Timeline
(1952)1940
The year in brief
On 12 March Finland signed the peace ending the Winter War in Moscow: it ceded the Karelian Isthmus and Viipuri but kept its independence. In the Kresy the NKVD began deporting families of military settlers and foresters on 10 February, and further deportations followed in April and June. On 5 March the Politburo adopted Beria's proposal to shoot Polish POWs and prisoners without trial; by mid-May the NKVD had killed almost 22,000 Polish officers, policemen and prisoners. On 9 April Germany occupied Denmark and invaded Norway. Poles also fought for Narvik, which the Allies retook on 28 May.
On 10 May the Wehrmacht struck the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and Churchill became Prime Minister. On 13 May the Germans crossed the Meuse at Sedan; on 20 May they reached the English Channel, cutting off the Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders. Over 338,000 men were carried from Dunkirk to England. On 10 June Italy entered the war, on 14 June the Germans entered Paris, and on 22 June an armistice signed at Compiègne gave Germany three-fifths of France. Pétain's government settled in Vichy, while General de Gaulle urged the French from London to fight on. For the Poles it was a second lost campaign in nine months; the British evacuated Polish troops from France, and the Polish government and President moved to London. In June the Red Army occupied the Baltic states, which were annexed to the USSR in August.
Britain was left alone. From 10 July the Luftwaffe tried to destroy the RAF ahead of an invasion; 145 Poles fought in the battle. On 17 September Hitler postponed the landing indefinitely, but the Blitz, begun on 7 September, went on. In occupied Poland the Germans shot 358 Pawiak prisoners at Palmiry, and in November they sealed the Warsaw Ghetto, walling off some 400,000 Jews. On 3 December Sikorski appointed the first Government Delegate. Italy's attack on Greece of 28 October collapsed, and on 9 December the British struck the Italians at Sidi Barrani. On 18 December Hitler signed the Barbarossa directive, the plan for war on the USSR.
January
- 07
- The destruction of Soviet divisions on the Raate roadIn the first week of January 1940 Colonel Siilasvuo’s Finns cut the Soviet 44th Division into pockets on the Raate road and destroyed it, taking tanks and guns.
- Timoshenko takes command in FinlandOn 7 January 1940 Moscow formed the North-Western Front under Komandarm Timoshenko. After the defeats of December, he was to break the Mannerheim Line.
February
- 15
- Key eventThe Red Army breaks the Mannerheim LineOn 11 February 1940 the Red Army broke the Mannerheim Line at Lähde. On 15 February Mannerheim ordered a retreat and the Russians entered Summa.
- Germany widens the U-boat warContrary to popular chronologies, no new order came on 15 February 1940. The zones where U-boats sank even neutral ships unwarned had grown since January.
March
- 30
- Wang Jingwei’s government in NanjingOn 30 March 1940 Wang Jingwei set up a collaborationist government in occupied Nanjing. It hailed a “return to the capital” but ruled only where Japan allowed.
- British reconnaissance flights over BakuOn 30 March 1940 a British intelligence aircraft took off from Iraq and photographed the Soviet oilfields at Baku. The Allies were preparing to bomb them.
April
- 03
- Key eventThe Katyn massacreOn 3 April 1940 the first prisoners left Kozelsk for their deaths. By mid-May the NKVD had killed almost 22,000 Polish officers, policemen and prisoners.
- Churchill heads the Military Coordination CommitteeOn 3 April 1940 Chamberlain accepted Lord Chatfield’s resignation and abolished his ministry. Churchill took the chair of the Military Co-ordination Committee.
- 09
- Key eventGermany invades NorwayOn 9 April 1940 Germany landed troops in Norwegian ports and took Oslo from the air. The king, government and gold left the capital, and Norway fought on.
- Germany occupies DenmarkOn 9 April 1940 the Wehrmacht invaded neutral Denmark. After skirmishes in Jutland and at Amalienborg the king and government ended resistance within hours.
