Day 336 August 1, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 23. In the morning, a photo reconnaissance Spitfire notices a build-up of German aircraft at an airfield on the Cotentin Peninsula, Northern France. At 3.40 PM, 13 Blenheim bombers of 59 Squadron bomb the airfield causing some damage, escorted by 10 Blenheim fighters of 236 Squadron. 1 bomber and 2 fighters do not return from the mission, possibly shot down by anti-aircraft fire or German fighters. At the same time, 30 He111s reach Norwich unopposed, as no RAF fighters are scrambled to intercept, and bomb Boulton-Paul Aircraft Works and Norwich railway station (6 civilians killed, 54 injured).

Hitler issues Directive 17 ordering intensified air attacks to begin on August 5 “to establish the necessary conditions for the final conquest of England”. Notably, “attacks on the South coast ports will be made on the smallest possible scale, in view of our own forthcoming operations”. http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/document-27.html

2 British submarines are sunk. HMS Spearfish is spotted on the surface by U-34 halfway between Aberdeen and Stavanger. U-34 is returning from patrol and sinks Spearfish at 7.04 PM with her last torpedo (41 killed). 1 survivor Able Seaman William Pester is picked up by U-34 and taken prisoner. Overnight, HMS Oswald, a leaky WWI-era submarine, is charging batteries and carrying out routine maintenance on the surface 15 miles South of Sardinia. Italian destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi spots Oswald at 2.5 km ramming her and sinking her with depth charges. After 2 hours, 52 survivors are pulled from the water by Vivaldi and taken prisoner but 3 men die. http://www.secondworldwar.org.uk/britsuboswald.html http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?t=24299

Italian submarine Goffredo Mameli sinks Greek steamer Roula 40 miles South of Crete (all crew rescued). U-59 hunts Swedish steamer Sigyn (carrying 765 fathoms of pit props to Sunderland, England) from 2.15 to 3.45 AM, finally sinking her with the third torpedo 60 miles Northwest of Ireland (all crew rescued).
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/443.html

U-60 has a lucky escape off Norway. Dutch submarine O-21 misses U-60 with 2 torpedoes from 2 km. O-22, O-21’s sister ship, also spots U-60 but is too far away to attack.

Royal Navy begins Operation Hurry transporting 12 Hurricanes on aircraft carrier HMS Argus to reinforce the garrison on Malta. HMS Argus is part of Admiral Somerville’s Force H from Gibraltar with battlecruiser HMS Hood, battleship HMS Valiant, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Arethusa & Enterprise and 10 destroyers. Admiral Cunningham’s Mediterranean fleet leaves Alexandria, Egypt, to conduct diversionary maneuvers around the Greek island of Crete.

Day 335 July 31, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 22. Luftwaffe mounts numerous small raids on shipping all along the South coast of England. 1 Messerschmitt and 2 Spitfires are shot down off Folkestone. Göring is convinced by wild overestimates of RAF losses, as well as Royal Navy’s withdrawal of warships from the English Channel, that Luftwaffe has control of the skies. He believes he can proceed to Phase 2 of his plan, to eliminate RAF by direct attacks on their airfields. In fact RAF losses in July are 77 aircraft destroyed & 43 damaged (67 men killed, 23 wounded). Britain produced 496 fighters in July (50% above projected output) and has more serviceable aircraft than at the beginning of July, although still far fewer than Germany. British civilian casualties from bombing in July are 258 killed & 321 wounded.

Hitler revises his plans for an invasion of Britain by the middle of August. German Admiral Raeder convinces Hitler that Operation Sealion cannot be launched until middle of September.

U-99 sinks 2 British steamers 50 miles off the North coast of Ireland. At 1.38 AM, Jamaica Progress (2179 tons of fruit from Jamaica) is sunk with 7 lives lost. 17 survivors reach Barra in the Outer Hebrides in lifeboats while 25 crew members plus 1 gunner and 4 passengers are picked up by British trawler Newland and landed at Fleetwood, England. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/440.html At 1.24 PM, British steamer Jersey City in convoy OB-191 is sunk (2 killed). 43 crew are picked up by British steamer Gloucester City, transferred to destroyer HMS Walker and landed at Liverpool. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/441.html U-99 is depth charged by the escorts but is undamaged. Another attack on convoy OB-191 is foiled by a flying boat which bombs U-99, again without damage.

Off Harwich, British destroyer HMS Whitshed hits a mine head on and loses most of the bows. She is towed to Harwich stern first by destroyer HMS Wild Swan. HMS Whitshed will undergo repairs at Chatham until 21 December.

German armed merchant cruiser Pinguin sinks British steamer Domingo De Larringa in the South Atlantic 1000 miles east of Pernambuco, Brazil. 8 crew are killed & 30 taken prisoner (1 crewman Juan Garcia will die in Milag Nord PoW Camp and is buried in Becklingen War Cemetery).

British submarine HMS Spearfish departs Rosyth to patrol off the Norwegian coast.

Day 334 July 30, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 21. Bad weather (low clouds and rain showers) restricts flying all day. 5 German raids target the Scottish coast and Northeast England. At noon, Spitfires of 603 Squadron shoot down 1 Heinkel He111 off Montrose Scotland. Further South, convoys are attacked in the English Channel off the coast of Essex and Suffolk. At 3.30 PM, Hurricanes of 85 Squadron shoot down 1 Messerschmitt Bf110 of Southwold, Suffolk. No British fighters are lost. Overnight, there are a few small bombing raids over Southeast England, South Wales and the Midlands.

Destroyer HMS Delight sinks in Portland harbour after being bombed yesterday in the English Channel.

Day 333 July 29, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 20. At 7.30 AM, 40 Stuka Ju87s bomb Dover Harbour escorted by 40 Messerschmitt Bf109s. Spitfires of 41 and 64 Squadrons and Hurricanes of 43 and 56 Squadrons attack, shooting down 8 Ju87s and 7 Bf109s. Anti-aircraft guns down 2 more Stukas. 2 Spitfires and 1 Hurricane are shot down. At 5 PM, Destroyer HMS Delight leaves Portland on the English South coast to patrol West coast of Britain, contravening new Navy orders banning sailing through the English Channel in daylight. At 6.30 PM, Delight is bombed by German aircraft from Cherbourg. A bomb penetrates the foredeck causing an explosion below deck (18 killed, 59 wounded) but Delight is able to steam back to Portland.

U-62 is on the surface 60 miles Southwest of Stavanger, Norway, when British submarine HMS Sealion fires 3 torpedoes, which miss, and then attacks with her deck gun. U-62 dives and escapes without damage. http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3422.html

At 2.15 AM, U-99 sinks British steamer Clan Menzies (6000 tons of fruit, wheat and grain, 1500 tons of zinc, 840 tons of general cargo) 80 miles West of Ireland (6 killed). 88 survivors take to the lifeboats and make land at Enniscrone, Ireland. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/439.html

Day 332 July 28, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 19. At 1.35 PM, 100 German aircraft in 5 groups cross the Straits of Dover and are engaged by 4 Squadrons of British fighters off “Hellfire Corner”. 5 Messerschmitt Bf109s and 2 Heinkel bombers are shot down with the loss of two Spitfires. Luftwaffe wins a significant strategic victory, forcing Royal Navy to withdraw all destroyers from Dover to Portsmouth during daylight, as warships are vulnerable to divebombing by Stukas. Overnight, there is widespread minelaying along the coast and bombing of targets in England, Wales and Scotland.

At 5.57 AM, 80 miles West of Ireland, U-99 sinks British MV Auckland Star (carrying 10,700 tons of general cargo from Australia to Britain via the Panama canal). All 74 crew escape in lifeboats and reach the Irish shore. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/438.html

740 miles East of Brazil, near the island of Trindade, German and British armed merchant cruisers exchange fire. British HMS Alcantara is hit by 3 shells (2 killed, 7 wonded) while chasing German raider Thor, causing Alcantara to slow down. As Thor turns away to break off, Alcantara hits her with 2 shells (3 killed). Both ships survive and will be repaired. http://www.amhinja.demon.co.uk/archive/Alcantara.htm

Day 331 July 27, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 18. 15 German dive bombers attack 6 minesweeping trawlers and escort destroyers in the English Channel 20 miles off Aldeburgh, East Anglia. Destroyer HMS Wren is holed below the waterline by several near misses and sinks (37 lives lost). HMS Montrose suffers damage to the hull, losing her bow, and is towed to Harwich. Germans also bomb the port of Dover sinking destroyer HMS Codrington, in dock for boiler cleaning (3 men wounded). Merchant convoys are also attacked in the English Channel. 2 German fighters and 1 Stuka are shot down. RAF loses a Spitfire and a Hurricane.

At 2.58 AM, 350 miles West of Scotland, U-34 attacks convoy OB-188 sinking British steamer Sambre and British tanker Thiara (25 killed). British destroyer HMS Winchelsea rescues all 48 of Sambre’s crew plus 36 survivors from Thiara, who will be landed at Liverpool. http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/436.html

Day 330 July 26, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 17. Bad weather restricts flying. Several times, both small and large raids approach within 10-20 miles of the English coast but turn away when RAF fighter squadrons go up. It is not clear if this is due to the weather, reluctance of Luftwaffe pilots to engage or a new tactic designed to draw the RAF over the open sea towards France. 3 Messerschmitts and 1 Hurricane are lost.

50 miles Southwest of Stavanger, Norway, British submarine HMS Thames fires a torpedo that is intended for German battleship Gneisenau heading for Kiel. The torpedo instead hits one of the screening vessels at 50 yards; torpedo boat Luchs which sinks immediately. HMS Thames is never heard from again (possibly damaged by the proximity of the blast or hit by the sinking Luchs, or she may be lost on a German mine at a later date).

At 2.47 PM, 320 miles West of Ireland, U-34 fires three torpedoes at convoy OB-188, sinking British passenger ship Accra carrying 1700 tons of general cargo (24 dead). 465 survivors are rescued by British steamer Hollinside, Norwegian steamer Loke, sloop HMS Enchantress and corvette HMS Clarkia and landed at Liverpool. British MV Vinemoor is hit and sinks the next day (all 32 crew picked up by HMS Clarkia, transferred to steamer Hollinside and landed at Liverpool).
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/435.html

Day 329 July 25, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 16. Another fine day for flying. Waves of 20-40 German aircraft attack shipping and naval bases around Dover. Ju87s and motor torpedo boats attack 21 merchant vessels in Convoy CW8 in the Dover Strait, sinking steamers Corhaven, Polgrange (2 killed), Leo (6 killed), Henry Moon (1 dead) & Portslade. Germans lose 14 aircraft. RAF loses 4 Spitfires. Attacks on Portsmouth, Poole and Portland, on the South Coast, cost Luftwaffe 7 more aircraft (2 RAF fighters shot down).

