- January 15
- German submarine torpedoes Dutch trade ship Arendskerk (Eagle's Church). [1]
- January 21
- Foreign correspondents in Netherlands under censorship. [1]
- January 23
- Pianist Ignaz Paderewski becomes premier of Polish government in exile. [1]
- January 25
- Germany decrees the establishment of Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland. [1]
- January 26
- Germans forbid Polish Jews to travel on trains. [1]
- January 30
- Hassett's second 122 of the game for Victoria can't stop a New South Wales win. [1]
- January (month)
- 40 German submarines sunk this month (111,000 tons). [1]
- February 1
- Russia begins new offensive against Finland. [1]
- February 5
- General Winckelman replaces General Reijnders as Dutch supreme commander. [1]
- February 7
- British railroads are nationalized. [1]
vvv advertisement vvv
^^^ advertisement ^^^
- February 8
- Germans establish Lodtz, first large ghetto in Poland. [1]
- February 11
- John Buchan, first Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor-General of Canada (1935-40), dies. [1]
- Russian forces breach the main Finnish defensive line. [10]
- February 14
- British merchant vessel fleet is armed. [1]
- February 16
- British search-plane finds German ship Altmark off Norway. [1]
- February 17
- British destroyers board German ship Altmark off Norway. [1]
- February 19
- Finns defeat and disperse the Soviet 18th Division northeast of Lake Ladoga. [10]
- February 22
- Finnish troops vacate Koivisto island. [1]
- Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies writes to High Commissioner Stanley Bruce in London, England, suggesting it is vital that a German defeat include "soft" peace terms, foreseeing a possible new alignment of nations including Britain, France, Germany, and Italy against Russia. [10]
- German air force sinks two German destroyers, killing 578. [1]
- February 23
- Russian troops conquer Lasi Island. [1]
- RKO Radio Pictures releases Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio to theaters in the USA. [6]
- February 27
- Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14, creating the basis for the radiocarbon dating method. [5]
- February (month)
- 45 German submarines sunk this month (170,000 ton). [1]
- March 1
- Adolf Hitler issues a Directive for "Case Weser exercise". He orders preparations be made for the occupation of Denmark and Norway, to secure iron ore from Sweden, and provide naval and air bases for operations against England. The objective is to occupy by peaceful means, designed to protect the arms of the neutrality of the Northern countries. General Nickolaus von Falkenhorst is to be Commander of Group XXI in charge of the operation. The crossings into Denmark and Norway are to be simultaneous. [10]
- The British Government informs Cunard they would requisition the Queen Mary ocean liner for war duty. [274.201]
- March 2
- Soviet armies conquer Tuppura Island, Finland. [1]
- March 5
- The Queen Elizabeth ocean liner arrives at New York, after secretly crossing the Atlantic, for safety away from England. [274.201]
- The Finland Government decides to accept peace terms of the Soviet Union. [10]
- March 12
- In Finland, Soviet forces breach the Mannerheim Line. [10]
- Finland and the Soviet Union conclude a peace treaty, the Treaty of Moscow. Finland retains independence but gives up the Karelian Isthmus, Viipuri, and a small band of land north of Lake Ladoga. The Soviets are granted a 30-year lease of Hangö for a naval base, and a right-of-way to Sweden. [10]
- March 14
- 27 killed, 15 injured when truck full of migrant workers collides with a train outside McAllen, Texas, USA. [1]
- March 15
- Herman Göring says 100-200 church bells enough for Germany, smelt the rest. [1]
- March 16
- German air raid on British fleet base Scapa Flow. [1]
- March 18
- Italy's Benito Mussolini joins Adolf Hitler in Germany's war against France and Britain. [1]
- March 19
- Failed British air raid on German base at Sylt. [1]
- French government of Edouard Daladier falls. [1]
- March 20
- Paul Reynaud becomes French premier. [1]
- March 21