- The sinking of the Blücher in the Drøbak NarrowsOn 9 April 1940 the guns and torpedoes of Norway’s Oscarsborg fortress sank the cruiser Blücher. The delay let the king, government and gold leave Oslo.
- 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 sinking of the KönigsbergOn 10 April 1940 Skua dive bombers from the Orkneys sank the German cruiser Königsberg at Bergen, damaged the day before by a Norwegian coastal battery.
- 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.
- 13
- The second Battle of NarvikOn 13 April 1940 the battleship Warspite and nine destroyers entered the fjord at Narvik and destroyed the last eight German destroyers there.
- Second deportation from the eastern landsOn 13 April 1940 the NKVD deported about 61,000 people to Kazakhstan, mainly families of imprisoned officers, policemen and officials killed in those weeks.
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.
- 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
- Queen Wilhelmina in LondonOn 13 May 1940 Queen Wilhelmina left the Netherlands aboard HMS Hereward and reached England. The de Geer government followed her the same day.
- 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.
- “Blood, toil, tears and sweat”On 13 May 1940, in his first speech as prime minister, Churchill offered the Commons “blood, toil, tears and sweat”. The House backed him by 381 votes.
- 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.
- 14
- The Local Defence VolunteersOn 14 May 1940 Anthony Eden called on men aged 17–65 by radio to join the Local Defence Volunteers. Five days earlier conscription was extended to men up to 36.
- Key eventThe bombing of RotterdamOn 14 May 1940 the Luftwaffe bombed Rotterdam during talks on its surrender. That evening the Netherlands laid down its arms, except Zeeland, which fought on.
- 24
- The Allies decide to leave NorwayOn 24 May 1940 London decided, in secret from the Norwegians, to withdraw its troops from northern Norway. Defeat in France made the fight for Narvik pointless.
- The halt order before DunkirkOn 24 May 1940 Hitler approved halting the tanks before Dunkirk. By 26 May the Allies had strengthened their defence, and the Germans took Boulogne and Calais.
- 28
- Belgium capitulatesAt 4 a.m. on 28 May 1940 the Belgian Army laid down its arms. Leopold III, defying his government, stayed as a prisoner; his ministers fought on from France.
- The War Cabinet crisisOn 25–28 May 1940 Halifax wanted to sound out peace terms via Mussolini. Churchill, backed by Chamberlain and Labour, won the government over to fighting on.
June
- 04
- “We shall fight on the beaches”On 4 June 1940 Churchill reported to the House of Commons on Dunkirk and declared that the British would fight on the beaches and never surrender.
- The end of the Dunkirk evacuationOn 4 June 1940 the last ships left Dunkirk and the Germans entered the town. Between 30,000 and 40,000 French troops of the rearguard were taken prisoner.
- 10
- Key eventItaly declares war on France and BritainOn 10 June 1940 Mussolini declared war on France and Britain as the French army was already collapsing. Roosevelt called it a stab in the back.
- Norway capitulatesOn 10 June 1940 the Norwegian forces at home capitulated in Trondheim. Three days earlier the King and government sailed from Tromsø to wage war from London.
- The French government leaves ParisOn 10 June 1940 the French government left Paris for châteaux along the Loire. After talks with Churchill at Briare and Tours it reached Bordeaux on 14 June.
- 14
- Key eventThe Germans enter ParisOn 14 June 1940 German troops entered Paris, declared an open city, without a fight. A swastika flag was hoisted over the Eiffel Tower.
- 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.
- 15
- Key eventThe Soviet occupation of LithuaniaOn 15 June 1940 Lithuania accepted a Soviet ultimatum, President Smetona fled to Germany and the Red Army occupied the country without a Lithuanian shot fired.
- Operation AerialOn 15 June 1940 the British began evacuating troops from the ports of western France. By 25 June they had also taken off Poles, Czechoslovaks and some French.
- 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.
- 17
- The sinking of the LancastriaOn 17 June 1940 the Luftwaffe sank the overcrowded liner Lancastria off Saint-Nazaire. Several thousand died, and Churchill banned any reporting of it.