After being torpedoed by HMS Clyde on June 20, German battleship Gneisenau is made seaworthy and departs Trondheim, Norway (to undergo further repairs at Kiel), escorted by cruiser Nurnberg and destroyers Galster, Lody, Jacobi, and Ihn. Torpedo boats Luchs, Jaguar, Kondor, Iltis and T.5 join the convoy overnight, near Stavanger.

Day 328 July 24, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 15. At 6.30 AM, Luftwaffe bombs Rolls Royce factory at Glasgow without damage, hitting a nearby printing works. At 7.30 AM, Junkers Ju88s raid shipping in the Bristol Channel and 1 Ju88 is shot down by Spitfires of 92 Squadron. At noon, 18 Dornier bombers escorted by 40 Bf109s attack shipping in the Thames estuary, sinking minesweeping trawler Fleming (19 crew killed, 3 survivors rescued by minesweeper Corena). 54 and 65 Squadron go up and, as the Germans turn away, 610 Squadron scrambles from Gravesend to cut off their retreat. The 36 Spitfires shoot down 9 Bf109s which are running low on fuel off the coast of Kent (RAF loses 2 Spitfires). Another Bf109 is shot down by anti-aircraft guns. German bombers sink anti-submarine trawler HMS Kingston Galena (16 dead) and minesweeper Rodino (4 dead) off Dover.

1277 French sailors (captured when French warships in British ports were captured on July 3) leave Southampton for Marseilles on French steamer Meknes to be repatriated. At 10.30 PM, flying the French flag and with lights on to indicate neutrality, Meknes is sunk in the middle of the English Channel by German motor torpedo boat S-27 (416 lives lost). British destroyers HMS Viscount, Wolverine, Sabre and Shikari respond to distress signals and rescue the survivors. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1940-07-25a.983.2

Day 327 July 23, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 14. German bases in France make convoys in the English Channel an easy target for the Luftwaffe. Most convoys are now sent around Scotland. Consequently, there is little activity in the Channel. The extra distance forces German bombers to fly beyond the range of their fighter escorts. Luftwaffe mounts a few coastal raids and minelaying overnight.

German bombers attack British submarines in the North Sea. 125 miles East of Aberdeen, Scotland, German Dornier Do-17 bomber (Lt. Karl Müller, 1/KF1Gr 606) sinks HMS Narwhal on her way to lay mines off Kristiansund, Norway. HMS Truant’s good luck continues when she is also attacked but suffers no damage.

8077 Canadian troops bound for Britain leave Halifax, Nova Scotia, on troopships Batory, Antonia, Monarch Of Bermuda, Sobieski, Duchess Of York & Samaria, escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS Assiniboine & Saguenay and British cruiser HMS Emerald. The convoy will arrive safely in Scotland on August 1.

Day 326 July 22, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 13. Luftwaffe flies only reconnaissance missions and no convoys are attacked, despite good flying weather. Hurricanes of 145 Squadron shoot down a lone Dornier Do17 bomber off Selsey Bill. A Hurricane of 85 Squadron crashes approaching Castle Camps airfield killing the pilot. Overnight, numerous small German raids bomb coastal towns or lay mines off the East coast of England and Scotland (another Do17 is shot down).

British Foreign Minister Lord Halifax broadcasts a speech rebutting Hitler’s offer of peace in his Reichstag speech of July 19. “No one here wants the war to go on for a day longer than is necessary. But we shall not stop fighting until freedom, for ourselves and others, is secure.”

In Japan, General Hideki Tōjō is appointed Army Minister in Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe’s new cabinet.

British submarine HMS Clyde fires 6 torpedoes at another British submarine HMS Truant, off Fejeosen, Norway. Fortunately, all torpedoes miss and neither sub is damaged.

Day 325 July 21, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 12. Overnight, 15 Handley Page Hampden bombers from 61 and 144 Squadron attack German battleships Admiral Scheer and Tirpitz at dock in Wilhelmshaven. Neither battleship is damaged but 3 Hampdens are shot down. With fine weather again, Germans focus on attacking convoys in the English Channel instead of bombing raids over land targets. Göring’s strategy is to bring British fighters into the air over the Channel, while exposing his aircraft to minimum danger. RAF loses a Hurricane and a Spitfire while Luftwaffe loses 3 fighters and 1 Dornier Do17 bomber. British losses since July 10 are about 45 fighters destroyed, but production of new aircraft has kept pace. More worrying is the loss of trained pilots who are not so easily replaced. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-air/20582-69-years-ago-tonight-20-21-july-1940-a.html

After being bombed near Dover yesterday, HMS Brazen sinks while under tow. Destroyer HMS Boreas takes off the crew but 1 sailor is killed.

U-30 sinks British steamer Ellaroy 180 miles West of Cape Finisterre, Spain. The crew abandons ship in lifeboats. All 16 crew are rescued by Spanish trawler Felix Montenegro and landed at Vigo, Spain.

Soviet Union annexes Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, following ‘elections’ held on July 14 voting for union with USSR. These countries will be under Soviet control until 1989, apart from a period of German occupation from 1941-1944.

Day 324 July 20, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 11. Enjoying fine flying weather, Germans attack convoys along the South and East coast of England and the East coast of Scotland. Germans bomb a convoy near Dover, sinking Steamer SS Pulborough (trawler Lady Philomena takes off 17 survivors) and badly damaging destroyer HMS Brazen (taken in tow by tug Lady Brassey). Brazen’s anti-aircraft guns claim 3 German aircraft shot down. http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4356.html Destroyer HMS Acheron is bombed and damaged by near misses, 10 miles off the Isle of Wight. Acheron will go to Portsmouth for repairs. Another costly day for the RAF losing 5 Hurricanes, 1 Spitfire and 1 Blenheim (7 pilots and 1 gunner killed). Germans lose at least 6 fighters, 2 bombers and a seaplane.

Following Battle of Cape Spada yesterday, 6 Swordfish torpedo bombers from aircraft carrier HMS Eagle at Sidi Barrani, Egypt, seek Italian cruiser Giovanni dalle Bande Nere at the Italian naval base at Tobruk, Libya. Bande Nere is not there so they sink Italian destroyers Ostro & Nembo and steamer Sereno instead. Italy will soon abandon Tobruk as a sea base but guns from the sunken destroyers will be saved and used in the defense of Bardia.

Day 323 July 19, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 10. 6 British Boulton Paul Defiants ("turret” fighters with no forward-firing guns) of 141 Squadron, covering a convoy off Folkestone, are shot down by 12 Bf109s (10 pilots and gunners dead, 2 survivors). 3 other Defiants are saved by Hurricanes of 111 Squadron. Defiants will soon be withdrawn as frontline fighters. 3 Hurricanes are lost in various engagements. There are numerous German bombing raids along the South and East coast of England and Scotland (42 civilians killed in Glasgow). 2 British destroyers HMS Griffin & Beagle are slightly damaging and tanker War Sepoy is sunk when Stukas bomb Dover. Overall, Germans lose 3 bombers and 3 Bf109s. http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/july19.html

Hitler makes his “Last Appeal To Reason” speech at the Reichstag, suggesting directly that Britain come to a negotiated peace (translated leaflets are dropped over Britain). “I consider myself in a position to make this appeal, since I am not the vanquished, begging favors, but the victor speaking in the name of reason. I can see no reason why this war must go on.” He is disappointed that backdoor diplomacy has made no progress to avoid an invasion for which Germany is not prepared. He has not reckoned with Churchill’s determination to fight on, in order to secure the Empire and British influence in continental Europe. Hitler also promotes 12 Generals to Field Marshal. Maintaining the ascendancy of the Luftwaffe, Generalfeldmarschall Göring is promoted to Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich.

Mediterranean. Battle of Cape Spada. 4 British destroyers HMS Hyperion, Hasty, Ilex & Hero encounter 2 Italian high-speed cruisers Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and Bartolomeo Colleoni. As the destroyers flee from the faster Italian ships, they call in Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney and British destroyer HMS Havock patrolling 40 miles North. Sydney hits Bartolomeo Colleoni which is disabled and then sunk by torpedoes from HMS Ilex & Hyperion (121 killed, 555 rescued by Ilex & Hyperion). The other Italian cruiser Giovanni dalle Bande Nere flees and is believed to have gone to Tobruk, Libya. http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-battles/ww2/cape-spada.htm

30 miles Northwest of Ireland, U-62 sinks British steamer carrying 7860 tons of iron ore (13 crew killed). 26 survivors make land at Gola Island, Co. Donegal.

Off the coast of Brazil, German armed merchant cruiser Thor sinks Dutch steamer Tela (33 crew taken prisoner).

General Alan Brooke is appointed Commander in Chief, Home Forces, replacing General Edmund Ironside. Ironside has already been replaced as Chief of the Imperial General Staff by General Jon Dill. Ironside retires and will be promoted to Field Marshal.

Day 322 July 18, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 9. Weather improves and Germans attack the Channel ports. 15 Spitfires of 152 and 610 Squadron engage 30 Messerschmitts off Beachey Head on the South coast of England (1 Spitfire lost). Germans bomb Montrose Aerodrome, on the East coast of Scotland (2 killed, 3 wounded). Further South, Germans bombers sink the East Goodwin Light Vessel. At 7 PM, 18 Blenheim bombers escorted by 24 fighters bomb German barges, assembling for the invasion of Britain, at dock in Boulogne, France.

French bomb Gibraltar in retaliation for attacks on French warships in Operation Catapault. French pilots drop most of their bombs in the sea, apparently having no animosity towards the British.

British cruiser HMS Cumberland leaves Simonstown, near Cape Town, South Africa looking for German armed merchant cruiser Thor, 2000 miles away off the coast of Brazil.

At 2 AM, U-99 sinks British steamer Woodbury (5500 tons of canned meat & wheat, 2500 tons of general cargo) 150 miles Southwest of Ireland. All 35 crew reach Ireland in lifeboats on 19 July. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/431.html

At 4.41 PM, U-58 sinks Norwegian steamer Gyda (1980 tons of salt) 30 miles Northwest of Ireland (11 crew lost. 9 survivors will be picked up next day by Belgian passenger ship Ville d´Arlon and landed at New York on 26 July.

Day 321 July 17, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 8. Bad weather again restricts flying across most coastal areas. Germans bomb Bristol on the West coast of England, a tempting target due to its docks, airfields and aircraft factories. The industrial centers on the East coast of Scotland are also bombed again.

WWI-era British submarine H31 sinks German anti-submarine trawler Steiermark (UJ126) 5 miles off the coast of Holland. Other German anti-submarine trawlers counterattack but H31 is undamaged.

