November 1940

November

• 01

  • Turkey and the Greco-Italian WarOn 1 November 1940 İnönü assured parliament that Turkey would stay out of the war and was studying the situation after Italy’s attack on Greece with Britain.
• 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.
• 07

  • Ireland refuses the use of its portsOn 7 November 1940 Éamon de Valera told the Dáil that Ireland would neither hand over nor lease its ports to Britain while it remained neutral.
• 08

  • The Battle of the KalamasFrom 2 to 8 November 1940 the Italians assaulted the Greek positions at Kalpaki and on the Kalamas. On 8 November they halted and went over to the defensive.
• 09

  • The death of Neville ChamberlainOn 9 November 1940 Neville Chamberlain died of cancer at Heckfield. Churchill paid tribute to him in the Commons; the quarrel over appeasement outlived him.
• 11

  • Key eventThe attack on TarantoOn the night of 11–12 November 1940 twenty-one Swordfish from the carrier Illustrious torpedoed three Italian battleships at Taranto.
• 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.
• 13

  • The Battle of PindusOn 13 November 1940 the Greeks cleared the Pindus. The Julia Alpine Division, which took Vovousa on 2 November, was encircled and repulsed with heavy losses.
• 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.
• 15

  • The Warsaw Ghetto is sealedOn the night of 15–16 November 1940 the Germans sealed the Warsaw Ghetto. Some 400,000 Jews were walled off; hunger and smuggling became daily life.
• 16

  • British aid to GreeceOn 16 November 1940 a convoy with some 4,000 airmen and soldiers reached Piraeus. Churchill sent RAF units from Egypt despite Wavell’s and Longmore’s fears.
• 20

  • Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Tripartite PactBetween 20 and 24 November 1940 Hungary, Romania and Slovakia joined the Tripartite Pact. Hitler bound to the Axis the states he needed for war in the east.
• 21

  • Belgium declares war on ItalyIn November 1940 Pierlot’s government in London declared Belgium at war with Italy. The cause was Italian bombers operating from Belgian airfields.
• 22

  • The Greeks take KorçëOn 22 November 1940 the Greek 9th Division entered Korçë in Albania – the first sizeable town taken from the Axis powers since the war began.
• 25

  • Soviet terms for joining the Tripartite PactOn 25 November 1940 Molotov gave Germany Soviet terms for joining the pact: Finland, Bulgaria, the Straits, the Persian Gulf. Berlin never replied.
• 29

  • Raids on Liverpool and SouthamptonOn the night of 28–29 November 1940 a parachute mine killed 166 people in a shelter on Durning Road in Liverpool. A day later Southampton was burning.