WWs

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Archduke Francis Ferdinand heir to the Austria-Hungary throne and his wife are 28/06/1914 assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist in Sarejevo. 05/07/1914Kaiser William II promises German support for Austria against Serbia. 28/07/1914Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia and Russia. 29/07/1914Russia begins to mobilise her armed forces. Austria-Hungarian troops invade Serbia. 01/08/1914Official outbreak of World War I. Germany declares war on Russia. 02/08/1914Germany invades Luxembourg. 03/08/1914Germany declares war on France. Germany declares war on neutral Belgium and invades in a right flanking move designed to defeat France quickly. This violates a treaty signed by Prussua 04/08/1914respecting Belgian neutrality. As a result of this invasion, Britain declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. Canada follows suit and joins the war. U.S President Woodrow Wilson declares policy of American neutrality. The British Expeditionary Force lands in France to assist the French and Belgians in 07/08/1914 stopping the German offensive. 14/08/1914The Battle of the Frontiers begins. 17/08/1914Russia invades East Prussia. U.S President Wilson appeals for neutrality. The Canadian Parliament authorises the 19/08/1914raising of an expeditionary force to send overseas and constructs Valcartier Camp to give basic training to new recruits. 27,000 French soldiers are killed on this single day in an offensive thrust to the east 22/08/1914 of Paris, towards the German borders. The BEF started to retreat from Mons. Austria-Hungary launches an invasion of 23/08/1914Russian Poland. Japan declares war on Germany and attacks the German colony of Tsingtau in China. 26/08/1914Battle of Tannenberg begins. The Battle of Tannenberg ends in total Russian defeat. This becomes Germany's 30/08/1914 greatest victory of the war inflicting over 250,000 casualties on the Russians. Battle of Togoland. The German Cruiser Goeben and Breslau are pursued by British Aug 1914 warships into Turkish waters. 05/09/1914First Battle of the Marne begins. 09/09/1914First Battle of the Masurian Lakes begins. First Battle of the Marne ends in a French Victory, thus halting the German advance 10/09/1914 towards Paris, which results in stalemate. Russia loses the First Battle of Masurian Lakes. First Battle of Aisne begins. Troops 14/09/1914 starts to construct trenches across the entire length of the western front. 17/09/1914Austro-German forces launch an attack into western Poland Sep 1914 Battle of Lemberg begins.
First Battle of Ypres begins. The Canadian Expeditionary Force of 32,000 men 14/10/1914 lands at Plymouth, England, to prepare for fighting at the Front. 29/10/1914Turkey enters the war on the side of the Central Powers. 22/11/1914First Battle of Ypres ends. Nov 1914 Battle of Lodz begins. 08/12/1914Battle of the Falkland Islands between British and German Naval units. 21/12/1914First German air raid on Britain. 25/12/1914An unofficial Christmas truce is declared by soldiers along the Western Front.
01/01/1915Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne begins. 15/01/1915Japan's makes 21 demands on China. 19/01/1915First German zeppelin air raid on England. Germany declares a submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any ship approaching 04/02/1915 England is considered a legitimate target. 07/02/1915Second Battle of Masurian Lakes begins. 19/02/1915British naval units bombard Turkish forts in the Dardenelles. Russians lose the Second Battle of Masurian Lakes, suffering heavy loses in the 21/02/1915 process. American citizen die as the British liner Falaba, becomes the first passenger ship to 01/03/1915be sunk by U-boats. Captain George Van Horn Moseley of U.S. War College Divison suggests a plan for universal military training to the Chief of Staff. 11/03/1915Britain announces a blockade of all German ports. 30/03/1915Allied offensive in Artois and Champagne ends. Mar 1915 Battle of Neuve-Chapelle. The Second Battle of Ypres begins. Poison gas is used for the first time by Germans 22/04/1915 in an attack on the Canadian sector. 23/04/1915Allied forces make landings an Gallipoli, Turkey. 26/04/1915France, Russia, Italy and Britain conclude secret Treaty of London. The Germans, focusing on Eastern Front, launch an offensive against the Russians Apr 1915 breaking through Gorlice-Tarnow in Poland. 02/05/1915Austro-German offensive begins into Russian Poland. 05/05/1915Second Battle of Ypres ends.
The British liner Lusitania is sunk by a U-Boat with the loss of 1,198 civilians, 07/05/1915 including 128 American lives, creating a US-German diplomatic crisis. 09/05/1915Second Battle of Artois begins. Ignoring treaty agreements with the Central Powers, Italy declares war on Austria23/05/1915 Hungary. British Prime Minister Asquith reorganises his Liberal government as a coalition of 25/05/1915 the parties. The Italians launch an unsuccessful attack against Austro-Hungary at what will be 29/06/1915 called the 1st Battle of Isonzo. There will be 12 in total. President Wilson sends notes to Secretary of War Garrison and Secretary of Navy 21/07/1915 Daniels directing them to draft a defense program. 04/08/1915German troops capture Warsaw. 19/08/1915Two Americans die in sinking of ship Arabic, off the coast Ireland by a U-boat. The Washington Post carries story that General Staff are planning to send a force of 21/08/1915 1 million soldiers overseas. Another U.S paper, this time the Baltimore Sun carries the story that General Staff is planning to send a million soldiers overseas. The War College Division denies the allegations in Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. The American General Staff, in 24/08/1915 response to request from Secretary of War Lindley M. Garrison, devotes much of the year to preparing the "Statement of a Proper Military Policy for the United States". 30/08/1915Responding to American demands, Germany stops sinking ships without warning. The Germans end their offensive against the Russians having forced Russia out of 31/08/1915much of Poland. The Gallipoli debacle ends, with the Turkish siege of the remaining Allied forces. 05/09/1915Tsar Nicholas takes commands of Russian armies. British forces use gas in battle near Loos, but shifting winds cause 60,000 British 15/09/1915 casualties. 22/09/1915The Second Battle of Champagne begins. Sep 1915 Battles of Artois starts. Battle of Loos starts. 03/10/1915Anglo-French force lands at Salonika in Greece. Battles of Artois & Champagne ends. Battle of Loos ends. Austro-GermanOct 1915 Bulgarian forces invade Serbia, expelling the Serbian army from the country 04/11/1915Henry Ford's peace ship, Oskar II, begins its voyage to Europe.