U-43 sinks British SS Fellside, West of Ireland (12 dead, 21 crew rescued and landed at Liverpool). U-34 sinks Greek SS Naftilos (all 28 crew abandon ship safely, 1 dies of wounds). Off the North Scottish coast, U-57 sinks Swedish SS O.A. Brodin (3 dead, 21 survivors picked up by armed trawler HMS Sicyon and taken to Kirkwall) and British SS Manipur (14 dead, 65 survivors rescued by Canadian destroyer HMCS Skeena and landed at Rosyth). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/425.html http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/427.html

German bombers sink Estonian SS Leola 120 miles South of Ireland (2 killed). Belgian trawler Roger Jeannine rescues survivors.

In the Mediterranean, Italian bombers sink Finnish SS Wiiri 30 miles off Malta (all 26 crew rescued).

Day 320 July 16, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 7. Low cloud, fog & heavy rain ground both sides in the morning & early afternoon. Spitfires from 601 Squadron intercept German bombers over the Isle of Wight in the English Channel (1 Ju88 is shot down). Germans bomb Fraserburgh & Peterhead in Northeast Scotland (Spitfires of 603 Squadron shoot down 1 Heinkel).

Hitler still hopes to bring Britain to a negotiated peace but time is running out for a cross-Channel offensive in the Summer. He issues Führer Directive 16 to prepare for an invasion on a wide section of the South coast of Britain by the middle of August, but the plan is hastily conceived and rudimentary. The intention is to transport 39 divisions across the English Channel in flat-bottomed Rhine river barges, in 3 waves (3 infantry div. then 6 armoured & 3 motorised div. finally 17 infantry div.). This requires the English Channel to be swept of British mines and then both ends blocked with German mines to prevent entry of Royal Navy. In addition, the Luftwaffe must annihilate the RAF to prevent aerial attacks on the barges. In contrast, Churchill believes the invasion can be thwarted simply by minesweepers clearing a path through the minefields to allow British destroyers into the Channel to sail back and forth, overturning the unstable barges in their wake. http://www.alternatewars.com/WW2/WW2_Documents/Fuhrer_Directives/FD_16.htm

British cruiser HMS Glasgow and destroyer HMS Imogen collide in heavy fog off Duncansby Head, North of Scotland. Imogen catches fire and is abandoned (17 killed, 133 rescued by HMS Glasgow), drifting 20 miles South before sinking. HMS Glasgow suffers a 6 foot gash above the water line (2 killed) and will sail to Liverpool for repairs (completed September 4).

Torpedo duel in the Mediterranean. British submarine HMS Phoenix attacks Italian torpedo boat Albatros but misses, Southeast of Sicily. Albatros then torpedoes HMS Phoenix and sinks her (all 55 crew lost).

In the South Atlantic, German armed merchant cruiser Thor sinks British steamer Wendover carrying 7250 tons of coal (4 killed, 36 crew and 1 gunner taken prisoner).

130 miles northwest of Ireland, U-61 hits British tanker Scottish Minstrel with 1 torpedo (9 dead). The tanker stays afloat, its cargo of 9200 tons of fuel oil blazing fiercely, and sinks the next day. 32 survivors are rescued by corvette HMS Gardenia and landed at Folkestone, England. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/426.html

Day 319 July 15, 1940

Battle of Britain. Low cloud and rain keep most aircraft grounded. German bombers attack industrial and dock areas along the Scottish coast but do little damage and Westland Aircraft aircraft works at Yeovil, Somerset is bombed (1 runway and 1 hangar are damaged. Convoy "Pilot" is spotted by a reconnaissance aircraft in the Thames Estuary but Dornier bombers sent out to attack are headed off by British fighters.

140 British commandos are taken to Guernsey by destroyers HMS Scimitar and Saladin but Operation Ambassador goes badly. 40 men from No.3 Commando are ferried ashore in launches but find German barracks empty and re-embark leaving behind 3 men who cannot swim back to the launches. They become German POWs. Other launches crash on rocks or go to the wrong island, Sark.

At 3.21 AM, U-34 sinks Greek steamer Evdoxia 40 miles southwest of Ireland (1 dead, 22 survivors). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/424.html

Estonian steamer Merisaar, captured by U-99 on July 12, is sunk by German bombing off Cobh, County Cork, Ireland. The German prize crew is rescued and taken prisoner.

Day 318 July 14, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 5. Clear weather allows Luftwaffe to attack convoy “Bread” and other convoys in the English Channel. There are dogfights all day and only 5 ships are damaged or sunk. BBC reporter Charles Gardner describes a dogfight from the cliffs of Dover, although he gets many facts wrong in the excitement. http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/battleofbritain/11431.shtml http://www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/Information/Articles/Incidents/Flames.htm Germans also bomb RAF airfield at Manston in Kent and a destroyer moored in Swanage Harbour, Dorset, causing little damage.

British armed merchant cruiser HMS Esperance Bay leaves Plymouth at 12.50 PM carrying ten million pounds in gold. 100 miles West, she is bombed (7 dead) but is able to return to Plymouth.

German armed merchant cruiser Thor sinks British steamer Gracefield, carrying 7430 tons of wheat and bran, 500 miles off the coast of Brazil. The crew of 36 is taken prisoner.

At 11.45 AM, U-boat UA sinks Norwegian tanker Sarita 100 miles West of Cape Verde. Al 29 crew abandons ship on two rafts and a lifeboat. They are picked up on July 18 by British steamer Dunstan and taken to Pernambuco. At 6.18 PM, U-52 sinks Greek steamer Thetis A. carrying grain, 300 miles West of Brest, France (9 dead, 20 survivors abandon ship in a lifeboat). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/422.html

Day 317 July 13, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 4. Göring’s strategy of Kanalkampf (Channel battles), harassing shipping and bombing coastal facilities, continues. However, coastal fog prevents flying for most of the morning. Convoy CW5 is attacked leaving Dover by German bombers. Escort destroyer HMS Vanessa is damaged by near misses and towed by destroyer HMS Griffin to Sheerness for repairs (completed November 4). Convoy “Bread” is again attacked off the Dorset coast. Hurricanes from 56 & 238 Squadrons and Spitfires of 64 Squadron respond and shoot down 6 German bombers. Several British fighters are shot down and 3 pilots are killed.

While U-boats prowl the busy sea lanes around Britain and the Mediterranean, armed merchant cruisers (surface raiders) are more effective in the wide open Ocean spaces using lookout to spot smokestacks of their victims. In the Indian Ocean 500 miles South of Ceylon, German raider Atlantis sinks British steamer Kemmendine bound for Burma filled with whisky (57 crew, 25 passengers taken prisoner). 200 miles Northeast of Antigua, raider Widder sinks British steamer King John (taking prisoner 5 crew and 21 survivors from the Panamanian ship Santa Margarita sunk by U-29 July 2). Widder now has 100 prisoners, so most are put into King John’s lifeboats & set towards the West Indies. http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersWW2/2Atlantis.html

Day 316 July 12, 1940

In the North Channel between England and Ireland, U-56 hits British transport ship Dunera with a torpedo that glances off without exploding. Dunera is carrying 2,542 “enemy aliens” (many are survivors from British liner Arandora Star sunk July 2).

Battle of Britain Day 3. Typical British summer weather (low clouds, rain showers and occasional sunny periods) restricts flying across most coastal areas. British fighters engage He111 and Do17 bombers and fighter escorts targeting a large convoy (codenamed "Booty") off Essex and Suffolk (2 Spitfires, 1 Hurricane lost, no ships sunk). In the West of England, Stukas covered by Messerschmitt Me110s bomb Portland and Exeter. Stukas are vulnerable to attack pulling out of their dive and 2 are shot down. Twin-engine Me110s are too slow to provide much cover. A lone Heinkel He111 from Stavanger is shot down doing reconnaissance near Aberdeen, Scotland, and drops its bombs on the city before crashing into the Ice Rink. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/15/a4141315.shtml

160 miles Southwest of Ireland, U-99 sinks Greek steamer Ia carrying 6666 tons of wheat at 2 AM (3 dead and 27 survivors) and stops Estonian steamer Merisaar (carrying lumber) with the anti-aircraft gun at 11 PM, after missing with a torpedo. Rough seas prevent sinking Merisaar with torpedoes or deck gun, so she is ordered to go to Bordeaux, France. However, Merisaar will be sunk off Cork, Ireland, by a German bomber July 15.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/421.html

After the Battle of Calabria, Italian bombers attack British battleship HMS Warspite and cruiser HMS Liverpool from 8.50 to 11.50 AM, with no damage. HMS Liverpool is hit by a bomb that did not explode (1 killed and 2 wounded). A Sea Gladiator of 801 Squadron from aircraft carrier HMS Eagle shoots down an Italian bomber then makes a forced landing alongside HMS Liverpool, which rescues the seaplane.

Day 315 July 11, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 2. Clouds keep most RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft grounded. Hurricanes from 601 Squadron & Spitfires of 609 Squadron tangle with Ju87 Stukas & Messerschmitt Bf109s attacking the Royal Navy base at Portland (South coast of England). 1 Hurricane, 2 Spitfires, 2 Stukas and 2 Bf109s are shot down. Hurricanes of 66 Squadron attack a reconnaissance Dornier Do17 bomber off the East coast of England (the Dornier and 1 Hurricane are lost). 6 Spitfires shoot down a Heinkel seaplane bearing Red Cross markings (to pick up downed Luftwaffe pilots) escorted by 12 Bf109s of the coast of Kent. 2 Spitfires and 2 Bf109s are also shot down. http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/0021.html

In the Indian Ocean 400 miles Southeast of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis sinks British steamer City Of Baghdad (previously a German ship SS Geierfels, taken by Britain as reparations after WWI) carrying 9,324 tons of steel, chemicals and machinery. 2 crew are killed, 81 taken prisoner.

At 7 AM, U-34 sinks Norwegian steamer Janna 100 miles Southwest of Ireland. All 25 crew abandon ship in three lifeboats and make land at Mizen Head, Ireland 3 days later. In the Mediterranean 60 miles South of Cyprus, Italian submarine Tarantini sinks Panamanian tanker Beme and rescues her entire crew.

