Abwehr once again warns the Dutch military attache of the invasion. The Dutch take this seriously and order the highest alert.

Battle of the Atlantic:  U-9 (Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth) torpedoes and sinks French submarine FFR Doris (Q 135) in the North Sea at 00:14. All 45 crew on board perish.

The British are sending ships full of troops to Iceland to occupy it.

A Royal Navy task force sorties out to intercept Kriegsmarine troop transports in the Skagerrak. The Kriegsmarine sends 5 Schnellboot (fast boat, or torpedo boats) to greet them. HMS Kelly, commanded by Lord Mountbatten, is torpedoed by Kriegsmarine S-boat S-31. There are 27 deaths. It is towed back to England badly damaged, enduring additional attacks along the way.

Convoy SL 31 departs from Freetown, Convoy OG 29F forms at Gibraltar.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe conducts minelaying operations off the Dutch coast. The RAF sends fighters up to meet them.

The RAF sends 31 aircraft on minelaying operations.

French Government: Prime Minister Paul Reynaud is having difficulty due to former Prime Minister Daladier, the War Minister. He also finds the leadership of General Gamelin to be lacking. He threatens to resign. However, there remains no sense of urgency about the frontier.

British Military: The government raises the top age of conscription to 36.

Belgium: The government declares a state of emergency and places its military on alert.

Luxembourg: The Royal Family hears of the massing of German troops at the border and flees, along with four of the Grand Duchy's five cabinet ministers. They go to Paris.
China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the 31st Army Group of Chinese 5th War Area counterattacks and recaptures Hsinyeh.

Future History: James L. Brooks is born in Brooklyn, New York. He becomes famous in the 1970s for helping to create such television sitcoms as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, and Taxi.

A British staff officer with the BEF in France, standing aside his Ford V-8 car on 9 May 1940.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2019

Saturday 4 May 1940

Norway Army Operations: The allies are accumulating troops in the vicinity of Narvik on 4 May 1940. There are about 30,000 troops nearby (French Foreign Legion & Chasseurs Alpins [mountain infantry], Polish troops, British 24th Brigade & Norwegians), though in scattered locations to the north and south. The French troops march to Bjerkvik, opposite Narvik, but the Germans hold them at Labergdal Pass.

The British No. 1 Independent Company (special forces) occupies Mo between Namsos and Narvik.

Colonel-General Eduard Dietl’s 139th Mountain (Gebirgsjäger) Regiment has been isolated at Narvik since the beginning of the invasion, now almost a month old, and the Wehrmacht senses trouble (and also Hitler). The closest Wehrmacht formation, General Feuerstein’s 2nd Mountain (Gebirgsjäger) Division, begins marching 350 miles to the north to relieve them. The allies have troops at Mosjöen, Mo, and Bodö, and deploy about 300-500 at each along the way to stop or delay the German march.

The German 359th Infantry Brigade enters Namsos now that the Allies are evacuated.

At Hegra Fortress, the surrounded Norwegian volunteers begin destroying radios, machine guns, small arms and other items of value. Ski patrols leave carrying important documents and messages.

North of Trondheim, the Norwegian 5th Infantry Brigade surrenders its 2,000 troops.

Norway Naval Operations: The Royal Navy lands troops at Mo, south of Narvik.

British submarine HMS Seal is laying mines on the surface in the Kattegat at 02:30 when it is spotted by a Heinkel He 115 seaplane. The submarine dives to 30 feet and continues laying mines. German anti-submarine trawlers arrive. HMS Seal takes evasive action throughout the day, but then at 18:30 strikes a mine and settles on the bottom. The submarine does not flood, but it is stuck in the mud on the bottom and in big trouble.

German troops capture Norwegian submarine B-6.

