Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Day 273 May 30, 1940

Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo). British Admiralty orders all modern H, I, J class destroyers out of Dunkirk due to yesterday’s intensive German bombing, leaving only 18 old destroyers to continue the evacuation. Despite this, 24,311 Allied troops embark from Dunkirk harbour & 29,512 from the beaches, including the first French soldiers to be evacuated. Small craft from Britain ferry troops out to waiting warships or even back to England.

Although Luftwaffe attacks are reduced by poor weather, destroyers HMS Anthony & Sabre, minesweeper HMS Kellet, armed boarding vessel HMS King Orry and steamers St. Julien & Normannia are damaged by German bombs. French destroyer Bourrasque hits a mine & is sunk by German artillery off Ostend (about 660 crew and troops evacuated from Dunkirk are killed or swim to shore and are captured by the Germans). 100 survivors are rescued by French torpedo boat Branlebas and 200 more by other ships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Memoriale_Dunkerque.jpg "To the glorious memory of the Pilots, Sailors and Soldiers of the French and Allied armies who sacrificed themselves in the Battle of Dunkirk May June 1940".

Norway. After capturing Narvik, Allied forces begin pushing General Dietl’s mountain troops and sailors back to the Swedish border, only 18 miles East. Dietl, isolated in Narvik since April 10, has been sporadically resupplied and reinforced by airdrops. However, his only real hope of survival is 2nd Gebirgsjäger Division which has been marching North from Trondheim since May 4. Naturally, Hitler does not give Dietl the option to surrender or cross into Sweden to be interned, instructing him instead to fight on.

As part of Operation Fish (the shipment to Canada of British gold and negotiable securities, for storage in the Bank of Canada vault in Ottawa) battleship HMS Revenge (carrying £40 million in gold) and troopships Antonia & Duchess of Richmond (£10 million in gold each) leave Britain. They will arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia in June. http://rightclickhome.com/Numis/micc/11nov2009/MICC.HTM

U-101 sinks British SS Stanhall carrying sugar and onions 10 miles North of Quessant (1 life lost). 36 survivors are picked up by another British steamer Temple Moat and landed at Weymouth. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/331.html

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