October 1940

October

• 02

  • Key eventThe creation of the Warsaw GhettoOn 2 October 1940 Governor Ludwig Fischer ordered a “Jewish district” to be set up in Warsaw. By mid-November some 250,000 people had been forced to move.
• 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.
• 07

  • The German military mission in RomaniaIn October 1940 a German military mission arrived in Romania. Officially it was to train the army; in fact it guarded Ploiești oil and prepared war on the USSR.
• 09

  • Churchill becomes leader of the Conservative PartyOn 9 October 1940 the Conservatives elected Churchill party leader after the gravely ill Chamberlain, who had left the government on 3 October, stood down.
• 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.
• 14

  • The Balham station disasterOn 14 October 1940 a German bomb broke into the tunnel of Balham Tube station in London. Water and mud flooded the shelter, killing 64 to 68 people.
• 15

  • Mussolini decides to attack GreeceOn 15 October 1940 at the Palazzo Venezia Mussolini agreed a plan to invade Greece with his commanders, setting 26 October as the date despite their fears.
• 16

  • Draft registration in the United StatesOn 16 October 1940 more than 16 million American men aged 21–35 registered for the draft. That month the US also reorganised army command at home.
• 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.
• 23

  • The meeting at HendayeOn 23 October 1940 Hitler and Franco discussed Spain’s entry into the war at Hendaye. Hitler did not promise him France’s colonies; a vague protocol followed.
• 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.
• 25

  • RAF raids on Berlin and HamburgIn late October 1940 RAF bombers raided Berlin and Hamburg by night. On 25 October Charles Portal, an advocate of bombing cities, became Chief of the Air Staff.
• 28

  • Key eventItaly attacks GreeceAt 3 a.m. on 28 October 1940 Metaxas rejected the Italian ultimatum. At dawn Mussolini’s troops advanced from Albania into Greece.
• 30

  • Roosevelt in Boston: “Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars”On 30 October 1940 Roosevelt promised in Boston that Americans’ sons would not go to foreign wars. The day before, the first draft number had been drawn – 158.