August 1940

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.
• 02

  • De Gaulle sentenced to deathOn 2 August 1940 a military court at Clermont-Ferrand sentenced General de Gaulle to death in absentia for treason, a month after Toulouse gave him four years.
• 03

  • Key eventThe USSR annexes the Baltic statesOn 1–7 August 1940 the Supreme Soviet incorporated Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as union republics and formed the Moldavian SSR from land taken from Romania.
• 04

  • The Italians invade British SomalilandOn 3–4 August 1940 General Guglielmo Nasi's columns crossed from Ethiopia into British Somaliland, taking Zeila, Hargeisa and Odweina within days.
• 11

  • The Battle of Tug ArganOn 11–15 August 1940 General De Simone's Italians stormed the British-held hills in the Tug Argan pass. After four days the defenders were ordered to withdraw.
• 13

  • Key eventAdlertagOn 13 August 1940, “Eagle Day”, the Luftwaffe struck at RAF airfields. Muddled orders and poor intelligence meant Fighter Command was barely touched.
• 14

  • The Tizard MissionOn 14 August 1940 Henry Tizard flew across the ocean. His mission gave neutral America British secrets, including the cavity magnetron behind new radars.
• 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.
• 16

  • The draft destroyers-for-bases dealOn 16 August 1940 Roosevelt announced US talks with Britain on bases. Behind the scenes, a swap of 50 old destroyers for leased bases hung in the balance.
• 17

  • The German blockade of the British IslesOn 17 August 1940 Germany declared a total blockade of the British Isles; any ship in the zone around Britain could be sunk. Italy followed on 20 August.
• 18

  • The Hardest DayOn 18 August 1940 the Luftwaffe struck Kenley, Biggin Hill and airfields on the Sussex and Hampshire coast. Both sides had their heaviest losses of the battle.
• 19

  • The Italians take BerberaOn 19 August 1940 the Italians entered abandoned Berbera. British ships had already carried some 7,000 soldiers and civilians to Aden.
• 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.
• 22

  • German guns shell DoverOn 22 August 1940 guns near Cap Gris-Nez shelled a British convoy in the Strait of Dover, and Dover itself that evening. A four-year artillery war began.
• 25

  • Key eventThe first RAF raid on BerlinAfter bombs hit the City of London on the night of 24/25 August 1940, Churchill ordered a strike on Berlin. The raid of 25/26 August did little damage.
• 27

  • The Free French take over CameroonOn 27 August 1940 a handful of Leclerc’s men took Douala without a fight, and Yaoundé a day later. In three days nearly all Equatorial Africa joined de Gaulle.
• 30

  • Key eventThe Second Vienna AwardOn 30 August 1940 Ribbentrop and Ciano announced at the Belvedere in Vienna an award that took northern Transylvania from Romania and gave it to Hungary.
• 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.