Norway Air Operations: A Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 of KG 100 bombs the Polish destroyer Grom on her torpedo tubes in the fjord Rombaken off Narvik at 08:28. The Grom was bombarding German positions along with destroyer HMS Faulknor, which picks up the survivors quickly along with light cruisers HMS Enterprise (D 52) and HMS Aurora (12) and destroyer HMS Bedouin (F 67). There are 154 survivors and 59 perish, with the crew put on a hospital ship sailing for the Clyde.

Battle of the Atlantic: British 5,995 ton tanker San Tiburcio hits a mine and sinks four miles off Tarbett Ness, Moray Firth, Scotland. All 40 crew survive. The mine was laid by U-9 on February 10, 1940.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Severn sinks German freighter Monark in the North Sea.

Swedish freighter Aimy hits a mine and sinks. The mine was laid by the Royal Navy submarine HMS Seal.

Convoy OA 142 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 142 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 29F departs from Gibraltar, and Convoy HX 40 departs from Halifax.

Spies: The Papal Nuncio warns King Leopold of Belgium that the Germans are preparing to attack.

Douglas Bader.

RAF: Douglas Bader, a fighter pilot who lost his legs in a crash in 1931, has been fitted with metal legs and is flying missions. In some small ways, such as handling G-forces, his situation helps him. His story is well known by pilots on both sides and is quite inspirational.

Holland: The Dutch Premier announces that the military authorities have arrested 21 people as being a danger to the state. They are suspected saboteurs and German infiltrators ("fifth columnists").

Italy: There is an editorial in La Stampa which states that the Germans have demonstrated their invincibility in Norway and can defeat the British and occupy England.

American Homefront: Gallahadion wins the Kentucky Derby.

Americans are mildly curious about all that German business, as shown by this photo in the 4 May 1940 LA Times. It's just a guess, but those look like Heinkel He 111s.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2019

Sunday 11 February 1940

A Finnish soldier ready to go.

Winter War: The frost returns to Europe on 11 February 1940. It is possible to walk across the Kattegat from Jutland to Sweden. The Finnish command summarizes Soviet losses to date as 327 airplanes, 594 tanks, and 206 guns captured.

After a month of retraining, reinforcement, bombardment, and probing attacks, the Soviet Army launches a major attack on the Karelian Isthmus to break through the Mannerheim Line. The Soviets have about 460,000 men, over 3,350 artillery pieces, about 3,000 tanks and about 1,300 aircraft deployed on the Karelian Isthmus. In the front line, they dispose of 120,000 men. All told, the Soviets have available about 7 men per yard of the 12-mile front.

Opposing them, the Finns have 150,000 men in total, organized into 8 Divisions. The Finns are deficient in each weapon category by vast margins. Superior mastery of the terrain and weather does little to help them in a brutal frontal assault.

The Soviet barrage opens at 08:40. It can be heard 100 miles away. It lasts until 11:00. Four Soviet artillery regiments fire at the Finns near Summa. The 24th Corps Artillery Regiment alone fires 14,769 shells. The Finns attempt counter-fire, but it is quickly silenced.

At 11:00, the 245th Rifle Regiment of the Soviet 123rd Division, 7th Army, supported by heavy T-28 and light T-26 tanks, attacks the Poppius bunker in the center of the line at Lähde. While the bunker has been destroyed previously, it still constitutes a rallying point for the Finns. The Soviet troops capture the bunker for good at 12:24, using armored cars parked in front of the bunker to block machine-gun fire from the Finns inside. By the end of the day, the Finnish company defending the bunker has just 16 men left out of the 100 with which they started. The 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment which defends the sector loses control of the situation. The Soviets, having made their first real breach in force of the entire campaign, dig in for the night, but fighting continues around the Millionaire bunker.

One aspect of the Soviet effort fails completely. They attempt to outflank the Mannerheim Line on the ice of Lake Ladoga. The attempt fails completely.

North of Lake Ladoga, the Finns ambush a Soviet supply convoy of 60 trucks.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-53 (Korvettenkapitän Harald Grosse) torpedoes 8,022-ton British tanker Imperial Transport off Butt of Lewis in the Atlantic. All 51 survive. The ship remains afloat but abandoned for the time being.