Day 314 July 10, 1940

Battle of Britain Day 1. British air cover over the English Channel and Royal Navy ships are the biggest threats to German plans for a cross-Channel invasion of Britain. Luftwaffe must first defeat RAF and dominate the skies over the Channel. Göring plans to draw RAF into the air, by attacking Channel shipping and British coastal facilities, and then destroy British fighters in a series of dogfights ("the Channel battles"). 24 German bombers and 50 or more fighters attack a large convoy (codenamed "Bread") in the Straits of Dover, escorted by 6 RAF Hurricanes. 4 RAF squadrons in Southeast England are scrambled and a 30 minute dogfight ensues (RAF loses 3 fighters and Flying Officer Tom Higgs of 111 Squadron is killed; Germans lose 4 planes including 2 Dornier bombers). 1 ship in the convoy is sunk. 70 German bombers attack docks at Swansea, South Wales and Falmouth, Cornwall, where British tanker Tascalusa is sunk. http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/phase1ofthebattle.cfm

Liverpool, England. 2,542 “enemy aliens” (200 Italian POWs, 251 German POWs, 55 known Nazi sympathizers and 2,036 anti-Nazis, mostly Jewish refugees) embark onto British transport ship Dunera, a converted liner expected to carry 1600 troops. Over the next 57 days, they will be robbed, beaten and in 1 case bayoneted by the British guards. Overcrowding, lack of toilets and unsanitary conditions lead to widespread dysentery. Several British soldiers will be court-martialed including the senior officer Lieutenant-Colonel William Scott. When they arrive in Australia on September 6, they will be shipped by train to the rural town of Hay in the centre of New South Wales. http://www.marple-uk.com/misc/dunera.pdf

After the Battle of Calabria, 9 Fairey Swordfish from aircraft carrier HMS Eagle attack Augusta, Sicily, at 9.40 AM, sinking Italian destroyer Leone Pancaldo. Leone Pancaldo will be raised on 26 July 1941 and sunk again by Allied bombers on 30 April 1943 1 mile off Cape Bon, Tunisia.

In preparation for a British commando raid on Guernsey (Operation Ambassador), Lieutenant Nicolle returns from a reconnaissance mission. German garrison consists of 469 soldiers, mainly in St. Peter Port, and machine gun posts 2-5 miles away along the coast. Nicolle estimates commandos will have 20 minutes after attacking the machine guns before reinforcements arrive.

Italian submarine Scirè sinks French steamer Cheik, 54 miles Northwest of Sicily. Scirè rescues Cheik’s crew. http://www.sommergibili.com/indexen.htm

German armed merchant cruiser Widder sinks British steamer Davisan, 500 miles of the coast of Florida (taking the entire crew prisoner). http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersWW2/4Widder.html

U-34 sinks Finnish steamer Petsamo carrying 6000 tons of cereals, within sight of the South Irish coast (4 dead, 33 crew make it to shore). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/418.html

U-61 sinks Dutch steamer Alwaki in ballast 10 miles off Cape Wrath, Scotland, with a torpedo that penetrated the hull but did not explode. The Alwaki was shaken and immediately started to list to port, because a bulkhead could not be closed and was slowly flooded. All 41 crew and 10 passengers are rescued by a British steamer Harmonic and landed at Cardiff on 15 July. The absence of explosion leads the Admiralty to suspect sabotage. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/417.html

Day 313 July 9, 1940

Battle of Calabria, first major sea battle in the Mediterranean. At 3.15 PM, Italian convoy to Benghazi, Libya (2 battleships Giulio Cesare & Conte di Cavour, 14 cruisers, 16 destroyers, 4 torpedo boats, 5 cargo ships) runs into a British convoy from Alexandria, Egypt to Malta (3 battleships HMS Warspite, Royal Sovereign & Malaya, 1 aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, 5 cruisers, 16 destroyers) 50 miles South of the heel of Italy. A 15-inch shell from HMS Warspite hits Giulio Cesare at a range of 24 km, one of the longest naval artillery hits equaling the shelling of HMS Glorious by German battleship Scharnhorst on June 8. Giulio Cesare does not sink but the Italian battleships withdraw; an indecisive cruiser battle ensues. 76 Italian high altitude bombers attack the British fleet, causing no damage but forcing a withdrawal, but 50 Italian aircraft bomb their own ships (also without damage). At 5 PM, battle ends & both sides withdraw.

Southwest of Ireland, U-34 sinks Estonian steamer Tiiu at 12.32 PM (all 20 crew picked up by a British trawler and landed at Milford Haven) and U-43 sinks British steamer Aylesbury at 9.19 PM (all 35 crew picked up by destroyers HMS Harvester & Havelock and landed at Liverpool). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/416.html

British submarine HMS Salmon is lost, presumed sunk by a mine, 60 miles of Stavanger, Norway (all 39 hands lost).

German armed merchant cruisers Komet departs Bergen, Norway, to raid in the Pacific Ocean via the Arctic Ocean, assisted by Soviet icebreakers. Komet, with a crew of 270 under Kapitän zur See Robert Eyssen, is equipped with a strengthened bow and a special propeller for ice navigation. Germany plans to send 26 ships via this route but Komet is the only one to attempt the Northern passage. http://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/komet.html

Luftwaffe again bombs shipping in the English Channel and near the British coast.

Day 312 July 8, 1940

Final act of Operation Catapult. For a second day, British Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Hermes hit French battleship Richelieu at Dakar, Senegal. British motor torpedo boats attack French battleship Jean Bart at Casablanca, Morocco. Jean Bart will be out of commission for several months. General de Gaulle, leader of the Free French in London, denounces the attacks on Vichy French warships, saying that “all Frenchmen are dismayed”.

At 7.53 AM, U-99 sinks British steamer Humber Arm in convoy HX-53 (carrying 6200 tons of newsprint, pulp and lumber & 1000 tons of steel) 60 miles south of Ireland. 42 crew members and 1 passenger are picked up by destroyer HMS Scimitar and landed at Milford Haven, Wales. U-99 is attacked with 107 depth charges by escorts over 14 hours but escapes undamaged. U-99, captained by Otto Kretschmer, will go on to sink 40 more ships in the next 8 months including 3 British armed merchant cruisers (273,470 total tonnage). http://www.uboat.net/men/kretschmer.htm

Italians damage 2 British ships in the Mediterranean. Submarine Marconi torpedoes destroyer HMS Escort southwest of Minorca (2 lives lost, 13 wounded). Escort sinks under tow by destroyer HMS Forester. Cruiser HMS Gloucester is bombed by Italian aircraft. A bomb hits the compass platform of the bridge, killing 12 (including the captain) and wounding 9.

British bombers attack German heavy cruiser Lützow in dock at Kiel. Lützow, under repair for extensive torpedo damage to her stern caused by HMS Spearfish on April 11, is hit by a bomb which fails to explode.

Day 311 July 7, 1940

Operation Catapult. British attack the brand new French battleship Richelieu in dock at Dakar, Senegal. Swordfish torpedo bombers from aircraft carrier HMS Hermes hit Richelieu, tearing a 40 foot hole and causing her to touch bottom, but Richelieu will be repaired in a few days. However, conflict is avoided at Alexandria, Egypt, where negotiations have been ongoing since July 3. Aware of the destruction wrought on the French ships at Mers-el-Kébir by superior British forces, French Admiral Godefroy agrees that his warships will remain in port to avoid being attacked or captured by British ships.

Overnight, British submarine HMS H43 lands Lieutenant Hubert Nicolle on Guernsey (he is originally from the island) to do reconnaissance on the German garrison, in preparation for a commando raid on the island, Operation Ambassador. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-hubert-nicolle-1175816.html

U-99 sinks British SS Sea Glory (all 29 crew lost). 23 hours later U-99 sinks Swedish SS Bissen (all 20 crew survive) 80 miles South of Cape Clear, Ireland. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/411.html
U-34 sinks Dutch tanker Lucrecia (carrying fuel oil) 100 miles West of Lands End, England (2 killed). 30 survivors are picked up by Portuguese steamer Alfarrarede. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/413.html

Day 310 July 6, 1940

Operation Lever (continuation of Operation Catapult). British Force H returns to Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, to finish off the French battleships Provence and Dunkerque. At dawn, Fairey Swordfish from HMS Ark Royal score several torpedo hits on Dunkerque. One torpedo hits patrol boat French Terre Neuve, setting off a massive explosion in a large store of depth charges (8 killed), which badly damaged the nearby Dunkerque (154 killed and wounded).

At 5.37 AM, British cruisers HMS Capetown and Caledon and destroyers HMS Janus, Juno, Ilex and Imperial shell the Libyan port of Bardia, 10 miles along the coast from the Egyptian border. They sink Italian steamer Axum and damage another merchant ship. At 8.20 AM, the British ships are attacked by Italian bombers, suffering no damage.

British submarine HMS Shark, unable to dive, is captured by German minesweepers in Boknafjord near Stavanger, Norway. HMS Shark sinks under tow (3 killed, 32 taken prisoner). Another crewmember will be killed August 27 near his prison camp, dealing with an unexploded British bomb.

U-34 sinks Estonian collier Vapper, South of Cape Clear, Ireland (1 dead, 32 crew abandon ship in two lifeboats). U-99 (which had chased Vapper for 90 minutes) observes the sinking.

U-30 sinks Egyptian steamer Angele Mabro, West of Brest, France (all hands lost).

Day 309 July 5, 1940

9 Swordfish of 813 Squadron from aircraft carrier HMS Eagle fly 100 miles West from Sidi Barrani, Egypt, to bomb the Italian naval base at Tobruk, Libya. Destroyer Zeffiro is sunk and destroyer Euro has her bow was blown off but stays afloat (she will be towed to Taranto and repaired). Italian liner Liguria is beached to prevent sinking. Merchant vessel Manzoni is sunk and Serenitas is badly damaged but both steamers will be captured by the British and repaired.

U-34 hits British destroyer HMS Whirlwind with 1 torpedo (59 lives lost, 51 survivors taken off by destroyer HMS Westcott). Whirlwind stays afloat and is scuttled by HMS Westcott, 50 miles Southwest of Ireland. Nearby, U-99 damages Canadian steamer Magog (carrying timber). The stern sinks but the aft stays afloat on the timber. 23 crew abandon ship in a lifeboat, are picked up by Swedish merchant Fidra and landed at Cork, Ireland. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/408.html

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 & cruiser HMS Bonaventure & troopships Monarch Of Bermuda, Sobieski & Batory depart Greenock at 5.45 AM, escorted by destroyer HMS Garth. The British ships, carrying $1.75 billion in gold and securities from the Bank of England, will arrive safely at Halifax on 12 July.

At 10 PM, British submarine HMS Shark is badly damaged by German auxiliary minesweepers M1803 (trawler Spitzbergen), M1806 (trawler Cuxhaven), and M1807 (trawler Mulsum) in Boknafjord near Stavanger, Norway.

French Vichy government breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain in retaliation for the attacks on French ships on July 3.

Romania joins the Axis under pressure from Germany.

Day 308 July 4, 1940

Operation Catapult. At 3.30 PM, British submarine HMS Pandora sinks French mine-laying gunboat Rigault de Genouilly, sailing from Oran, Algeria. French bombers attack the British fleet at Gibraltar, without damage, in retaliation for the sinking of French warships. Likewise, French submarines, armed merchant cruisers and destroyers at Dakar are ordered to attack British shipping.

Churchill speaks in the House of Commons justifying the capture or sinking of French warships on July 3, to prevent them falling into German or Italian hands. He does not apologise but leaves judgment “to the world and to history”. He also dispels the notion “that we have the slightest intention of entering into negotiations in any form and through any channel with the German and Italian Governments. We shall, on the contrary, prosecute the war with the utmost vigour by all the means that are open to us.” Churchill receives his first standing ovation from the House as Prime Minister.

