Day 296 June 22, 1940

At 6.30 PM, French General Huntzinger returns to the railway carriage at Compiègne, site the 1918 Armistice. He and German OKW Chief General Keitel sign the 1940 Franco-German armistice. Article 20 states “French troops in German prison camps will remain prisoners of war until conclusion of a peace”. The French believe it is only a matter of weeks before Britain will also make peace with Germany. Instead, a million Frenchmen will spend the next 5 years as German prisoners. Hitler does not demand the French fleet, but Article 8 leaves the disposition of their warships uncertain, which worries the British. http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1940/1940-06-25b.html

General de Gaulle broadcasts a speech from London on the BBC. He is more strident than his famous June 18 speech, uses the term Free French for the first time and declares himself leader in exile. This speech is heard more widely in France than the June 18 broadcast. http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Appel_du_22_juin?match=en

U-boats sink 2 cargo ships and 2 tankers off the South coast of Ireland and in the Bay of Biscay. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/379.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/381.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/380.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/3554.html
U-122 goes missing in the North Atlantic, somewhere off the British coast (all 49 hands lost).