Year 1940

Diary for Monday, April 29, 1940: Air War Empire Air Training Scheme: training of pilots and air crews begins at schools in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Norway British troops […]

Diary for Sunday, April 28, 1940: Sea War Atlantic: Liner Queen Mary (81,200 t) arrives at Cape Town after record-breaking 12-day voyage from New York.

Diary for Saturday, April 27, 1940: Occupied countries Norway: Terboven appointed Reichskommissar for Norway (formerly Gauleiter of Essen). Politics Germany officially at war with Norway. Ribbentrop attempts to justify German

Diary for Friday, April 26, 1940: Norway Norwegians and British halt German advance along Gudbrandsdal Valley at Kvam. Norwegian CinC General Ruge issues optimistic Order of the Day: ‘now the

Diary for Thursday, April 25, 1940: Sea War British armed trawlers Bradman, Hammond and Larwood sunk by German aircraft off Andalsnes (they are subsequently raised and operated as German patrol

Diary for Wednesday, April 24, 1940: Sea War British battleship Warspite and three cruisers bombard Narvik, planned landing of troops from cruiser Vindictive is cancelled. Three French destroyers engage German

Diary for Tuesday, April 23, 1940: Air War German bombers raid Scapa Flow (night April 22-23). Home Fronts Australia: Prime Minister Menzies threatens to re-open coal mines by force if

Diary for Monday, April 22, 1940: Air War French reconnaissance aircraft reach Prague (night April 22-23).

Diary for Sunday, April 21, 1940: Air War RAF bombers (1 lost) raid Aalborg airfield (north Denmark) and Stavanger–Sola airfield.

Diary for Friday, April 20, 1940: Air War German bombers (3 lost) attack British naval units off Norway.

Diary for Friday, April 19, 1940: Norway British brigade, advancing south from Namsos, reaches Verdal, 80 km from Trondheim. French troops (Chasseurs Alpins) land as reinforcements at Namsos. But German

Diary for Thursday, April 18, 1940: Norway British base established at Molde; troops land at nearby Alesund. Operation Hammer cancelled – British plan (Churchill and Admiral Keyes) for direct assault

Diary for Wednesday, April 17, 1940: Norway British troops land at Andalsnes (Operation Sickle). German troops isolated at Narvik ordered to ‘hold out as long as possible’. Air War RAF

Diary for Tuesday, April 16, 1940: Sea War German U-boat U-1 sunk by British submarine Porpoise, off Stavanger. Politics Norwegian White Paper on German invasion: listing 13 demands made by

Diary for Monday, April 15, 1940: Norway Siege of Hegra: Norwegian detachment holds antiquated Hegra Fortress, east of Trondheim, against strong German ground and air forces for 3 weeks (ends

Diary for Sunday, April 14, 1940: Norway British North Western Expeditionary Force begins landing at Harstad (near Narvik) and Namsos (north of Trondheim). General von Falkenhorst, commander of German Forces

Diary for Saturday, April 13, 1940: Sea War SECOND BATTLE OF NARVIK. Battleship HMS Warspite and nine destroyers attack eight German destroyers – which are all sunk or disabled (and

Diary for Friday, April 12, 1940: Air War 90 RAF bombers, despatched to Stavanger area to attack German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, fail to make contact. Politics Danish Government of

Diary for Thursday, April 11, 1940: Sea War The British S class submarine Spearfish cripples pocket-battleship Lützow, south of Oslo (night April 10-11). Norway General Ruge appointed CinC Norwegian Army,

Diary for Wednesday, April 10, 1940: Sea War FIRST BATTLE OF NARVIK. 5 British destroyers engage 10 German destroyers and shore batteries in Ofot Fjord, west of Narvik. Destroyers Hardy,