Italians advance from Ethiopia just over the border into Sudan and attack 2 British forts at Kassala and Gallabat, forcing British garrisons to withdraw. The Italians stop here and fortify the towns with anti-tank defenses.

Germans arrive on the last of the Channel Islands, Sark. They receive the island’s surrender from the Dame of Sark (hereditary ruler of this island). When asked if she is afraid, the Dame replies “is there any need to be afraid of German officers?” Apart from a curfew and other restrictions, the Islanders have little cause for fear. The Channel Islands have fallen without a shot fired. Germany invests heavily in fortifying the islands, which will be completely bypassed come D-day.

In a prelude to the first phase of the Battle of Britain, German bombers and motor torpedo boats attack Convoy OA178 in the English Channel between Cherbourg, France, and Bournemouth, England, sinking 5 merchant ships (British SS Elmcrest & SS Dallas City, Dutch SS Britsum & SS Deucalion, Estonian SS Kolga) and damaging many more. In addition, German bombing of Royal Navy base in Portland harbour sinks British auxiliary anti-aircraft ship Foyle Bank (176 lives lost, 157 men rescued) and tug Silverdial.

Day 307 July 3, 1940

Operation Catapult. At dawn, Royal Navy boards 2 French battleships, 9 destroyers and other smaller ships at Plymouth and Portsmouth, England (3 British & 1 French sailor are killed).

At 5.45 AM, British Force H arrives off Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria. Vice Admiral Somerville offers French Admiral Marcel Gensoul (a known Anglophobe, loyal to the Vichy government) four alternatives for his fleet; join the Royal Navy; be interned in British ports, be decommissioned in the West Indies or USA, or sink the warships in Mers-el-Kebir harbour. Gensoul rejects the British terms, leading to fruitless negotiations all afternoon. At 5.56 PM, British ships shell the harbour for 10 minutes. The magazine on French battleship Bretagne is hit, which explodes and sinks at 6.09 PM (977 lives lost). Battleships Provence and Dunkerque and destroyer Mogador are damaged. In all, 1,297 French sailors are killed and 350 wounded. http://www.hmshood.org.uk/reference/official/adm234/adm234-317.htm

French battleship Strasbourg, aircraft carrier Commandant Teste and four destroyers escape from Mers-el-Kébir following the attack and evade the British blockade. 6 French cruisers and 4 destroyers leave Algiers on the news. They rendezvous and escape to Toulon, France, arriving on 4 July, despite bombing attacks by Fairey Swordfish from British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

Similar terms are given by Vice Admiral Sir Andrew Cunnigham to French Admiral Godefroy at Alexandria, Egypt. Negotiations continue all day and the French ships (battleship Lorraine and 4 cruisers) are not attacked. Negotiations will continue until July 7.

Luftwaffe bombs Cardiff in South Wales.

Day 306 July 2, 1940

Overnight, 12 RAF Hampden bombers attack German battleship Scharnhorst and cruiser Prinz Eugen in dry dock at Kiel. 2 small bombs hit Prinz Eugen. Flight officer Guy Gibson drops the first 2000 lb bomb near Scharnhorst but misses. Gibson will be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

At 6.58 AM off the coast of Ireland, U-47 fires a single torpedo at British liner Arandora Star carrying 1,299 German and Italian internees. With grey paint and no Red Cross sign, Arandora Star is mistaken for an armed merchant cruiser and sinks within 35 minutes (92 British crew & guards, 470 Italians and 243 Germans are lost). 282 crew & guards and 586 Italians & Germans are rescued by Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent and landed at Greenock. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/406.html

U-29 sinks British tanker Athellaird about 500 miles West of Brest, France (all 42 crew are picked up by British sloop HMS Sandwich and landed at Greenock, Scotland) and Panamanian SS Santa Margarita (all 39 crew rescued). 21 survivors are picked up by British merchant King John which will be sunk on July 13. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/404.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/405.html

Day 305 July 1, 1940

A planned invasion of Britain, Operation Seelöwe (Sealion), is first mentioned by the German General Staff (OKW).

The island of Jersey in the Channel Islands surrenders to German occupation. British paranoia escalates. Liner SS Arandora Star leaves Liverpool carrying 565 German internees & 734 Italian internees to camps in Canada, plus 374 British crew & military guards. 86 are Germans POWs, but most are Italians & Germans living in Britain (including Jews who have escaped from the continent). They are suspected of being German agents planning the invasion of Britain. The ship has no Red Cross sign to indicate that she is carrying prisoners and civilians.

Germans begin strategic bombing of British industrial centers. Luftwaffe bombs Hull in Northeast England and Wick, Scotland, in daylight (12 civilians killed, 22 injured).

The French government relocates from Bordeaux to Vichy. Pétain’s administration will henceforth be known as Vichy France.

At 4 AM, 300 miles West of Brest, France, U-30 sinks British MV Beignon carrying 8816 tons of wheat in convoy SL-36 (6 die, including 3 survivors from SS Avelona Star rescued yesterday). 30 crew and 81 Avelona Star survivors are picked up by destroyers HMS Vesper & HMS Windsor and landed at Plymouth.

In the same convoy, U-102 sinks British SS Clearton (8 crew lost). U-102 is sunk by British destroyer HMS Vansittart with depth charges (all 43 hands lost). HMS Vansittart then picks up 26 survivors from the Clearton and lands them at Plymouth. In the same area, U-65 sinks Dutch SS Amstelland (1 dead, 39 survivors) and U-29 sinks Greek SS Adamastos (all 25 crew survive).

U-26 damages British steamer Zarian in convoy OA-175. U-26 is depth charged by corvette HMS Gladiolus and then bombed on the surface by Flight Leader W.N. Gibson in an Australian Sunderland aircraft (10 Squadron, RAAF). Unable to dive, U-26 is scuttled (all 48 crew are rescued and became POWs). Gibson will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. http://www.uboat.net/boats/u26.htm

Day 304 June 30, 1940

300 miles West of Brest, France, U-65 & U-43 attack convoy SL-36. At 10.27 PM, U-43 sinks British SS Avelona Star carrying 5630 tons of frozen meat & 1000 tons of oranges (1 life lost). 84 survivors are picked up by British MV Beignon, which will be sunk within 6 hours. U-65 damages British SS Clan Ogilvy which is towed to Falmouth, arriving on July 4 (repaired and returned to service by October). In the same area, U-26 sinks Estonian SS Merkur (4 dead) and Norwegian MV Belmoira (all 25 crew survive). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/392.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/398.html
U-47 sinks Greek SS Georgios Kyriakides carrying 7243 tons of sugar West of Ireland (all 30 crew survive). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/396.html

Germans begin to occupy the Channel Islands, the only British territory they will conquer. 3 Germans land by plane on Guernsey and demand the surrender of the island from a local policeman. The Channel Islands are demilitarized and partially evacuated (since June 15), dismissed by British government as being of no military value to Germany.

Day 303 June 29, 1940

Operation Catapult. Admiralty gives Vice Admiral Somerville explicit instructions to secure the transfer, surrender, or destruction of the French warships at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, with no concessions given to the French - they either accept the British terms or face destruction. Somerville’s Force H consists of battleships HMS Valiant & HMS Resolution, battlecruiser HMS Hood, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Arethusa & HMS Enterprise and 11 destroyers.

U-99 is again subjected to friendly fire. Leaving Wilhelmshaven, she is attacked by a German aircraft with 3 bombs. U-99 crash-dives and collides with the sea floor, causing minor damage.

U-boats sink 3 ships Southwest of Ireland. U-51 sinks Royal Navy decoy ship (SSV) HMS Edgehill (with concealed armament of nine 4in guns, four torpedo tubes and a buoyant cargo to help keep her afloat if hit). Due to Edgehill’s buoyancy, it takes three torpedoes to sink her. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/394.html
U-47 torpedoes British SS Empire Toucan which breaks in two (3 killed). 31 crew are rescued and landed at Plymouth by destroyer HMS Hurricane which scuttles the floating aft section. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/393.html
U-26 sinks Greek steamer Frangoula B. Goulandris (6 lives lost, 32 survivors). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/395.html

Italian submarine Rubino is sunk by Short Sunderland flying boats of RAF 201 Group in the Ionian Sea between Italy and Greece. RAF flying boats pick up some survivors. Off Tobruk, Italian submarine Sirena is damaged by Short Sunderlands of RAF 230 Squadron. West of Crete, Italian submarines Uebi Scebeli and Salpa are damaged by British destroyers HMS Dainty, Ilex, Defender & Voyager. Uebi Scebeli sinks slowly and the crew is rescued by HMS Dainty.

Day 302 June 28, 1940

British Bristol Blenheims bomb Tobruk. After the air raid, Marshal Italo Balbo (Italian Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa and "heir apparent" to Benito Mussolini) returns from a reconnaissance flight. He is killed when his plane is shot down by Italian anti-aircraft fire. Marshal Graziani is appointed to replace him.

At 2 AM, U-30 sinks British SS Llanarth (carrying 7980 tons of flour from Australia) 250 miles West of Brest, France. 16 crew are picked up by British corvette HMS Gladiolus on June 30 and landed at Plymouth. 19 others are rescued by a Spanish trawler and landed at San Sebastian. British trawler Castleton goes missing in the Orkney Islands, probably sunk by U-102 which does not return from this patrol.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/390.html

Luftwaffe bombs the harbours of Guernsey and Jersey in the British Channel Islands, mistaking tomato trucks for troop carriers (48 civilians killed).

British government recognizes General de Gaulle as "Leader of All Free Frenchmen."

Soviet Union occupies Bessarabia and Northern Bucovina, ceded by Romania.

Italian destroyers Espero, Zeffiro & Ostro are sighted by air reconnaissance and intercepted by British light cruiser squadron from Alexandria, Egypt. Espero is sunk in the Ionian Sea, but the other two destroyers escape and continue to Tripoli. British cruiser HMS Liverpool is hit by a single 4.7 inch shell, cutting the degaussing wire.

Day 301 June 27, 1940

Churchill still worries that Germany will capture the French fleet, particularly the vessels at Mers-el-Kébir, restoring German sea power lost in the Norwegian campaign. Despite Admiral Darlan’s assurances, War Cabinet instructs Royal Navy to neutralise, seize or destroy French warships in various British and North African ports (Operation Catapult). Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville is ordered to take newly-formed Force H to Algeria.

