May 1940
10-19
Germany invades Low Countries. Using speed and deception, German
armies overrun Holland in five days, take out Belgium’s vaunted Fort
Eban Emael and race through the Ardennes to the French coast.
Churchill becomes British prime minister. Lacking popular support, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain steps down to allow Winston Churchill to form new coalition government as German onslaught begins.
20
German army reaches English Channel. After advancing along a 50-mile
front, German tanks, supported by dive-bombers, reach the seacoast, cutting
off the British Expeditionary Force and French in Belgium.
26
British Expeditionary Force begins evacuation from Dunkirk. More
than 200,000 BEF troops, together with some 112,000 French and Belgian soldiers,
board close to 900 vessels of every description to escape annihilation.
June 1940
3
Dunkirk E.vacuation ends. After hundreds of thousands of British,
Belgian and French troops retreat to the French seaport in late May, the British
Navy launches Operation Dynamo to extract more than 300,000 soldiers
in a week’s time. Two thirds of the survivors—members of the British
Expeditionary Force—are shuttled across the English Channel to Dover,
England. Inexplicably, Hitler halts Gen. Hans Guderian’s Panzers 12
miles from Dunkirk’s packed beach.
10
Norway surrenders. Overwhelmed by the swiftness of the German invasion
in April, the Norwegians still manage to get members of the Royal Family to
safety, but are powerless to prevent their country’s conquest. Oslo,
the capital, falls with scarcely a shot being fired as German troops swarm
into Norwegian ports and go on to capture the main airfield, preventing the
insertion of Allied reinforcements in sufficient numbers to stem the tide.
Italy declares war on Britain and France. Fascist leader Benito Mussolini leads Italy into World War II. Viewing Great Britain and France as weak allies, he hopes to achieve spectacular victories like the Germans. An unwitting pawn of Adolf Hitler, the egotistical Mussolini dubs his country’s relationship with Germany the “Rome-Berlin Axis. In September, a three-power pact that includes Japan is concluded, with each partner pledging 10 years of mutual aid.
5–25
The Battle of France. Badly outmanned (50 divisions to 120), the
French Army valiantly tries to defend more than 200 miles of front. It is
no match, however, against German armor advancing in three directions. Paris
falls on June 14, after which the French sue for peace. Eight days later,
they are made to capitulate in the same railway car where surrender terms
were dictated to the Germans in 1917.
July 1940
10
Battle of Britain begins. Hitler prepares to invade England in Operation
Sea Lion by attempting to lure the RAF into dogfights with his numerically
superior and more experienced Luftwaffe fighter force. Attacks on naval bases
and merchant ships produce the desired response as clashes between British
Spitfires and German Messerschmitts over the English Channel cost the RAF
50 fighters in the first 10 days. Its pilots, though, change tactics and manage
to regroup.
August 1940
5
Italy invades
British Somaliland.
September 1940
13
Italy invades Egypt.
15
Battle of Britain hits turning point as London withstands German blitz.
27
Japan joins the Axis alliance.
October 1940
28
Italy invades Greece. Disregarding Hitler’s intent to transform
the Balkan peninsula into a satellite through diplomacy, Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini sends eight army divisions into the region through Albania.
The Greek army, however, surprises the invaders with a highly organized defense.
Then, supported by the Royal Air Force, it launches a furious counterattack
that drives the Italians back into Albania by mid-December. The success proves
temporary as German forces eventually invade Greece, forcing it to surrender
in late April 1941.
11
British smash Italian fleet at Taranto. Hoping to gain passage through
the Mediterranean, the British Navy launches an air attack that sinks or badly
damages seven Italian ships tucked inside Italy’s ‘arch’
at Taranto. As the only decisive victory in initial British-Italian naval
clashes, the blow forces the remainder of the Italian fleet to withdraw. Although
extremely one-sided, the operation does not prove to be a complete British
victory, as the Italians continue to disrupt Mediterranean travel using aircraft
stationed on Sicily, Sardinia and the African Coast.
14
German blitz targets Coventry. At risk of losing the Battle of Britain,
the Luftwaffe intensifies its night raids all over England. Dropping more
than 450 tons of explosives on Coventry city, 500 German bombers all but demolish
the medieval cathedral city, which is home to the largest concentration of
armaments factories in the country. Before the nationwide blitz ends in May
1941, London, Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth and Plymouth are struck hard, and
more than 43,000 British civilians are killed.