- The Queen Mary ocean liner departs from New York for war duty. [274.201]
- March 23
- All-India-Muslim League calls for a Muslim homeland. [1]
- March 27
- German Heinrich Himmler orders building of Auschwitz concentration camp, at Katowice. [1]
- March 31
- Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes 12th Soviet republic (lasts until 1956). [1]
- April 3
- Winston Churchill becomes director of Britain's armed forces. [244.4]
- Earl of Athlone is appointed Governor-General of Canada. [244.4]
- April 8
- Germany battle cruisers sink British aircraft carrier Glorious. [1]
- April 9
- German cruiser Blücher is torpedoed, capsizes in Oslofjord, 1,000 die. [1]
- (0410 hours) Germany launches Operation Weserubung, invading Denmark. Motorized troops cross the border into Denmark, as amphibious landings are made on Danish islands and on the waterfront of Copenhagen. The German envoy informs the Danish government that Denmark would be protected for the duration of the war, and no interference by German military authorities would be made in the country's internal affairs. Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning orders cessation of hostilities, twelve hours after the start. [10]
- German forces land on Norway with six different forces at widely separated points on the coast. The German government claims the invasion is made to forestall a British invasion. [10]
- (0620 hours) Danish King Christian X broadcasts to the nation that the government has surrendered to Germany. [10]
- (0630 hours) In Norway, Vidkun Quisling speaks on Oslo Radio, urging Norwegians to cease further resistance. He deposes the legal government, and appoints himself Prime Minister. [10]
- In Norway, German forces control Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger. [10]
- April 12
- Italy annexes Albania. [1]
- April 13
- Second battle of Narvik, Norway: eight German destroyers destroyed. [1]
- April 14
- British troops land in Norway near Trondheim and Narvik. [10]
- April 15
- British troops land at Narvik, Norway. [1]
- April 19
- Lake Shore Ltd train derails, killing 34 near Little Falls, New York. [1]
- Dutch prime minister De Geer declares state of siege. [1]
- April 20
- RCA demonstrates its new electron microscope in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. [1]
- April 22
- Rear Admiral Joseph Taussig testifies before US Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war with Japan is inevitable (He was right). [1]
- April 23
- Dance hall fire kills 198 in Natchez, Mississippi, USA. [1]
- April 28
- Rudolf Hess becomes commandant of concentration camp Auschwitz. [1]
- April 29
- Norwegian King Haakon and government flee to England. [1]
- May 1
- 140 Palestinian Jews die as German planes bomb their ship. [1]
- May 3
- (0215 hours) The Allied Expeditionary Force in Norway completes its withdrawal from Namsos and Andalsnes. [10]
- May 4
- 21 "not neutral" Nazis and communists arrested in Netherlands. [1]
- May 5
- Norwegian Government in exile forms in London, England. [1]
- May 6
- Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath). [1]
- May 10
- British Local Defense Volunteers (Home Guard) is formed. [1]
- Dutch torpedo boat Johan van Galen sinks. [1]
- Dutch-Indies Governor Van Starkenborch proclaims end to state of siege. [1]
- French marines are stationed on Aruba. [1]
- French troops arrive in Zealand/Brabant Netherlands. [1]
- (0400 hours) German parachute and airborne forces begin landing to secure key bridges in Holland at Rotterdam, Dordrecht, and Moerdijk, and in Belgium at Maastricht. Some parachutists are disguised as Netherland soldiers, farm boys, and Roman Catholic nuns. [10]
- (0530 hours) 76 German divisions cross a 175-mile front into Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. [10]
- (just after sun-up) Twenty-one 10-man DFS230 gliders descend over Dutch territory, having been pulled by Junker 52 transport planes from airfields near Cologne, Germany. Ten gliders land near key bridges, nine others landing on the roof of Belgium's Fort Eban Emael. Engineers quickly set explosive charges in gun barrels, casemates, and exit passages, sealing in the 650-man garrison. [10]
