Natalia
Author
(823)1940
January
February
March
April
- 10
- King Haakon rejects German demandsOn 10 April 1940 Haakon VII refused to appoint Quisling prime minister and threatened to abdicate. The government backed him unanimously and Norway fought on.
- The first Battle of NarvikAt dawn on 10 April 1940 five British destroyers surprised a German flotilla at Narvik. Each side lost two ships, and both commanders were killed.
May
- 10
- Key eventGermany attacks in the WestOn 10 May 1940 the Wehrmacht struck the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Allies advanced into Belgium as Kleist's tanks entered the Ardennes.
- Key eventChurchill becomes Prime MinisterOn 10 May 1940, the day of the German offensive in the West, Chamberlain resigned and the King asked Churchill to form a coalition government.
- The British occupy IcelandOn 10 May 1940 some 750 Royal Marines occupied Reykjavík without a fight. An army brigade arrived on 17 May, and the marines soon sailed home.
June
- 14
- The French Navy against ItalyOn 14 June 1940 French cruisers from Toulon shelled Vado, Savona and the outskirts of Genoa. Until 21 June the French fleet fought the Italians at sea.
- The shooting down of the KalevaOn 14 June 1940 Soviet bombers shot down the Finnish airliner Kaleva from Tallinn over the Gulf of Finland. Nine died, including an American courier.
- 16
- Key eventPétain becomes Prime Minister of FranceOn 16 June 1940 at Bordeaux Reynaud resigned and President Lebrun entrusted the government to Marshal Pétain. That night France asked for an armistice.
- The Kutno GhettoOn 16 June 1940 the Germans moved the Jews of Kutno into a ghetto in the disused Konstancja sugar factory. Some 7,000 people were crammed into a few hectares.
July
- 01
- Key eventThe French government moves to VichyOn 1 July 1940 Pétain's government settled in Vichy. On 10 July parliament gave the marshal full powers by 569 votes to 80, ending the Third Republic.
- Italian air raids on PalestineIn July 1940 Italian bombers from Rhodes began attacking Haifa. The first raid, on 15 July, set oil tanks ablaze; the second, on 24 July, killed over forty.
August
- 01
- Directive No. 17On 1 August 1940 Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to defeat the RAF quickly. Sea Lion was to be ready by 15 September; the decision hinged on the air war.
- Operation HurryOn 2 August 1940 the carrier HMS Argus flew off twelve Hurricanes to Malta, while aircraft from Ark Royal bombed the airfield near Cagliari in Sardinia.