U-47 sinks 2 merchant ships Southwest of Ireland. At 4 AM, U-47 shells Norwegian MV Lenda carrying timber, which catches fire (1 dead, 27 survivors abandon ship in 2 boats). At 5 PM, U-47 shells Dutch tanker Leticia carrying 2568 tons of fuel oil (2 dead). 25 crew get off in 2 lifeboats. 3 men are rescued from the water by U-47 and brought to the lifeboats, where they are given first aid material, sausages and wine. Survivors from both ships are picked up in the afternoon by British destroyers HMS Hurricane and Havelock and taken to Plymouth, England.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/389.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/388.html

Italian submarine Console Generale Luizzi is sunk by destroyers HMS Dainty, Defender and Ilex south of Crete. HMS Voyager and Dainty rescue the survivors. Off the coast of Eritrea near Port Sudan, beached Italian submarine Macalle is destroyed by shelling from British destroyers HMS Kandahar and Kingston & light cruiser HMS Leander (serving in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy). HMS Leander's aircraft also dropped four bombs on the submarine.

Day 300 June 26, 1940

At 2.28 AM, UA sinks Norwegian MV Crux (6300 tons of patent fuel from Britain to Brazil) 300 miles west of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. All 30 crew abandon ship in 2 lifeboats and are picked up the following day by British steam merchant Brutus. At 3.30 PM, U-29 stops Greek SS Dimitris with a shot across her bow off Cape Finisterre, Spain. Dimitris, carrying 9000 tons of cereal grains from Argentina to Liverpool, is sunk by gunfire after the crew abandons ship. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/387.html

Soviet Union presents an ultimatum demanding territory in Bessarabia and Northern Bucovina from Romania. Hitler suggests the Romanians government gives in and satisfies the Soviet demands.

Day 299 June 25, 1940

At half past midnight, the French armistices with Germany and Italy come into effect and fighting is over in France. France has 92,000 dead, 250,000 wounded and 1.5 million taken prisoner. British losses are 68,111 killed, wounded or captured. German army and Luftwaffe losses are 29,640 dead, 133,573 wounded and missing. Since June 21, Italy has 631 dead, 2,631 wounded, 2,151 hospitalised with frostbite and 616 missing attacking Southern France, while French defenders suffered only 37 killed, 42 wounded and 150 missing.

To compound French misery, Hitler orders the destruction of the 1918 Armistice site at Compiègne. The railway carriage, a massive dedication tablet and the 1918 Alsace-Lorraine Monument (depicting a German eagle impaled by a sword) are removed to Germany. However, Hitler leaves the statue of French WWI victor, Maréchal Foch, watching over this wasteland. http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_rethondes_2.htm

Churchill makes a speech to the House of Commons on the Franco-German peace and, specifically, on the disposition of the French battleships and other warships. He notes “the solemn declaration of the German Government that they have no intention of using them for their own purposes during the war. What is the value of that? Ask half a dozen countries what is the value of such a solemn assurance”. He is clearly worried about the fate of the French fleet, despite the assurances of Admiral Darlan.

Between 3.45 and 7.30 PM, U-51 attacks convoy OA-172 about 370 miles west of Lands End sinking British steamer Windsorwood carrying 7100 tons of coal (all 40 crew rescued by steamer Ainderby & landed at Barry, Wales) and British tanker Saranac (4 lives lost, 39 survivors picked up by HMS Hurricane & trawler Caliph). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/384.html http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/383.html

Operation Ariel. Canadian destroyers HCMS Fraser and Restigouche are sent with British cruiser HMS Calcutta to rescue 4,000 allied soldiers trapped on the Bordeaux coast. In rough seas and poor visibility, HCMS Fraser collides with the much larger HMS Calcutta and is cut into 3 pieces (47 die aboard Fraser; 19 lost on Calcutta). Many Fraser survivors transfer to HMCS Margaree and some are lost in another collision on October 22 with freighter MV Port Fairy.

Day 298 June 24, 1940

The French fleet is scattered at Dakar (French West Africa), Alexandria (Egypt), Casablanca (Morocco), Algiers & Mers-el-Kébir (Algeria) and Plymouth & Portsmouth (England). Britain wants these assets and is determined that Germany does not take them. French Admiral Darlan again assures Churchill that his warships will not fall into German hands.

Franco-Italian armistice is signed at Villa Olgiata near Rome by French General Huntziger and Italian General Badoglio. However, the armistice does not come into effect until tomorrow and both Italy and Germany continue fighting in France.

U-47 sinks small Panamanian steamer Cathrine (General cargo and wheat from USA to England) with the deck gun about 300 miles West of Land’s End. All 19 crew take to the lifeboat. U-47 gives them food & red wine and sets them adrift. Luckily, they will be rescued and taken to Milford Haven, Wales.

British sloop HMS Falmouth sinks Italian submarine Luigi Galvani in the Gulf of Oman.

Day 297 June 23, 1940

Hitler makes a triumphant entrance into Paris and does some sightseeing. It will be his only visit to Paris. Despite the Franco-German agreement, cessation of hostilities in France depends on negotiation of a separate armistice with Italy. The French delegation leaves for Rome, including General Huntzinger who just signed the Franco-German agreement at Compiègne.

Using information from Italian submarine Galileo Galilei captured on June 19, British sloop HMS Shoreham locates Italian submarine Evangelista Torricelli and forces her to the surface with depth charges. Evangelista Torricelli bravely engages 3 British destroyers HMS Kandahar, Kingston and Khartoum with her deck gun but is sunk near Perim Island at the mouth of the Red Sea. Later, HMS Khartoum is badly damaged when one of her own torpedoes explodes on deck (1 dead). Khartoum is beached on Perim Island to prevent sinking, but she is a total loss and is never repaired. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-39K-Khartoum.htm

Charles de Gaulle is officially cashiered from the French Army by defeated French Commander in Chief General Weygand, although he will continue to use the title of General de Gaulle as leader of the Free French.

Suffering further friendly fire, U-99 is bombed twice returning from Bergen to Wilhelmshaven causing only minor damage.

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
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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).

Day 295 June 21, 1940

French and German delegates meet to negotiate peace at the 1918 Armistice site at Compiègne, France. To humiliate the French and make amends for Germany’s WWI defeat, Hitler has the railway carriage in which the WWI Armistice was signed removed from a French museum and placed exactly where it had been located in 1918. Hitler attends the opening stages, at 3.30 PM, but soon leaves to disrespect the French. Germany’s armistice terms are harsh and they allow no negotiation, only questions for clarification. At 8.30 PM, General Huntzinger, leading the French delegation, calls his government in Bordeaux to obtain further instructions. He is told to accept the German terms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Armistice_at_Compi%C3%A8gne

After 10 days, Italy invades France. Italian troops launch an attack through the Little Saint Bernard Pass in the Alps but are stopped by a massive snow storm. They also attack along the French Riviera towards Nice, but are held up by a French NCO and 7 men only 5 miles inside France at Menton.

German U-boat attacks on Allied and neutral shipping intensify. 20 U-boats are at sea. 6 Allied and neutral vessels are sunk, including British decoy ship HMS Prunella (X 02) sunk by U-28 South of Ireland (2 killed). 94 crew take to 2 lifeboats, 2 Carley floats, a jolly boat and a raft. 1 lifeboat and the raft are found with 40 survivors but the other 54 men are never found. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/373.html

U-99 suffers a series of friendly fire incidents. U-99 is returning to Bergen with a sick crewman when an Arado 196 scout aircraft from German battlecruiser Scharnhorst mistakes her for a British submarine and attacks. U-99 will now also require repairs at Wilhelmshaven.

Day 294 June 20, 1940

While the Italian Army mass 32 divisions in 2 armies on the French border, the French sue for peace. However, Mussolini is determined to take French territory to bargain for colonies in North Africa.

Operation Ariel. 9,000 Polish soldiers are evacuated from Bayonne aboard the Polish ships Batory and Sobieksi.

U-30, U-38, U-48 & U-122 each sink 1 merchant vessel (carrying wheat, iron ore, coal and fuel oil) around the British Isles and in Bay of Biscay (61 lives lost and 68 survivors). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/371.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/370.html
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To provide a diversion for damaged battleship Scharnhorst to return to Keil for repairs, German battleship Gneisenau and cruiser Admiral Hipper depart Trondheim for operations near Iceland. 80 miles Northwest of Trondheim, Gneisenau is hit by a torpedo of the British submarine HMS Clyde and returns to Trondheim for repairs.

Day 293 June 19, 1940

The race to the Channel continues, as the Germans try to take the ports before the Allies can escape. In the morning, Rommel shells the forts defending the port of Cherbourg while attacking with infantry. At 5 PM, local officials and police persuade the French garrison defending the town to surrender. This is 7th Panzer’s last major action in the Battle of France. Since May 10, they have captured 100,000 Allied prisoners, 450 tanks, 300 artillery or anti-tank guns & 4,000 trucks and incurred losses of 700 killed, 1650 wounded & 300 missing. During this time, Rommel has been awarded Iron Cross 1st & 2nd class (for the second time, having won these medals in WWI) and, on May 27, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

5th Panzer Division makes even better progress and takes the port of Brest another 150 miles to the West. However, the Allies have evacuated their personnel and demolished the port facilities.

Operation Ariel. Germans have not arrived at St. Nazaire as expected, so British send 7 troop transports and 6 destroyers to evacuate 2,764 Polish troops (in addition to the 54,411 British embarked over the last few days). 4,000 Poles are also rescued from La Pallice. Evacuations begin from the ports of the River Gironde and Bayonne & St Jean-de-Luz, close to the Spanish border. Over the next 5 days, over 6,000 Polish troops are evacuated from Gironde and 19,000 Polish soldiers are rescued from Bayonne and St Jean-de-Luz. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_aerial.html

U-boats sink or damage 8 Allied or neutral merchant vessels (a total of 40,000 tons of shipping) between Southern Ireland and the Bay of Biscay. U-48 alone sinks 3 ships (15,500 tons). http://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/convoys.php?convoy=HG-34F

Italian submarine Galileo Galilei is depth charged by British destroyer HMS Kandahar and anti-submarine trawler HMS Moonstone in the Gulf of Aden. Galileo Galilei surfaces and shells HMS Moonstone, which returns fire killing the captain and capturing the submarine. Galilei is towed to Aden by HMS Kandahar and will be renamed X 2 by the Royal Navy to be used as a training boat.

Day 292 June 18, 1940

Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division races 200 miles and reaches Cherbourg. However, they arrive too late to prevent the Allied evacuation and rest overnight before attacking the fortifications. Operation Ariel finishes at St. Nazaire (leaving behind all their equipment on rumours the Germans are poised to take the town) and at La Pallice where 2,303 British are evacuated.

