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1939

September

04
- The first RAF raidsOn 4 September 1939 British bombers attacked warships off Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel. The bombs that hit the Scheer did not explode; the RAF lost 7 aircraft.
- The British Expeditionary Force in FranceOn 4 September 1939 the advance parties of the BEF sailed from Portsmouth for France. In early October Lord Gort’s four divisions took over a sector near Lille.
06
- Friendly fire in the first days of the warOn 6 September 1939 Spitfires shot down two British Hurricanes over Essex, and on 10 September the submarine Triton sank the British submarine Oxley.

October

16
- The first Luftwaffe raids on BritainOn 16 October 1939 Ju 88s attacked warships in the Firth of Forth, and on 17 October Scapa Flow. Spitfires shot down two bombers, including the leader’s.

December

18
- The air battle of the Heligoland BightOn 18 December 1939 German fighters, alerted by Freya radar, shot down 12 of 22 RAF Wellingtons. Bomber Command then switched to night raids.

1940

March

16
- The Scapa Flow raid and the first civilian deathOn 16 March 1940 the Luftwaffe attacked the fleet at Scapa Flow and damaged the cruiser Norfolk. Bombs on Orkney killed James Isbister, the first civilian.

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

16
- The raid on MannheimOn the night of 16/17 December 1940, 134 RAF bombers struck Mannheim in reprisal for Coventry. It was the first raid deliberately aimed at a city centre.

1941

January

03
- RAF raids on Bremen and the Kiel CanalIn the first nights of 1941 the RAF bombed the Focke-Wulf works in Bremen. During a raid on the Kiel Canal a damaged bridge fell on the Finnish ship Yrsa.

February

April

May

June

06
- Operation RocketOn 6 June 1941, 43 Hurricanes from Ark Royal and Furious reached Malta. The Luftwaffe had already left Sicily; it was mainly the Italians bombing the island.

July

17
- Operation SubstanceOn 17 July 1941 only Italian aircraft were harrying Malta. The Operation Substance convoy from Britain was on its way; it reached Valletta on 24 July.

August

September

07
- The RAF raid on Berlin of 7 SeptemberOn the night of 7–8 September 1941 the RAF sent 197 bombers to Berlin, its largest force yet. It lost 15 aircraft, and the results fell short of the reports.

November

07
- The RAF raid of 7–8 NovemberOn the night of 7–8 November 1941 the RAF sent 392 bombers against Berlin, Cologne and Mannheim. In bad weather it lost 37, its worst night to date.

December

1942

January

07
- Malta under air attack in January 1942In January 1942 the Luftwaffe in Sicily began bombing Malta's airfields systematically. The island had 263 alerts; its Hurricanes were outclassed by Bf 109s.

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

18
- RAF raids in November 1942On the night of 18–19 November 1942 RAF bombers struck Turin. Berlin was not bombed in November; the targets were Turin, Genoa, Hamburg and Stuttgart.

December

1943

January

16
- RAF raids on Berlin in January 1943On the nights of 16/17 and 17/18 January 1943 RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes bombed Berlin after a 14-month gap. Damage was slight, second-night losses heavy.

February

09
- Bombing raids in February 1943In February 1943 the RAF razed Lorient, bombed blind with H2S radar successfully for the first time (Wilhelmshaven), and the Americans attacked Emden.

March

05
- The Battle of the Ruhr beginsDuring the night of 5–6 March 1943 the RAF bombed Essen, opening the Battle of the Ruhr. On 8–9 and 9–10 March bombers struck Nuremberg and Munich.

April

May

June

July

24
- Key eventOperation GomorrahFrom 24 July to 3 August 1943 Allied bombers struck Hamburg. A firestorm on the night of 27/28 July killed about 18,000 people; in all some 34,000–40,000 died.

August

17
- 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.

September

03
- The evacuation of BerlinAfter Hamburg, Goebbels urged Berliners without work in the city to leave. After raids around the turn of August and September the evacuation was accelerated.

October

22
- The raid on KasselOn the night of 22–23 October 1943, 569 RAF bombers attacked Kassel. A firestorm consumed the old town; sources put the dead at 6,000–10,000.

November

December

1944

January

20
- The raid on Berlin of 20 JanuaryOn the night of 20–21 January 1944 the RAF sent 769 bombers to Berlin. They reportedly dropped about 2,300 tons of bombs; 35 aircraft were lost.

February

26
- Key eventBig WeekFrom 20 to 25 February 1944 US and RAF bombers struck the German aircraft industry. The Luftwaffe lost hundreds of fighters and pilots it could not replace.

March

April

May

June

July

November

12
- Key eventThe sinking of the TirpitzOn 12 November 1944 RAF Lancasters with Tallboy bombs sank the battleship Tirpitz off Tromsø. Between about 950 and over 1,200 sailors were killed.

December

24
- 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 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.

February

March

April

May

04
- 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.