At 11:00, U-53 also sinks 4,114 ton Norwegian MV Snestad. Two perish, 34 crew survive - the two who perish do so in the water during the rescue operation. Grosse waits for the crew to abandon ship, then fires a finishing shot torpedo.

U-53 also attacked the Albert L. Ellsworth at the same spot a few hours later. The ship was rescuing the men from the Snestad. Grosse fired a torpedo which detonated prematurely but looked like it had hit. The men of the freighter abandoned it in a great rush. Grosse then fired another torpedo to finish off the freighter, but it also was a dud. A third torpedo ran underneath the ship and exploded beyond. Grosse then thought the ship was finished and left. However, the ship remained afloat, and the survivors re-boarded it the next morning. The ship was completely intact, so they resumed their voyage to Bergen and arrived there safely.

U-9 (Kptlt. Ludwig Mathes) torpedoes and sinks Estonian freighter SS Linda. One crew perishes.

U-50 (Kptlt. Max-Hermann Bauer) torpedoes and sinks Swedish freighter SS Orania. Fourteen crew perish, 10 survivors are picked up by HMS Faulknor after a night in the water.

U-37 (K.Kapt. Werner Hartmann) uses its deck gun to sink British trawler Togimo off Milford Haven. One crew member perishes.

Convoy OG 18F forms at Gibraltar.

German/Soviet Relations: The two nations conclude another trade agreement, whereby the Germans will provide machinery and the Soviets will provide raw goods such as oil, wheat, and cotton.

Canada: Lord Tweedsmuir, the Gouverneur-General, passes away at 64.

China: In the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese 22nd Army force that took Wuning withdraws toward Nanning.

The Snestad, sunk on 11 February 1940. Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart.

February 1940

February 1, 1940: Second Battle of Summa
February 2, 1940: Soviet Assaults at Summa February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2019

Friday 19 January 1940

Finnish soldiers scatter as Soviet bombers approach. January 19, 1940.

Winter War: The weather stays chilly on 19 January 1940, with 45°C (81°F) of frost recorded north of Lake Ladoga. Even as far south as Italy, there is 20° of frost, all of Europe is covered by a massive cold front.

Winter War Army Operations: Fierce fighting at Salla, where the Soviets are suffering in the weather more than the Finns, who are better prepared and closer to their supplies. The Soviet 122nd Division there stops a Finnish attack.

The Soviet 18th Division remains surrounded north of Lake Ladoga. It has suffered an estimated 18,000 killed and captured.

Attacks on Taipale gain no ground. The artillery bombardment of Summa continues.

Winter War Air Operations: The Swedish volunteer pilots bomb Soviet positions.

Winter War Peace Talks: Germany declines to mediate in the USSR/Finnish Winter War.

Battle of the Atlantic: British destroyer HMS Grenville (Capt. George E. Creasy) strikes a mine and sinks about 23 miles east of the mouth of the River Thames. Nearby destroyers rescue 118 men, while 77-81 perish (estimates vary). It is a brave move by the destroyers, who also are exposed to the mines.
U-9 (Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth) continues its successful patrol. It torpedoes and sinks 1,188-ton Swedish freighter Patria north of Ymuiden, Holland. Four survive and 19 perish. The U-boat has been chasing the freighter and dispatches it with one torpedo.

U-55 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Heidel) torpedoes and sinks 1,694-ton Norwegian freighter Telnes northwest of the Orkneys. All 18 crew perish.

U-59 (Kapitänleutnant Harald Jürst) torpedoes and sinks 1,296-ton French freighter Quiberon off Great Yarmouth, England with one torpedo.

U-44 has the Greek freighter Ekatontarchos Dracoulis in its sights in the Bay of Biscay around midnight. A torpedo, though, detonates prematurely.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sunfish fires four torpedoes at U-14 off Heligoland, Germany. All four miss.

