Year 1940

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

Diary for Thursday, May 16, 1940: Western Front By nightfall Guderian‘s leading tanks are 60 miles (ca. 97 km) west of Sedan. Anglo-French-Belgian armies commence withdrawal from Dyle Line to

Diary for Wednesday, May 15, 1940: Western Front Hoth’s tanks defeat French 1st Armored Division west of Dinant; latter loses 125 of its 175 tanks. By nightfall, shattered French 9th

Diary for Tuesday, May 14, 1940: Air War DESTRUCTION OF ROTTERDAM. In attempt to crush stubborn Dutch resistance – and bring tentative ceasefire negotiations to a speedy conclusion – 100

Diary for Monday, May 13, 1940: Western Front BATTLE OF THE MEUSE: Panzer corps of Guderian, Hoth and Reinhardt, with strong air support, establish bridgeheads over river Meuse at Sedan,

Diary for Sunday, May 12, 1940: Western Front French light mechanized units withdraw and all the bridges over river Meuse are blown up, except those at Mezieres, where French fortress

Diary for Friday, May 10, 1940: Western Front GERMANS INVADE HOLLAND, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG without warning (Operation Gelb = Yellow ) employing 77 divisions (including 10 Panzer and 2 airborne)

Diary for Thursday, May 9, 1940: Western Front At noon Hitler orders ‘Gelb’ offensive to begin at 5.35 a.m. on May 10. At 9 a.m. code word ‘Danzig’ transmitted to

Diary for Wednesday, May 8, 1940: Home Fronts Britain: Norway Debate concluded. Severe criticism of Chamberlain by Lloyd George: ‘the Prime Minister….has appealed for sacrifice….he should sacrifice the Seals of

Diary for Tuesday, May 7, 1940: Home Fronts Britain: NORWAY DEBATE begins in House of Commons. Chamberlain defends Conservative Governments strategy. He comes under fierce attack from Admiral Keyes and

Diary for Monday, May 6, 1940: Norway Norwegian troops fight back in Roeros-Stoeren sector (eastern central Norway). Norwegian gold reserve (£33 millions) safe in London. Secret War The Pope tells

Diary for Sunday, May 5, 1940: Norway French Foreign Legionnaires and Polish troops land at Harstad (near Narvik) and Tromso (north of Narvik). Secret War Captain Hermann Goertz, of the

Diary for Saturday, May 4, 1940: Norway British troops land at Mo, south of Narvik. Sea War Polish destroyer Grom bombed and sunk off Narvik. Secret War Papal Nuncio warns