- The Red Army enters Latvia and EstoniaOn 17 June 1940, a day after the Soviet ultimatums, the Red Army entered Latvia and Estonia. By 18 June all three Baltic states were occupied.
- 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.
- A convoy clash off CreteOn 28 June 1940 British cruisers caught three Italian destroyers carrying supplies for Tobruk. Espero was sunk covering the escape of the other two.
- 29
- Arita proclaims a new order in East AsiaOn 29 June 1940 Foreign Minister Hachirō Arita declared on the radio that East Asia and the South Seas formed one sphere whose stability Japan guaranteed.
- Third deportation from the eastern landsOn the night of 28 to 29 June 1940 the NKVD began a third deportation from the Kresy. Those taken were mainly refugees from German-occupied Poland, mostly Jews.
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.
- Graziani takes command in LibyaOn 1 July 1940 Marshal Rodolfo Graziani arrived in Tripoli as Balbo's successor. Mussolini demanded a swift attack on Egypt; Graziani held back.
- 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.
- 04
- The Duke of Windsor becomes Governor of the BahamasOn 4 July 1940 the Duke of Windsor, stranded in Lisbon after the fall of France, learned he was to govern the Bahamas. Germany wanted to keep him in Europe.
- Germany reveals Operation PikeOn 4 July 1940 the German news agency published extracts from captured French files on an Allied plan to bomb the Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus.
- The Italians take KassalaOn 4 July 1940 Italian troops from Eritrea took Kassala and Fort Gallabat in the Sudan. A handful of Sudan Defence Force men withdrew after hours of fighting.
- 10
- Key eventThe Battle of Britain beginsOn 10 July 1940 some hundred aircraft clashed over a convoy in the Strait of Dover. The British came to see the day as the start of the Battle of Britain.
- Roosevelt calls for rearmamentOn 10 July 1940 Roosevelt asked Congress for $4.85 billion for defence. That summer the US voted for a two-ocean navy and prepared its first peacetime draft.
- 22
- The Havana ConferenceOn 21–30 July 1940 American foreign ministers met in Havana and resolved that the colonies of defeated European states must not pass into German hands.
- The second Konoe cabinetOn 22 July 1940 Fumimaro Konoe became Prime Minister of Japan again. His cabinet with Matsuoka and Tōjō turned Japan towards Germany and southward expansion.
August
- 01
- The war of the pins in LuxembourgIn August 1940 Luxembourgers pinned badges with the red lion and the Grand Duchess’s portrait to their lapels in answer to Gauleiter Simon’s Germanisation.
- 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.
- The Italian submarine base at BordeauxIn summer 1940 the Regia Marina set up the BETASOM base at Bordeaux. Italian submarines joined the Battle of the Atlantic under Dönitz’s operational control.
- 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.
- 15
- Black ThursdayOn 15 August 1940 the Luftwaffe struck England from France, Belgium and Norway. It lost some 75 aircraft, and the raid from Norway ended in disaster.
- The sinking of the cruiser ElliOn 15 August 1940 the Italian submarine Delfino sank the Greek cruiser Elli off Tinos. Athens knew the culprit but spoke of an “unknown” submarine.
- 20
- “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”On 20 August 1940 Churchill reviewed a year of war in the House of Commons and paid tribute to the RAF airmen to whom so many owed so much.
- The Hundred Regiments OffensiveOn 20 August 1940 the communist Eighth Route Army struck Japanese railways, bridges, mines and posts in northern China. Peng Dehuai was in command.
- 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
- 16
- The first peacetime draft in the United StatesOn 16 September 1940 Roosevelt signed the Burke–Wadsworth Act. The neutral United States introduced conscription in peacetime for the first time.
- The Italians halt at Sidi BarraniOn 16 September 1940 the Italians took Sidi Barrani, some 95 km from the border, and stopped, building a chain of camps to wait for a road and water.
- 22
- The attack on convoy HX 72On 20–22 September 1940 the U-boats of Kretschmer, Prien and Schepke sank 11 ships of convoy HX 72 from Halifax without losing a single boat.