With 5th Panzer Division only a few hours away, French cruisers El Djezair, El Kantara, El Mansour, Ville d'Oran and Ville d'Alger transport 1,200 tons of French gold from Brest. The convoy will arrive in Casablanca on June 21. In addition, the French move 198 tonnes of Belgian gold on the cruiser Victor-Schoelcher from Lorient to the port of Dakar in French West Africa. The gold should have been sent to USA and will ultimately fall into German hands (much to the chagrin of the Belgians who sue the Banque de France in 1941, demanding in return French gold being held in the USA). http://www.nbbmuseum.be/de/2010/03/belgische-goud.htm?lang=en

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives another charismatic speech in the House of Commons, commenting on the likely fall of France “the Battle of France is over” and prospects for a cross-Channel invasion by Germany “I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” He concludes “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’." (text and MP3 at http://www.fiftiesweb.com/usa/winston-churchill-finest-hour.htm, stream all Churchill speeches http://www.archive.org/details/Winston_Churchill)

Southwest of Ireland, U-28 sinks Finnish steamer Sarmatia and U-32 sinks 2 Spanish trawlers Sálvora & Nuevo Ons as well as Norwegian steamer Altair. In total, 6 crew are killed and 60 survivors are rescued by other Spanish trawlers. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/359.html
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/360.html

Day 291 June 17, 1940

Rumors of surrender demoralize the French troops and embolden the Germans. Rommel (recuperating and re-equipping 7th Panzer since June 11) decides to gamble all and head for Cherbourg to prevent the Allied evacuation. His tanks and trucks laden with infantry travel 125 miles. In Eastern France, Guderian’s Panzers reach the Swiss border at Pontalier, encircling 17 French divisions manning the Maginot Line.

Operation Ariel continues evacuating Allied troops from Cherbourg, St Malo, Brest and St. Nazaire. British Cunard liner Lancastria embarks 4,000 to 9,000 British civilians, troops and RAF personnel in the Loire estuary. At 3:48 PM, she is hit by 3 bombs from Junkers Ju88s (1 bomb goes down her funnel and explodes in the engine room) and sinks in 20 minutes. There are 2,477 survivors (ASW trawler Cambridgeshire rescues 900). It is the worst tragedy in British maritime history and the single greatest loss of life for UK forces in any single engagement in WWII. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/lancastria_01.shtml

Soviet occupies Latvia and Lithuania, meeting little resistance. In Estonia, the government surrenders and agrees to Soviet occupation. Most of the Estonian army and the volunteer militia Estonian Defence League lay down their arms. The Single Signal Battalion will hold out in Tallinn until June 21.

Determined to continue fighting, General Charles de Gaulle and other senior French officers refuse to serve the new French government and leave for London with 100,000 francs in gold provided by the ex-PM Paul Reynaud.

U-46 sinks Greek steamer Elpis carrying wheat 250 miles West of Cape Finisterre, Spain. All 28 crew abandon ship. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/356.html

Day 290 June 16, 1940

Pro-armistice elements in French cabinet push for peace. Prime Minister Paul Reynaud is unwilling to negotiate a separate peace with Germany (either to preserve his honour or unable to face the failure of his policies). He is asked to resign by French President Albert Lebrun and replaced with 84 year-old Philippe Pétain, WWI hero of Verdun, who is determined to end hostilities with Germany. Reynaud will be arrested on Pétain's orders in September 1940 and imprisoned by the Germans in the Itter Castle near Wörgl, Austria, until the end of the war. Pétain will be imprisoned after the war as a traitor and German collaborator, dying in prison in 1951.

Mediterranean. French sloop La Curieuse forces Italian submarine Provana to surface 30 miles South of Cabo de Palos, Spain. La Curieuse rams Provana, sinking her. British submarine HMS Grampus is sunk by depth charges from Italian torpedo boats Polluce and Circe, 105 miles East of Sicily (all 59 crew lost). http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HMS_Grampus_(1910)_IWM_SP_954.jpg

Operation Ariel continues evacuating Allied troops from Cherbourg and begins at the ports of St Malo, Brest and St. Nazaire. Over the next 3 days, 21,474 are embarked at St Malo, 54,411 at St. Nazaire and 32,584 from Brest – mostly British.

Soviets have established bases in Estonia and Latvia, following agreements in 1939. Soviet army invades Estonia and Latvia, assisted by Soviet troops breaking out from these bases.

After tracking British armed merchant cruiser HMS Andania for 3 days, UA finally sinks her just after midnight, 230 miles west-northwest of the Faroe Islands. All 347 crew are rescued by Icelandic trawler Skallagrímur and transferred to British destroyer HMS Forester arriving at Scapa Flow June 17. At 4.45 PM, U-101 sinks British MV Wellington Star with torpedoes and deck gun, 300 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain. All 69 crew drift in 4 lifeboats for 8 days. On June 24, 52 crew are picked up by the French steamer Pierre L.D. and the other 17 in 1 lifeboat make land at Figuera da Foz, Portugal. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/355.html

Day 289 June 15, 1940

Another German pincer closes on France. At dawn, German 7th Army under General Friedrich Dollmann crosses the Rhine from Germany 40-50 miles North of Swiss border and penetrates the Maginot Line, fanning out on the Alsace plain to join up with Guderian’s Panzers making their way South towards Switzerland.

At 1 AM, U-38 attacks convoy HX-47 60 miles West of the Scilly Isles, sinking Norwegian tanker Italia carrying 13,000 tons of aviation spirit (19 dead, 16 escape the inferno in lifeboats) and Canadian SS Erik Boye carrying 3568 tons of wheat (all 21 crew abandon ship in 1 lifeboat). Survivors from both ships are picked up in the afternoon by British sloop HMS Fowey and landed at Plymouth on June 16.

Operation Ariel begins evacuating Allied troops from the ports of Cherbourg. Over the next 3 days, 23,630 men, mostly British, are embarked from Cherbourg.

Day 288 June 14, 1940

After the declaration of Paris as an “open city”, Germans enter the city unopposed. While French troops organize a fighting retreat further South, Parisian restaurants & shops do a brisk trade with the German troops who act more as tourists than a force of occupation. To the East, German 1st Army under General Erwin von Witzleben breaks through the Maginot Line near Saarbrücken.

Stalin desires to restore pre-1918 Tsarist borders and plans to incorporate Latvia, Lithuania & Estonia into Soviet Union. Soviets begin by imposing a sea and air blockade of Estonia. 2 Soviet DB-3T torpedo bombers shoot down Finnish civilian Junkers Ju 52 plane “Kaleva” shortly after takeoff from Tallinin, Estonia. Kaleva crashes into sea (all 9 passengers & crew killed, including American & French diplomats). Soviet submarine Щ-301 surfaces and collects French diplomatic mail from the sea.

At dawn, 4 French cruisers & 11 destroyers attack Italian port of Genoa, shelling oil storage tanks. French destroyer Albatros is hit once by Italian coastal artillery but does not sink (12 lives lost).

Despite a series of errors, U-38 manages to sink Greek steamer Mount Myrto carrying a cargo of timber southwest of Ireland (4 killed). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/350.html
In the same area, U-47 sinks British steamer Balmoralwood carrying 8730 tons of wheat and four aircraft (all 41 crew rescued by British steamer Germanic and landed at Liverpool). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/351.html
300 miles West of Cape Finisterre, Spain, U-101 stops Greek steamer Antonis Georgandis with two 20mm anti-aircraft rounds. The crew abandons ship then U-101 sinks her with the deck gun. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/349.html

Day 287 June 13, 1940

Final act of the Norwegian campaign. At dawn (2.43 AM), 15 Fleet Air Arm Skuas from HMS Ark Royal dive bomb German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Trondheim. However, RAF bombing of nearby Vaernes airfield alerts the defenses. A 500 lb bomb hits Scharnhorst, but does not explode. 8 Skuas are shot down by anti-aircraft fire & Messerschmitt fighters (6 dead, 10 taken prisoner). 7 Skuas return to Ark Royal at 3.45 AM. Escort destroyers HMS Antelope & Electra collide in fog (both will be out of service until August).

A German seaplane picks up one of the Skua pilots. The same seaplane also picks up 2 survivors from HMS Ardent (sunk June 8). One later dies from exposure. Able seaman Roger Hooke is Ardent's only survivor. He will be repatriated in 1943 due to ill health.

First naval skirmish in the Mediterranean. British submarine HMS Odin attacks Italian cruisers Fiume and Gorizia. Odin is sunk by escort destroyers Strale and Baleno (all 56 hands lost). http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?16253

Churchill flies to Tours, where the French government temporarily resides, for a meeting of the Supreme War Council (this will prove to be the last meeting). Defeat in France is generally accepted and Churchill encourages the French to withdraw to their colonies in North Africa to fight on. However, French PM Paul Reynaud asks to be released from the March 28 agreement and allowed to negotiate armistice terms with Germany. Churchill refuses, appraising this solely from the British point of view.

British armed merchant cruiser HMS Scotstoun (originally Anchor Line passenger ship Caledonia) is attacked all day by U-25 and finally sinks 80 miles West of Outer Hebrides, Scotland (7 lives lost). 345 survivors are picked up by British destroyer HMS Highlander and landed at the Clyde on June 14. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/348.html

Day 286 June 12, 1940

Guderian’s Panzers cross the River Marne at Chalons-sur-Marne, 80 miles East of Paris. Like Rommel’s 7th Panzer division, they have passed through the French defensive line and can travel almost at will. They will move quickly across the Langres plateau in the Champagne region into Southern France. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/4June-12June_Battle_of_France.PNG

The final convoy of troopships carrying men from Narvik (Group II) arrives in the Clyde at 11 PM. French soldiers are transshipped to Brest and Lorient, which are still under French control, to continue the defense of France.

U-boats sink another 3 British merchant vessels off Cape Finisterre, Spain. At noon, U-101 sinks SS Earlspark carrying 7500 tons of coal (7 lives lost, 31 crew rescued by sloop HMS Enchantress). U-46 sinks SS Barbara Marie carrying 7200 tons of iron ore at 7.38 PM (32 lives lost) and MV Willowbank carrying 8750 tons of maize at 7.46 PM. British motor merchant Swedru picks up all 50 crew from Willowbank and 5 survivors from Barbara Marie.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/346.html http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/347.html

Day 285 June 11, 1940

France. Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division captures Le Havre and then turns back to drive 30 miles Northeast up the coast to St-Valery-en-Caux, encircling 46,000 French and British troops. Fog and German shelling have prevented a full-scale evacuation of St-Valery-en-Caux but destroyer HMS Broke and corvette HMS Gardenia embark the wounded. Empty British troopship Bruges is sunk by German bombing near Le Havre (all 72 crew survive). Guderian’s Panzers capture Reims.

Following Italy’s declaration of war, Italian troops begin traversing the Alps towards the French border. 10 Italian Royal Air Force Cant Z.1007 Alcione bombers attack Grand Harbour, Hal Far and Kalafrana in Malta (1 civilians and 6 soldiers killed, 130 wounded). Italian forces stationed in Libya and the British and Commonwealth forces stationed in Egypt begin a series of raids on each other. British 11th Hussars armored cars cross into Libya and capture Italian prisoners who are unaware they are at war.

