Diary May 29, 1940

War Diary, 05-1940, Diary WW2, Year 1940 / 1 minute of reading

Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant of Fighter Command’s 264 Sqn. In fact the concept of the sluggish two-seat fighter was faulty, and production of 1,060 until February 1943 was a disgraceful error. Once the enemy became familiar with the Defiant it had had its day by daylight.

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 Dunkirk (actual total: 14).

Sea War

47,300 troops evacuated from Dunkirk. Destroyers Wakeful, Grenade and Grafton sunk (latter by U-boat U-62). Six British and one French destroyer damaged by bombing, Mackay and Montrose collide and run aground. Eight auxiliary ships and seven merchant ships bombed and sunk.

Norway

British troops evacuated from Bodo.

Western Front

Germans occupy Ostend, Ypres and Lille.

Occupied countries

Holland: Dr Seyss-Inquart takes office as Reichskommissar for Holland.

About The Author

Kretaner

My name is Norman 'Kretaner' and since my childhood I am interested in history and strategy games. Later, I have learned programming and the development of computer games, and finally with the Internet, also web design. I'm in the fortunate position to combine all my interests with my work and to live on a place of my choice, on Crete. All information, figures, specifications and statistics used here had been compiled from a variety of sources and the large, over decades collected, library of the author about military history, WW2 and weapons.