- Japan enters French IndochinaOn 22 September 1940 Vichy France agreed to Japanese troops in Tonkin. Hours later the Japanese 5th Division attacked across the border near Lạng Sơn.
- 24
- A major RAF raid on BerlinOn the night of 23/24 September 1940 over a hundred British bombers attacked Berlin for hours. It was the largest raid yet on the capital of the Reich.
- Vichy reprisal raids on GibraltarOn 24 and 25 September 1940 Vichy aircraft bombed Gibraltar twice in reprisal for Dakar. The trawler Stella Sirius was sunk and 14 sailors were killed.
October
- 04
- The Brenner Pass meeting (October 1940)On 4 October 1940 Hitler and Mussolini met again at the Brenner. They discussed Spain, France and a bloc against Britain, but not troops for Romania.
- The Battle of HuangqiaoOn 4 October 1940 in central Jiangsu, Han Deqin's Kuomintang troops attacked the communist New Fourth Army at Huangqiao. Within three days they were routed.
- 12
- The invasion of Britain postponed until springOn 12 October 1940 the OKW announced Hitler's decision to postpone the landing in England until spring 1941. Preparations were now merely a means of pressure.
- The Battle of Cape PasseroOn the night of 11–12 October 1940 the cruiser HMS Ajax beat off an attack by Italian torpedo boats and destroyers east of Malta. The Italians lost three ships.
- 19
- The Italian air raid on BahrainOn the night of 18–19 October 1940 four Italian SM.82s from Rhodes bombed the refinery in Bahrain and Saudi Dhahran, then landed in Eritrea.
- The slaughter of convoys SC 7 and HX 79On 16–20 October 1940 U-boats sank 20 of the 35 ships of slow convoy SC 7 and 12 of the 49 ships of convoy HX 79 without losing a single boat.
- 24
- Key eventThe meeting at MontoireOn 24 October 1940 Pétain met Hitler at Montoire station. The handshake and his words on the “path of collaboration” opened Vichy’s co-operation with the Reich.
- The Corpo Aereo Italiano over EnglandOn the night of 24–25 October 1940 Italian bombers attacked England for the first time. The raid on Harwich achieved nothing and cost several aircraft.
November
- 05
- Roosevelt elected to a third termOn 5 November 1940 Roosevelt became the first US president to win a third term, beating Willkie by 449 electoral votes to 82. London hoped for more help.
- The sinking of HMS Jervis BayOn 5 November 1940 the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay took on the Admiral Scheer to shield convoy HX 84. She sank, but most of the ships escaped.
- 12
- Key eventMolotov in BerlinOn 12–14 November 1940 Molotov discussed dividing the world with Hitler and Ribbentrop in Berlin. He pressed on Finland, Bulgaria and the Straits, in vain.
- The Free French take GabonThe surrender of Port-Gentil on 12 November 1940 ended the Gabon campaign. The Free French had taken Vichy's last colony in French Equatorial Africa.
- 14
- Key eventThe Coventry BlitzOn the night of 14–15 November 1940 hundreds of German bombers razed the centre of Coventry and St Michael's Cathedral. Some 568 people were killed.
- The Greek counter-offensiveOn 14 November 1940 the Greek army launched a counter-offensive at Korçë and in Epirus. Within ten days it drove the Italians out of Greece and entered Albania.
December
- 08
- Franco refuses to enter the warOn 7 December 1940 Franco told Canaris that Spain could not enter the war on 10 January. Hitler called off Operation Felix, the attack on Gibraltar.
- The Greeks take GjirokastërOn 8 December 1940 the Greeks entered Gjirokastër, the main town of southern Albania, having taken Delvinë and the port of Sarandë as the Italians fell back.
- 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.
- The British enter LibyaOn 16 December 1940 the Italians gave up Sollum, Fort Capuzzo and Sidi Omar and shut themselves in Bardia. The British entered Libya and began to encircle it.