- The government of the Netherlands declares a state of war with Germany. [10]
- (0700-0800 hours) British and French troops enter Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to counter the German attack. [10]
- British forces occupy Iceland. [10]
- Switzerland orders general mobilization for defence for the following day, and declares a "precautionary state of war" as of midnight. [10]
- (early evening) Britain's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns. [10]
- (1800 hours) At Buckingham Palace, London, England, King George VI asks Winston Churchill to form a new government. [10]
- German forces complete overrunning Luxembourg, and taking Maastrich in the Netherlands, and Malmedy in Belgium. [10]
- (midnight) British Prime Minister Winston Churchill completes the forming of his government: Clement Attlee is Lord Privy Seal, Arthur Greenwood is Minister Without-Portfolio, Anthony Eden is Secretary of State for War, Sir Archibald Sinclair is Air Secretary. [10]
- May 11
- New York World's Fair reopens for a second year. [1]
- (afternoon) Belgian Fort Eben Emael surrenders to German infantry. About 1000 prisoners are taken. [10]
- May 12
- French mariners occupy Saint Maarten. [1]
- German forces break through the Maastricht-Hasselt defence line in Belgium. [10]
- German tanks conquer Moerdijkbrug. [1]
- German blitz conquest of France begins by crossing Meuse River. [1]
- May 13
- British planes bomb factory at Breda. [1]
- German 9th Panzer Division breaks through the frontier with Netherlands, and rushes to bridges in the Dordrecht - Moerdijk - Rotterdam area, cutting the Netherlands in two. [10]
- Churchill says "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat". [1]
- Dutch Queen Wilhelmina flees to England. [1]
- German breakthrough at Grebbelinie. [1]
- May 14
- German breakthrough at Sedan. [1]
- Lord Beaverbrook is appointed British minister of aircraft production. [1]
- (2000 hours) Netherlands Commander in Chief General Henri Gerard Winkelman orders the cessation of hostilities around Rotterdam and Utrecht. About 25,000 men of the army of 100,000 were killed in the fighting. Fighting in Zeeland is to continue. [10]
- May 15
- First successful helicopter flight in US: Vought-Sikorsky US-300. [1]
- German armour division moves into Northern France. [1]
- (morning) French Premier Paul Reynaud phones British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, telling him, "We have been defeated; we have lost the battle". [10]
- (about 1130 hours) In Rijsoord, a suburb village of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Commander in Chief of Netherlands land and sea forces General Henri Winkelman signs formal capitulation of Netherlands armed forces to Germany. [10]
- Germans capture General Dutch Persbureau (ANP). [1]
- Nylon stockings go on sale for first time, in the USA. [1]
- McDonald's opens its first restaurant, in San Bernardino, California. [5]
- May 16
- Germans forbid non-professional auto workers. [1]
- German troops enter The Hague and Amsterdam, Netherlands. [10]
- May 17
- German forces in Belgium continue westward in Belgium, advancing to Brussels, capturing the city by the evening. [10]
- May 18
- The German 18th Army, lead by Georg Küchler, pierces the outer ring of fortresses of Antwerp, Belgium, in two places, quickly capturing the city. [10]
- The Netherlands commander of the Zeeland Islands offers capitulation to Germany. [10]
- May 19
- Amsterdam time becomes MET (Middle European Time). [1]
- French counter-attack at Péronne under General Charles De Gaulle. [1]
- French Premier Paul Reynaud appoints General Maxime Weygand to replace General Maurice-Gustave Gamelin as Chief of General Staff and Allied commander in chief. [10]
- May 20
- A battalion of German 2nd Panzer Division passes through Noyelles, reaching the sea near Abbéville, France, splitting Allied forces and trapping much of it in a northern pocket. This battalion is the first German unit to reach the Atlantic coast, just ten days after the start of the offensive. [10]
