05-1940

Diary for Friday, May 31, 1940: Western Front French 1st Army surrenders in Lille sector after 4-day siege. BEF withdraws from Belgian sector of Dunkirk pocket (night May 31-June 1). […]

Diary for Thursday, May 30, 1940: Sea War 53,800 troops evacuated from Dunkirk. French destroyer Bourrasque sunk by artillery fire and mine damage; three British destroyers damaged by bombing. Three

Diary for Wednesday, May 29, 1940: Air War Two elite units of Junkers Ju 88 bombers join assault on Dunkirk. Squadron of RAF Defiant two-seat fighters claim 37 ‘kills’ over

Diary for Tuesday, May 28, 1940: Norway NARVIK CAPTURED by French Foreign Legion and Norwegians. Sea War 17,800 troops evacuated from Dunkirk; destroyer Windsor damaged by bombs; small steamer sunk

Diary for Monday, May 27, 1940: Western Front Guderian is permitted, by his superiors, to continue the advance from river Aa towards Dunkirk, employing motorized infantry (tanks to be held

Diary for Sunday, May 26, 1940: Sea War DUNKIRK EVACUATION (Operation Dynamo) begins. Zeebrugge harbor sabotaged by Royal Navy; 4 block ships sunk. Air War Spitfire Mk Is destroy 6

Diary for Saturday, May 25, 1940: Western Front BEF despatch two divisions to block the gap between Menin and Ypres. Germans capture 5,000 British and French troops at Boulogne. British

Diary for Thursday, May 24, 1940: Western Front German infantry storm old Citadel, Boulogne. Guderian seals off Calais pocket. HITLER AND RUNDSTEDT HALT PANZER CORPS at Gravelines, southwest of Dunkirk.

Diary for Thursday, May 23, 1940: Western Front Germans cross river Scheldt at Oudenarde. BEF in Belgium put on half-rations following loss of supply depots. Sea War Six British destroyers

Diary for Wednesday, May 22, 1940: Air War RAF bomb German communications and dumps on river Meuse near Namur and north of river Aisne. Attempted raid on Leipzig power station

Diary for Tuesday, May 21, 1940: Western Front British and French armor counter-attack Rommel’s 7th Panzer division at Arras. After initial success attacks fail and end May 23. Germans besiege

Diary for Monday, May 20, 1940: Western Front Guderian’s 1st and 2nd Panzer divisions race to the Channel Coast, despite gallant but ineffectual resistance by troops from British 12th and

Diary for Sunday, May 19, 1940: Western Front GAMELIN DISMISSED. WEYGAND MADE ALLIED C-IN-C. De Gaulle’s tanks make second counter-attack on Guderian‘s Corps, in Laon-Montcornet sector; some French tanks threaten

Diary for Saturday, May 18, 1940: Western Front Guderian‘s tanks reach Peronne, on river Somme. Hoth’s tanks reach Cambrai (scene of first British tank attack in 1917). Germans capture Antwerp.

Diary for Friday, May 17, 1940: Western Front Germans enter Brussels. Colonel de Gaulle‘s 4th Armored Division counter-attacks Guderian‘s XIX Panzer Corps at Montcornet, but is repulsed. General von Kleist