Year 1940

Diary for Sunday, March 24, 1940: Western Front French and German patrols active at various points.

Diary for Saturday, March 23, 1940: Sea War British Malaya Force formed to shadow 17 German merchant ships trapped in Dutch East Indies ports.

Diary for Friday, March 22, 1940: Air War RAF bombers on recce/leaflet dropping operations over the Ruhr and northwest Germany have first encounters with German night fighters. Hampden slightly damaged

Diary for Thursday, March 21, 1940: Home Fronts France: PAUL REYNAUD FORMS NEW GOVERNMENT. Daladier appointed Minister of War. Sea War First German merchant ship (Heddernheim) sunk by British submarine

Diary for Wednesday, March 20, 1940: Home Front France: Prime Minister DALADIER RESIGNS, following severe criticism of his Finland policy. Germany: Dr. Todt appointed Minister of Armaments and War Supplies.

Diary for Tuesday, March 19, 1940: Air War 50 RAF bombers (1 lost) attack Sylt seaplane base, northwest Germany (night March 19-20) in reprisal for Scapa Flow raid of March

Diary for Monday, March 18, 1940: Politics Mussolini meets Hitler at Brenner in Austro-Italian Alps (their first meeting since Munich, 1938). Mussolini declares readiness to join war against Britain and

Diary for Sunday, March 17, 1940: Sea War Atlantic: Shipping losses for week ending March 17 are 3 British, 1 French, 4 neutral, 3 German.

Diary for Saturday, March 16, 1940: Air War German air raid on Scapa Flow by 32 bombers (2 lost). Cruiser Norfolk damaged; 7 naval and 8 civilian casualties, including James

Diary for Friday, March 15, 1940: Air War RAF aircraft drop leaflets over Warsaw (night March 15-16). A Whitley, low on fuel, lands by mistake in a field in West

Diary for Thursday, March 14, 1940: Finland Winter War: Evacuation of 470,000 people from lost territories commences (completed March 26).

Diary for Wednesday, March 13, 1940: Finland Winter War: Cease-fire on all fronts at 11 a.m. Field Marshal Mannerheim’s last Order of the Day to Finnish Army: ‘A severe peace

Diary for Tuesday, March 12, 1940: Politics TREATY OF MOSCOW ends 104-day Russo-Finnish Winter War. Finland loses Karelian Isthmus (inc. city of Viipuri and Vuoksi ‘industrial belt’), Hango naval base,

Diary for Monday, March 11, 1940: Sea War German U-boat U-31 is bombed and sunk by RAF Blenheim bomber in Schillig Roads, northwest Germany. She is subsequently raised, re­commissioned, and

Diary for Sunday, March 10, 1940: Finland Winter War: Russians capture Repola (northeast of Viipuri), Karppila and Ruhela on north shore of Viipuri Bay. Marshal Mannerheim urges Finnish Government to

Diary for Saturday, March 9, 1940: Finland Winter War: Finnish communiqué admits that Russians have established bridgehead on northwest shore of Viipuri Bay, but claims all other sectors of Karelian

Diary for Friday, March 8, 1940: Finland Winter War: Large quantities of French arms, ammunition and aircraft (175) now en route to Finland.

Diary for Thursday, March 7, 1940: Finland Winter War: Fierce fighting continues in Viipuri Bay sector. Air War RAF aircraft, flying from bases in France, drop Polish language leaflets over

Diary for Wednesday, March 6, 1940: Politics Finnish government, faced with desperate military situation, sends peace delegation to Moscow.

Diary for Tuesday, March 5, 1940: Western Front Germans capture British outpost in Maginot Line (2 killed, 16 taken prisoner); outpost later recaptured. Finland Winter War: Russians cross ice-bound Viipuri