Western Front
Front
(252)1939
1940
January
February
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.
- The capture of Fort Eben-EmaelOn 10 May 1940 gliders carrying German parachute sappers landed on the roof of the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael. The garrison surrendered the next day.
- The Battle for The HagueOn 10 May 1940 German airborne troops landed near The Hague to seize the Dutch Queen and government. By nightfall the Dutch had retaken three airfields.
- 13
- Key eventThe breakthrough at SedanOn 13 May 1940, after eight hours of bombing, Guderian’s infantry crossed the Meuse at Sedan and Rommel at Dinant. On 15 May they broke into open country.
- The battles of the Grebbeberg and the AfsluitdijkOn 13 May 1940 the Germans broke the Dutch Grebbe Line on the Grebbeberg. In the north the Kornwerderzand works on the Afsluitdijk held out to the end.
June
July
August
- 31
- Attacks on RAF airfieldsOn 30 and 31 August 1940 the Luftwaffe struck No. 11 Group's sector airfields. On 31 August Fighter Command suffered its heaviest daily losses of the battle.
- Disaster off TexelOn the night of 31 August/1 September 1940 a British flotilla ran into a German minefield off Texel. The destroyers Esk and Ivanhoe sank; some 300 men died.
September
October
November
December
1941
1942
February
March
- 28
- The bombing of LübeckOn the night of 28–29 March 1942, 234 RAF bombers burned the western part of Lübeck's old town. Over 300 died. Hitler demanded revenge on English cities.
- Key eventThe St Nazaire raidOn 28 March 1942 the explosive-laden destroyer Campbeltown rammed the gate of the Normandie dock at St Nazaire. The dock was wrecked; of 611 men, 169 died.
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
1943
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
- 17
- The Schweinfurt–Regensburg raidOn 17 August 1943 376 US B-17s attacked the Schweinfurt ball-bearing plants and the Messerschmitt works at Regensburg by day. Sixty bombers did not return.
- Key eventOperation HydraOn the night of 17–18 August 1943 nearly 600 RAF bombers attacked the rocket centre at Peenemünde. About 700 people died, most of them forced labourers.
October
November
December
1944
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
- 03
- The liberation of BrusselsOn the evening of 3 September 1944 tanks of the British Guards Armoured Division drove into Brussels. The Americans had entered Belgium the day before.
- The liberation of LyonOn 3 September 1944 the 1st Free French Division, Americans and the FFI entered Lyon. The Germans had left the day before, blowing the Rhône and Saône bridges.
- 04
- The end of Operation OutwardOn 4 September 1944 the last Operation Outward balloons were launched from England. In two and a half years the British had sent 99,142 balloons over Europe.
- The liberation of AntwerpOn 4 September 1944 the British 11th Armoured Division and the Belgian Resistance took Antwerp, its port almost intact. The Scheldt estuary stayed German.
- 08
- The liberation of OstendOn 8 September 1944 Canadian armoured cars entered Ostend, abandoned by the Germans without a fight. On 9 September Canadian infantry occupied the town.
- Key eventThe first V-2 rocketsOn 8 September 1944 Germany first used V-2 rockets in combat. The first fell near Paris; that evening two struck England, killing three people in Chiswick.
- 10
- The liberation of LuxembourgOn 10 September 1944 the US 5th Armored Division entered Luxembourg City. The Germans left without a fight, and Prince Felix returned with the Americans.
- The armies meet near DijonOn 10–12 September 1944 the forces from Provence linked up in Burgundy with Patton's Third Army. The Allied front now ran from the Channel to Switzerland.
October
November
- 23
- The capture of MetzOn 22 November 1944 organised German resistance ended in Metz, which the Third Army had entered on 18–19 November. Some forts held out until 13 December.
- Key eventThe liberation of StrasbourgOn 23 November 1944 General Leclerc's French 2nd Armoured Division burst into Strasbourg. A flag flew over the cathedral – the Oath of Kufra was fulfilled.
December
- 24
- The counter-offensive in the ArdennesOn 24 December 1944 Collins’s VII Corps resolved to strike the German 2nd Panzer Division at Celles. Patton had been driving on Bastogne since 22 December.
- V-1s over ManchesterOn Christmas Eve 1944 Heinkels over the North Sea launched 45 V-1s at Manchester. More than 40 people were killed, most of them in Oldham.
1945
January
- 01
- Operation Nordwind beginsOn New Year's Eve the Germans struck the overstretched US Seventh Army in northern Alsace. Operation Nordwind was their last great offensive in the west.
- Operation BodenplatteOn 1 January 1945 the Luftwaffe hit Allied airfields in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, destroying hundreds of aircraft but losing 300 and over 200 pilots.
- The Chenogne massacreOn 1 January 1945, in the Belgian village of Chenogne near Bastogne, soldiers of the US 11th Armored Division killed some 60–80 German prisoners.
February
March
April
- 29
- The liberation of DachauOn 29 April 1945 soldiers of the US Seventh Army entered Dachau, the first concentration camp of the Third Reich, and freed more than 30,000 prisoners.
- Operations Manna and ChowhoundOn 29 April 1945 RAF Lancasters began dropping food to the starving people of the occupied western Netherlands. American B-17s joined them on 1 May.
May
- 04
- The surrender at Lüneburg HeathOn 4 May 1945, in Montgomery's tent near Lüneburg, the Germans signed the surrender of their forces in the Netherlands, north-west Germany and Denmark.
- Neuengamme and the Cap ArconaOn 3 May 1945 the RAF sank ships holding Neuengamme prisoners in the Bay of Lübeck, killing some 7,000. On 4 May the British entered the empty camp.
- 07
- The shooting on Dam SquareOn 7 May 1945 German sailors fired on a crowd celebrating liberation on Dam Square in Amsterdam. At least 32 people were killed and over 100 wounded.
- Key eventThe surrender at ReimsAt 2.41 a.m. on 7 May 1945, at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces.