Diary WW2

Diary for Sunday, August 4, 1940: Sea War Atlantic: Force H leaves Gibraltar for home waters to counter German invasion threat.

Diary for Saturday, August 4, 1945: Home Fronts Britain – Government appoint­ments: Minister of Health, Aneurin Bevan; Minister of Fuel and Power, Emmanuel Shinwell.

Diary for Saturday, August 3, 1940: East Africa Italians invade British Somaliland. Camel Corps fights delaying actions.

Diary for Friday, August 3, 1945: Home Fronts France: Battlecruiser Strasbourg refloated at Toulon.

Diary for Friday, August 2, 1940: Sea War Mediterranean: Operation Hurry. Force H approaches Sardinia and Swordfish aircraft from Ark Royal attack Cagliari; 8 Italian submarines sent in vain pursuit.

Diary for Thursday, August 2, 1945: Politics Attlee, Truman and Stalin agree at Potsdam to place sharp curbs on German industrial power; USSR to annex East Prussia and Poland to

Diary for Thursday, August 1, 1940: Sea War Hitler sets provisional date for Operation Sea lion to September 15. Italian destroyer Vivaldi rams British submarine Oswald and captures the crew.

Diary for Wednesday, August 1, 1945: Air War Pacific: B-29 Superfortress bombers drop record total of 6,632 t. bombs on cities of Hachioji, Nagaoka, Mito and Thyama (latter target obliterated).

Diary for Wednesday, July 31, 1940: Air War Battle of Britain: In attacks on convoys during July, 18 small steamers and 4 destroyers are sunk. Aircraft losses in July: German,

Diary for Tuesday, July 31, 1945: Sea War Cruiser Takao sunk by British frogmen with limpet mines at Singapore. Merchant shipping losses in July 1945: 0 Allied ships with 0

Diary for Tuesday, July 30, 1940: Air War German bombers attack shipping between Thames Estuary and Harwich.

Diary for Monday, July 30, 1945: New Guinea Japanese 18th Army makes last stand at village of Numbogua; General Adachi orders his troops ‘to die in honourable defeat’. Sea War

Diary for Monday, July 29, 1940: Air War Ju 87 Stukas with heavy Me 109E escort raid Dover. Destroyer Delight bombed and sunk off Portland. Losses: German, 11; British, 3.

Diary for Sunday, July 29, 1945: Sea War Pacific: Cruiser Indianapolis, sailing unescorted after delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian island, is sunk by Japanese submarine I-58. Ship not missed

Diary for Saturday, July 28, 1940: Air War Battle of Britain (Day 19): air battle over Straits of Dover. ‘Sailor’ Malan wounds Mölders – German fighter ‘ace’ – who crash-lands

Diary for Saturday, July 28, 1945: Burma Japanese 28th Army attempts to escape across river Sittang; suffers catastro­phic losses – over 13,000 killed or drowned. Politics New British Prime Minister

Diary for Saturday, July 27, 1940: Air War 50 Ju 87 Stukas attack Convoy ‘Bacon’ in English Channel. Destroyer Codrington sunk at Dover and destroyer Wren off Aldeburgh (Suffolk). Sea

Diary for Friday, July 27, 1945: Air War Pacific: B-29 Superfortress drop 660,000 leaflets by night over 11 Japanese cities, warning inhabitants to flee before selected targets are destroyed. By

Diary for Friday, July 26, 1940: Air War RAF daylight raid on Dortmund power station. Politics M Avenol resigns as Secretary-General of League of Nations.

Diary for Thursday, July 26, 1945: Politics POTSDAM DECLARA­TION: Allied leaders demand immediate and unconditional surrender of Japan; threaten ‘prompt and utter destruction’ of Japanese homeland. Home Fronts Britain: CHURCHILL