Convoy OA 75G departs from Southend.

Convoy OB 75 departs from Liverpool.

Western Front: The British 50th Motor Division begins embarking for France to join the BEF.

US Government: Senator Borah of Idaho, an influential Isolationist but quite progressive, passes away at age 74 after 32 years in the Senate.

Denmark: The government states that it will fight to preserve its independence.

A.B. Bromfield, the last man to leave the ship, clings to a porthole in the bows of the sinking HMS Grenville. It was a vessel of 1,485 tons and had a complement of 175 officers and men. Eight men died in the explosion, 73 more in the water, there was no time to lower the boats.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019

Thursday 18 January 1940

Towed, electric cables of Double-L, magnetic–mine sweeping gear being deployed behind a Royal Navy minesweeper. Note the boat is wooden.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet 9th Army at Salla completes its withdrawal to Maerkaejaervi on 18 January 1940.

General Siilasvuo takes his Finnish 9th Division 30 miles south to Kuhmo. There, he attacks another division of Vasily Chuikov's 9th Army, the 54th Division.

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet bombers raid the port of Kotka, damaging Finnish icebreaker Tarmo. The Finns claim to have brought down five Soviet bombers.

Western Front: There is an artillery duel to the west of the Saar.

Battle of the Atlantic:  The Kriegsmarine orders unrestricted U-boat warfare on Britain and France. This follows months of warfare bound by the international Law of Prize, though the first British passenger ship was sunk on the very first day of the war, 3 September 1939 (apparently mistaken for a warship). U-boats are authorized to sink, without warning, all ships "in those waters near the enemy coasts in which the use of mines can be pretended." Exceptions were to be made in the cases of the United States, Italian, Japanese and Soviet ships. This marks the institution of full and illegal unrestricted submarine warfare for the first time since 1918. [This is according to evidence produced by Admiral Doenitz at the Nuremberg Court following World War II. The Allies argued that 3 September 1939 was the commencement of unrestricted U-boat warfare by Germany. The court did not specify which date was correct but did find Admiral Doenitz guilty on two counts.]

A rush order for buoyant electrical cable is delivered to the Admiralty by the British Insulated Callendar's Cable Company. It is to be used by wooden trawlers dragging it along behind, with the magnetic field sufficient to detonate nearby magnetic mines. This gives new hope to Allied shipping which has been taking a beating from the magnetic mines.

U-25 (Kapitänleutnant Viktor Schütze) continues its lucky streak. It torpedoes and sinks 6,873-ton Swedish freighter Pajala near the Hebrides. British destroyer HMS Northern Duke, escorting the Pajala, rescues the 35 crew and depth-charges the U-25, which escapes.

U-44 (Kapitänleutnant Ludwig Mathes) also continues its lucky patrol. It stops 1,831-ton Danish freighter Canadian Reefer and disembarks the crew northeast of Cape Villano, Spain. All 26 survive.

U-55 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Heidel) is believed to have sunk 1,304-ton Swedish freighter Foxen off of Pentland Sound in the North Sea. There are only 2 survivors, 1 perish. U-55 does not return from its patrol.

U-9 (Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth)  torpedoes and sinks 1,179-ton Swedish freighter Flandria north of Ymuiden, Holland. There are four survivors, 17 perish.

British authorities in the Bermuda Islands remove European-bound mail from the Lisbon-bound Pan American Airways Boeing 314-ton American Clipper. The US consul on hand issues a written protest.

Convoy OG 15F forms at Gibraltar.

Holland: The crown declares a state of siege in several coastal areas, extending such areas from the German border.

British Homefront: Five workers at Waltham Abbey Royal gunpowder factory in Essex are blown up in a suspicious accident.

Holocaust: The Gestapo executes 250 Jews outside Warsaw. This is due to the Germans' arrest of Jewish-born-turned-Catholic resistance leader Andrzej Kott.

Fortifications at the port of Kotka, Finland.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019