Year 1940

Diary for Sunday, June 23, 1940: Occupied countries France: General de Gaulle forms French National Committee in London. Hitler makes sightseeing tour of Paris. France Italians occupy Riviera resort of […]

Diary for Saturday, June 22, 1940: France ARMISTICE BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY signed at Compiegne by General Keitel (Germany) and General Huntziger (France). Signing ceremony takes place in Marshal Foch‘s

Diary for Friday, June 21, 1940: Politics Hitler attends Franco-German armistice negotiations in Forest of Compiegne. Air War 50 German aircraft make scattered night raids over many parts of England,

Diary for Thursday, June 20, 1940: Sea War German battlecruiser Gneisenau torpedoed off Trondheim by British submarine Severn. France Germans capture Lyons. Saumur Cadets forced surrendering when ammunition supplies for

Diary for Wednesday, June 19, 1940: Western Front Germans capture Brest naval base, and begin crossing river Loire on broad front. Cadets of Saumur Cavalry School under Colonel Michon prevent

Diary for Tuesday, June 18, 1940: France Rommel captures Cherbourg; 5th Panzer Division captures Brest. All large French towns to be surrendered without resistance. Civil administrators and military forces to

Diary for Monday, June 17, 1940: Politics Petain requests Germany’s and Italy’s armistice terms via Spanish Ambassador and the Vatican; he broadcasts to French Army and people: ‘… it is

Diary for Sunday, June 16, 1940: France Guderian captures Besancon. Home Fronts France: Reynaud Cabinet resigns; PETAIN FORMS NEW GOVERNMENT. General Weygand, Minister of Defense. British Ambassador presents Draft Declaration

Diary for Saturday, June 15, 1940: France Germans capture Verdun. German 7th Army (Army Group C) crosses Rhine opposite Colmar. French Army GHQ moves south from Briare, on the Loire,

Diary for Friday, June 14, 1940: France GERMAN FORCES ENTER PARIS. General von Bock, CO Army Group B, reviews victory parades in Place de la Concorde and at Arc de

Diary for Thursday, June 13, 1940: Home Fronts Britain: 120,000 school-children to be evacuated from London. Germany: Hitler gives an interview to American journalist Carl von Wiegand: he had no

Diary for Wednesday, June 12, 1940: France Rommel captures remnants of French IX Corps and British 51st Highland Division at St.Valery-en-Caux, near Le Havre. Germans reach the Marne and cross

Diary for Tuesday, June 11, 1940: France German vanguards approach Pontoise, thereby threatening Paris from the northwest. Sea War Mediterranean: British Mediterranean Fleet and French cruiser squadron sweep Eastern Mediterranean

Diary for Monday, June 10, 1940: Politics ITALY DECLARES WAR ON BRITAIN AND FRANCE. Hostilities to begin at midnight. CANADA DECLARES WAR ON ITALY. French Government leaves Paris for Tours,

Diary for Sunday, June 9, 1940: France German Army Group A (45 divisions) attacks on the river Aisne. 5th Panzer Division captures Rouen. Norway GERMAN-NORWEGIAN ARMISTICE. General Dietl receives surrender

Diary for Saturday, June 8, 1940: Sea War Carrier Glorious and escorting destroyers Acasta and Ardent sunk in desperate battle with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst south-west of Narvik. Acasta scores damaging

Diary for Friday, June 7, 1940: France Rommel advances 30 miles (ca. 48 km) to Forges-Ies-Eaux, north of Rouen. Air War French Naval Air Force attempts token bombing raid on

Diary for Thursday, June 6, 1940: France Despite strong French resistance, Rommel breaks through west of Amiens and advances 20 miles (ca. 32 km). Air War 21 LeO-451 bombers (11

Diary for Wednesday, June 5, 1940: Western Front BATTLE OF FRANCE BEGINS – Operation Rot (Red): 119 German divisions (with 10 armored) against 65 French divisions (3 armored, 3 mechanized

Diary for Tuesday, June 4, 1940: Western Front Germans capture Dunkirk, taking 40,000 French prisoners (rearguard plus many stragglers), and great quantities of abandoned British equipment, inc. 2,472 guns, 84,427