TheSecondWar.pl

Military

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(188)

1919

June

21
- The scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa FlowOn 21 June 1919, on Admiral Ludwig von Reuter's orders, crews scuttled 52 interned German warships at Scapa Flow rather than hand them to the victors.

1922

March

01
- Secret German–Soviet military cooperation beginsIn spring 1922 the first Reichswehr officers travelled to Soviet Russia, opening a partnership in which Germany evaded the Versailles bans deep inside Russia.

1923

January

11
- The occupation of the RuhrOn 11 January 1923 French and Belgian troops marched into the Ruhr to force Germany to pay reparations. Berlin responded with passive resistance.

1924

August

18
- The French withdrawal beginsOn 18 August 1924, two days after the London Conference, the French left Offenburg and Appenweier in Baden. They evacuated the Ruhr gradually, by August 1925.

1926

January

31
- The Allied withdrawal from CologneOn 31 January 1926 the last British soldiers, and with them Belgian and French troops, left Cologne. The first Rhineland occupation zone returned to Germany.

1928

May

28
- The founding of the Chinese Red ArmyIn spring 1928 the forces of Zhu De and Mao Zedong joined up in the Jinggang Mountains, and the CCP leadership decided to call its troops the Red Army.

1930

June

30
- The end of the occupation of the RhinelandOn 30 June 1930 the last French troops left the Mainz zone. The occupation of the Rhineland ended five years before the date set at Versailles.

1931

May

19
- The launch of the DeutschlandOn 19 May 1931 the Deutschland, Germany's first large warship since Versailles, was launched at Kiel – 10,000 tons on paper, with unexpectedly heavy guns.

1933

May

15
- The founding of the LuftwaffeOn 15 May 1933 the military air staffs passed to Göring’s ministry. The day is seen as the birth of the Luftwaffe, which Hitler revealed to the world in 1935.

1934

August

02
- The Wehrmacht's oath of loyalty to HitlerOn 2 August 1934, the day Hindenburg died, Reichswehr soldiers swore unconditional obedience not to the constitution but to Adolf Hitler in person.

1936

March

07
- Key eventThe remilitarisation of the RhinelandOn 7 March 1936 the Wehrmacht entered the demilitarised Rhineland, breaking the Versailles and Locarno treaties. France and Britain did not respond with force.

June

03
- The death of Walther WeverOn 3 June 1936 General Walther Wever, the Luftwaffe’s first chief of staff and an advocate of long-range bombers, was killed in an air crash near Dresden.

1939

January

27
- Plan ZOn 27 January 1939 Hitler approved Plan Z, a programme to build a fleet against Britain by 1948. The war cut it short after eight months.

April

03
- Key eventFall WeissOn 3 April 1939 the OKW chief Wilhelm Keitel issued the Case White directive. The Wehrmacht was to be ready to attack Poland at any time from 1 September.

August

September

October

November

December

18
- Canadian and Indian troops reach EuropeOn 17 December 1939 the 1st Canadian Division’s first flight reached Greenock, as Churchill announced. Indian mule companies landed at Marseille on 26 December.

1940

January

February

March

April

12
- The British occupy the Faroe IslandsOn 12 April 1940 British destroyers entered Tórshavn, and the next day Royal Marines landed from the cruiser Suffolk. The occupation lasted until 1945.

May

June

28
- The death of Italo BalboOn 28 June 1940 Italian anti-aircraft guns over Tobruk mistakenly shot down the aircraft of Marshal Italo Balbo, Governor of Libya. Nine people were killed.

July

August

September

October

November

16
- British aid to GreeceOn 16 November 1940 a convoy with some 4,000 airmen and soldiers reached Piraeus. Churchill sent RAF units from Egypt despite Wavell’s and Longmore’s fears.

December

1941

February

March

May

June

July

August

September

11
- The shoot-on-sight orderOn 11 September 1941 Roosevelt announced that US ships would no longer wait for U-boats to strike first. Days later the navy began escorting British convoys.

October

21
- Before Operation CrusaderIn autumn 1941 the British readied the Eighth Army in Egypt to relieve Tobruk. New Zealanders trained in the desert; Fort Capuzzo was still held by the Axis.

November

December

1942

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

18
- The first jet flight of the Me 262On 18 July 1942 at Leipheim Fritz Wendel flew the third Me 262 prototype, for the first time on jet power alone. The aircraft entered service in 1944.

August

September

October

November

27
- The scuttling of the French fleet at ToulonOn 27 November 1942 the Germans burst into Toulon to seize the Vichy fleet. The French scuttled some 77 ships, including three battleships and seven cruisers.

December

1943

January

19
- Zhukov made Marshal of the Soviet UnionIn January 1943 Georgy Zhukov became the first commander of the war to be made Marshal of the USSR, and on 28 January received Order of Suvorov 1st Class No. 1.

February

11
- Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander in North AfricaOn 11 February 1943 Eisenhower was promoted to full general and confirmed as Allied Commander-in-Chief in North Africa, with British deputies under him.

March

April

30
- Operation MincemeatOn 30 April 1943 HMS Seraph left the body of a fictitious Major Martin off Huelva, with letters pointing to Allied landings in Greece and Sardinia.

July

August

03
- The Patton slapping incidentsOn 3 and 10 August 1943 General George Patton struck two soldiers suffering from combat exhaustion in field hospitals in Sicily. The affair became a scandal.

October

November

15
- The Allied Expeditionary Air ForceOn 15 November 1943 the tactical air command for the invasion of France was set up under Leigh-Mallory. SHAEF followed in February 1944.

December

1944

January

16
- Eisenhower in LondonOn 16 January 1944 General Eisenhower, newly arrived in London, took command of US forces in Europe (ETOUSA) while building SHAEF, the invasion staff.

February

March

April

May

June

04
- The invasion postponedOn 4 June 1944 a stormy forecast led Eisenhower to postpone the Normandy invasion by a day. The convoys turned back; the final decision came on 5 June.

July

August

September

October

November

30
- XXII Corps in EuropeIn autumn 1944 the headquarters of US XXII Corps reached Europe. In 1945, under General Ernest Harmon, it fought with the Fifteenth Army, then occupied Bohemia.

December

03
- The stand-down of the Home GuardOn 3 December 1944 George VI took the Home Guard's farewell parade in Hyde Park. The volunteer home defence force stood down; it was disbanded in 1945.

1945

January

19
- Hitler's order of 19 JanuaryAfter the loss of Warsaw, Hitler ordered commanders from division level upwards to report every intended retreat, attack or abandonment in advance.
- Key eventDissolution of the Home ArmyOn 19 January 1945 Gen. Okulicki dissolved the Home Army and released its soldiers from their oath. A secret order kept staffs, arms and radio links for "NIE".

March

April

May

July

16
- Key eventThe Trinity testAt 5.29 a.m. on 16 July 1945, in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico, the Americans detonated the “Gadget” – the first nuclear device in history.

August

September