Winston Churchill and British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden fly to France for a Supreme War Council meeting at Chateau du Muguet near Briare. There is a palpable air of French defeatism. Churchill refuses a request for RAF support. Horrified at the prospect of a French surrender, Churchill reiterates the March 28 agreement that neither country will conclude a separate peace with Germany. Admiral François Darlan assures Churchill that the French fleet will not fall into German hands.

37 survivors from HMS Glorious and 2 from HMS Acasta are picked up by Norwegian trawler Borgund and landed on the Faroe Islands June 13. Destroyers HMS Veteran and Forester go to the Faroes on June 16th and take them to Scapa Flow.

U-boats harass shipping off Cape Finisterre, Spain. U-48 and U-101 sink Greek steamers SS Violando N. Goulandris and SS Mount Hymettus. U-46 torpedoes British tanker Athelprince which does not sink. Athelprince will be salvaged and return to service in January 1941. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/342.html

Day 284 June 10, 1940

France. Rommel continues his charge down the Channel coast, West of Paris. Northeast of Paris, Guderian’s Panzers advance towards Chalons-sur-Marne. Demonstrating the value of German flexibility & mobility, 16th Panzer Corps are withdrawn from Péronne & sent East to support Guderian’s breakthrough. With Paris threatened, the French government flees to Tours. They declare Paris an open city to avoid the destruction by bombing & street fighting seen in Warsaw & Amsterdam.

In a second Allied evacuation from the French coast (Operation Cycle), 3321 troops embark at St-Valery-en-Caux & 11,059 troops are evacuated from Le Havre. Overnight, 9000 men are taken from Le Havre to Cherbourg to continue fighting. Destroyers HMS Bulldog & Boadicea (6 lives lost) are badly damaged by German bombing off Le Havre. HMS Boadicea is towed back to Dover & will be out of commission until February 1941.

Italy declares war on France and Britain, effective June 11, expecting to make easy gains in Southern France. Benito Mussolini says cynically "I only need a few thousand dead to sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought." Equally cynical, Churchill reacts to the news “People who go to Italy to look at ruins won’t have to go as far as Naples and Pompeii again”.

Norway. British armed boarding vessel HMS Vandyck is sunk by German bombing off Andenes (7 lives lost, 161 men row ashore and are taken prisoner). The first convoy of troopships carrying men from Narvik (Group I) arrives unmolested in the Clyde at 6 AM.

Day 283 June 9, 1940

Norway. With the King and Government gone to exile in England, General Ruge agrees to the surrender of Norwegian 6th Division (essentially all that remains of the Norwegian Army). The armistice comes into effect at midnight. Allied losses (dead, missing or severely wounded) are 2119 British, 1335 Norwegian, 530 French and Poles combined. Germans lose 5296 dead or missing. Critically, Luftwaffe has lost 160 fighters and bombers and 80 transport planes while Kriegsmarine has lost 3 cruisers, 10 destroyers and 6 submarines, with 4 more cruisers and 6 destroyers requiring repairs. The loss of warships and transport planes will hinder plans for an invasion of England.

France. Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division chases French 10th Army and British 51st Highland Division back to the sea at St-Valery-en-Caux. Kleist’s 14th Panzer Corp makes further progress past Amiens but 16th Panzer Corp remains stuck at Péronne. Further East, Rundstedt’s Army Group A launches its attack towards Reims led by Guderian’s Panzers. French CiC General Weygand declares the battle for the Somme River to be lost and suggests seeking an armistice with Germany. Instead, the French government decides to leave Paris.

American cruiser Vincennes and destroyers Truxton & Simpson arrive at Casablanca to transship 200 tons of French gold to USA for safekeeping. They will depart Casablanca June 10, arriving at New York June 20.

At 10.30 AM, hospital ship Atlantis meets battleship HMS Valiant and reports the sinking of Orama. This is the first the Admiralty knows about Admiral Marschall's flotilla which has sunk 6 ships including an aircraft carrier. Damaged German battleship Scharnhorst and sister ship Gneisenau return to Trondheim for repairs.

At 1 PM, U-46 sinks Finnish steamer Margareta carrying 1434 tons of peanuts 350 miles West of Cape Finisterre, Spain (5 lives lost). 19 survivors drift in a lifeboat for 4 days but are rescued and taken to Vivero, Spain. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/341.html

Day 282 June 8, 1940

Operation Juno. German cruiser Admiral Hipper sinks British tanker Oil Pioneer and escorting armed trawler HMS Juniper (20 lives lost, Hipper picks up 29 survivors). Later, Hipper sinks empty British troopship Orama (19 lives lost, 280 rescued by German destroyers) but spares hospital ship Atlantis. Atlantis obeys the rules of war and does not attempt to radio any signals; Hipper does not sink her. http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/ships/orama.html

Evacuation of Narvik. French and Polish troops, pursuing General Dietl’s forces towards Sweden, pull out overnight and return to Narvik leaving dummies to fool the Germans. Group II troopships embark the final 4600 Allied troops (British, French and Polish) and depart Narvik, escorted by aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Coventry and 11 destroyers. The convoy is spotted by German reconnaissance planes and bombed continuously until out of range but without damage. Germans quickly assess the withdrawal and retake Narvik.

Operation Juno meets Evacuation of Narvik. At 3 AM, aircraft carrier HMS Glorious sails for Scapa Flow with destroyers HMS Ardent & HMS Acasta (these vessels are not needed to escort troop transports). Captain Guy D’Oyly Hughes does not post top look-outs or fly patrol aircraft and runs into German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, 170 miles off the Norwegian coast. At 4.30 PM, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau open fire from 24km, one of the longest hits ever recorded. Glorious is hit with several 11 inch shells, preventing aircraft taking off. Ardent & Acasta lay smoke and close on the German battleships firing 120 mm guns and torpedoes but both are hit. Acasta hits Scharnhorst with 1 torpedo (50 dead). Ardent sinks at 5.20 PM (151 lives lost, 2 survivors). Glorious sinks at 7.10 PM (1162 sailors and 59 RAF personnel killed, 42 survivors). Acasta sinks at 7.20 PM (161 dead, 2 survivors). Admiral Wilhelm Marschall, aboard his flagship Gneisenau orders his flag lowered to half mast to honor the crews of the British destroyers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Juno
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/gladiator_glorious.htm

France. 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions cross River Seine. 5th Panzer captures Rouen. Further East, Kleist’s 14th Panzer Corp breaks through at Amiens but 16th Panzer Corp is still held at Péronne by French 7th Army, showing the true fighting character of the French troops and the effectiveness of the hedgehogs.

Day 281 June 7, 1940

France. Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division and 5th Panzer Division continue their drive down the Channel coast towards Rouen. Further East, General Kleist’s Panzers meet stiff resistance and make no progress between Amiens and Péronne.

Evacuation of Narvik. More British troopships (Group II) arrive and embark 5200 troops overnight. Slow container ships with supplies and equipment leave Narvik. Group I troopships (that departed yesterday with 15,000 troops on board) are spotted by German reconnaissance planes but mistaken for empty supply ships returning to England, probably due to the single escort vessel HMS Vindictive. Admiral Marschall’s German flotilla does not attack the convoy, instead refueling the destroyers and cruiser Admiral Hipper.

Off Narvik, RAF pilots, untrained in aircraft carrier landings, safely land 10 Gloster Gladiators and 8 Hawker Hurricanes on aircraft carrier HMS Glorious (the remaining fighters of 46 and 263 Squadrons).

At 8 PM, Norwegian King Haakon VII, his son Crown Prince Olav and members of the Norwegian government leave Tromsø (in the far North of Norway) for exile in England on British cruiser HMS Devonshire.

Between midnight and 3.30 AM, U-48 sinks British steamer Francis Massey carrying 7500 tons of iron ore (33 dead, Captain rescued by destroyer HMS Volunteer) and damages British steamer Eros (all 62 crew survive) 10 miles North of Ireland. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/340.html

Day 280 June 6, 1940

Rommel quickly learns to use his tanks to bypass Weygand‘s hedgehogs. The Panzers make rapid progress as there is no secondary defensive line and infantry contain & reduce the hedgehogs. 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions make an initial breakthrough between Abeville and Amiens. Elsewhere, camouflaged hedgehogs in wooded areas continue to confound the Germans, with fire coming suddenly from the side or rear. French 75mm field guns (1898 vintage), obsolete as artillery, turn out to be as effective as German 88mm Flak used in flat fire anti-tank role.

Evacuation of Narvik. Another 5100 men embark overnight. About 15,000 Allied troops leave aboard 6 fast liners (Monarch Of Bermuda, Batory, Sobieski, Franconia, Lancastria & Georgic) escorted by destroyer HMS Arrow & sloop HMS Stork. They rendezvous with WWI-era cruiser HMS Vindictive (Arrow & Stork turn back for Narvik). Only Vindictive will escort the troopships back to the Clyde.

At 1.13 PM, U-46 hits British armed merchant cruiser HMS Carinthia (a converted Cunard liner) with one torpedo, west of Galway Bay (4 lives lost). Carinthia stays afloat for another 30 hours, but sink while under tow by rescue tug HMS Marauder. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/338.html

Norwegian submarine B.3 departs Harstad for Tromso but is crippled by an explosion. Unable to reach England, B.3 will be scuttled on June 9 in Gavlfjord near Tromso.

Day 279 June 5, 1940

At 5 AM, Germany begins the second phase of the conquest of France (“Fall Rot”), attacking South across the Somme and Aisne rivers with 130 divisions plus 10 Panzer divisions reequipped with fresh tanks. In contrast, France has lost 30 of its best divisions (and the BEF) along with most of its vehicles and armour. French CiC General Weygand has only 66 divisions, including 17 in the fortified Maginot Line defenses, to hold a front longer than before the invasion. He organizes a series of strongpoints bristling with artillery & anti-tank guns (the “Weygand Line”) in woods and villages along the Somme and Aisne rivers joining the Maginot Line at Montmédy. These ‘hedgehogs’ confuse the Germans & hold their initial advance to 10km.

At 11.18 PM, U-48 shells British armed merchant Stancor (300 tons of fish) 80 miles Northwest of Scotland. All 19 crew (10 in a lifeboat and 9 picked up by British trawler Kinaldie) make land on Isle of Lewis. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/337.html

French soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk are returned via channel ports still under French control. To reinforce Weygand, Churchill also sends Canadian 1st Infantry Division to France, joining parts of British 1st Armoured Division & 51st Highland Division which avoided encirclement at Dunkirk.

French Prime Minister Reynaud ousts his nemesis ex-PM Daladier and reshuffles his Cabinet. Charles de Gaulle, promoted to General on May 25, is made Under-Secretary for Defense.

Evacuation of Narvik. Another 4900 Allied troops board transport ships.