- Igor Sikorsky unveils his helicopter invention. [1]
- May 21
- Dutch AVRO-chairman Willem Vogt fires all Jewish employees. [1]
- Allied counter-attack at Atrecht, North-France. [1]
- Paul Reynaud forms French Government. [1]
- May 22
- Dutch Premier De Geer begins working with Germans. [1]
- May 23
- First great dogfight between British Spitfires and German Messerschmitt Bf. [1]
- May 24
- Dutch army demobilizes. [1]
- German tanks reach Atrecht France. [1]
- Adolf Hitler affirms General von Rundstedt's "Stopbevel". [1]
- The Allied Expeditionary Force withdraws completely from Norway. [10]
- May 26
- German forces take Boulogne and Calais, France. [10]
- May 27
- Evacuation of Allied troops begins, from Dunkirk, France, across the English Channel. [10]
- Belgium surrenders to Germany. [392.34]
- May 28
- (0400 hours) King Leopold III of Belgium surrenders the army unconditionally to German forces. [5] [10]
- British-French troops capture Narvik, Norway. [1]
- May 29
- Arthur Seyss-Inquart installed as Reich Commissioner of Hague Netherlands. [1]
- Germans capture Ostend and Ypres in Belgium and Lille in France. [1]
- May 31
- General-Major Bernard Montgomery leaves Dünkirchen. [1]
- June 3
- Italian constitution incorporates Albania as part of Italian Empire. [995.38]
- June 4
- Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, across the English Channel ends. A total of 338,000 men were evacuated to England, including 120,000 French, on 860 vessels. German Luftwaffe planes sunk six British destroyers, eight transport ships, and over 200 small craft. [10]
- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes his "We shall fight on the beaches ... we shall never surrender." speech to Parliament. [10]
- German forces enter Paris, France. [1]
- June 5
- First synthetic rubber tire exhibited in Akron, Ohio, USA. [1]
- June 7
- The Norwegian government ceases hostilities with Germany. [10]
- June 8
- Discovery of element 93, neptunium, announced. [1]
- The last British and French forces leave Norway. [10]
- June 9
- Norway falls to German forces. King Haakon VI flees to London, England. [10]
- June 10
- Italy declares war on England and France. [10]
- June 12
- Siam and Japan sign a non-aggression pact. [10]
- June 13
- Spain's Generalissimo Francisco Franco changes Spain's status from neutral to nonbelligerent. [10]
- Paris, France, is evacuated before the German advance. [1]
- June 14
- German forces occupy Paris, France. [1]
- Soviet Premier Josef Stalin sends an ultimatum to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, making territorial demands. [10]
- June 15
- Soviet forces occupy Lithuania. [10] [1138.916]
- French fortress of Verdun captured by Germans. [1]
- June 16
- Communist government installed in Lithuania. [1]
- Soviet forces occupy Latvia. [10]
- Soviet Premier Josef Stalin demands Romania cede Bessarabia and northern Bucovina. Romania gives in to the demands. [10]
- Paul Reynaud resigns as Prime Minister of France. Marshal Henri Pétain takes over the government, and immediately calls for a ceasefire. [10]
- June 17
- Soviet occupation of Estonia begins. [10]
- France asks Germany for terms of surrender. [1]
- June 18
- Sweden receives a reply from Britain regarding expectations in Norway, indicating that Britain might have to make peace with Germany. [7]
- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a speech in the House of Commons, including "The white fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war.". [5] [10]
- June 22
- France formally surrenders to Germany. The signing ceremony is held in the Forest de Compiègne, in the same rail car in which Germany had surrendered to France in 1918. General Charles Huntziger signs for France. Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel signs for Germany. [10]
- June 24
- France signs an armistice with Italy. [10]
- June 26
- End of USSR experimental calendar. [1]
- June 27
- USSR returns to the Gregorian calendar. [1]
- June 28
- Soviet troops occupy Bessarabia and north-east Bukovina. [10]
|