General Sir Douglas Haig takes Field Marshal Sir John French's position as 15/12/1915Commander-in Chief of the British Forces in France. This also gave him control of the Canadian Forces in Europe. 28/12/1915The Allies begin the withdrawal of troops from Gallipoli. President Wilson launches a nationwide whistle-stop campaign to generate support 27/01/1916 for Preparedness and the Continental Army with three speeches in New York. The U.S War College Division warns its civilian employees "to engage in no 31/01/1916 discussion whatever concerning the progress of the European War". 03/02/1916President Wilson delivers his final speech of Preparedness in Saint Louis. 10/02/1916British conscription law goes into effect. The Battle of Verdun begins as the Germans launch a massive attack against Verdun 21/02/1916 in what will become the longest battle of the war. Acting Secretary of War Hugh L. Scott asks United States War College Division if 24/02/1916 any plans exist in the event "of a complete rupture" with Germany. 09/03/1916Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico. 15/03/1916Pershing starts pursuit of Villa into Mexico. 24/03/1916The French passenger ship, Sussex is torpedoed. The American naval and military attaches in Paris and London draft a plan for 04/04/1916mobilizing US shipping to carry an American army to Europe, but their plan is ignored. President Wilson, publicly calls for the German's to stop their submarine policy of 19/04/1916 sinking all ships in enemy waters without warning. 24/04/1916The Easter rebellion starts in Ireland. Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, asks for 27/04/1916 American military participation in Europe. 29/04/1916British forces surrender to Turkish forces at Kut in Mesopotamia. Apr 1916 British forces in Mesopotamia begin advance on Baghdad. 04/05/1916Germany renounces submarine policy. 15/05/1916Canadians troops capture Vimy Ridge. 19/05/1916Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement. 31/05/1916Battle of Jutland begins between British and German naval forces. May 1916 The Italians begin the Trentino Offensive. Having been the biggest naval battle in history, the battle of Jutland ends without a 01/06/1916 clear victor.
The National Defense Act authorizes a five-year expansion of US Army, but at the 03/06/1916 same time drastically limits size and authority of US War Department General Staff. 04/06/1916The Russians launch their Brusilov Offensive against Austro-Hungary in Carpathia. With British support (led by T.E. Lawrence), Hussein, grand sherif of Mecca, leads 05/06/1916 an Arab revolt against the Turks in the Hejaz. Jun 1916 Trentino Offensive ends. Start of the Battle of the Somme, with the British military suffering its greatest 01/07/1916 number of casualties in a single day, 60,000. 29/07/1916US marines land in Haiti. The Black Tom Island munitions plant is destroyed by an explosion. It is suspected 30/07/1916 that it was German sabotage. Aug 1916 Romania enters the war on the Allies side. 31/08/1916Germany suspends U-boat attacks. 15/09/1916Tanks introduced for the first time on the Somme battlefield by the British. Russia's Brusilov offensive in Carpathia comes to an end, having nearly knocked 20/09/1916 Austria-Hungary out of the war. 15/10/1916Germany resumes U-boat attacks under search and destroy rules. Woodrow Wilson is re-elected in the USA with a campaign slogan of "He kept us 07/11/1916 out of the war". 18/11/1916Battle of the Somme ends. 28/11/1916The First German airplane (as opposed to zeppelin) air-raid is conducted on Britain 29/11/1916US occupation of Santa Domingo proclaimed. 07/12/1916David Lloyd George replaces Asquith as British Prime Minister. 12/12/1916Germany issues peace note suggesting a compromise peace. German attack on Verdun ends, with the French holding their positions, with great 18/12/1916losses to both sides. US President Woodrow Wilson requests statements of war objectives from warring nations in peace note. Rasputin the self-avowed holy man and confidant to the Russian Tsarina, is 31/12/1916 murdered by relatives of the Tsar.
09/01/1917German leaders decide to launch unrestricted U-boat warfare. Allies state peace objectives in response to US President Woodrow Wilson's 10/01/1917 December 1916 peace note.
Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmermann's telegram to Mexico urging her entry into 19/01/1917 war against the United States is discovered and translated by the British. 22/01/1917"Peace without Victory." speech is made by President Wilson. Germany announces that it will resume unrestricted U-boat warfare from the 1st 31/01/1917 February. 01/02/1917Germany resumes unrestricted U-boat warfare. 03/02/1917US severs diplomatic ties with Germany. The British General Staff estimates that no more than 250,000 American soldiers 05/02/1917 could be in Europe even after a year. The Chief of British Imperial General Staff Sir William Roberston expresses grave 13/02/1917 doubts about American fighting capabilities. 23/02/1917German forces begin withdrawal to strong positions on the Hindenburg Line. The Sinking of the Laconia. The Zimmermann Telegram is passed to the US by 24/02/1917Britain, detailing alleged German proposal of an alliance with Mexico against the US. US President Woodrow Wilson requests permission from Congress to arm US 26/02/1917 merchantmen. Zimmermann Telegram is released to press by US State Department. The Armed 01/03/1917 Ship Bill is passed by Congress. The US Senate adjourns without passing Armed Ship Bill, after a successful 04/03/1917 filibuster. 11/03/1917British troops capture Baghdad. US President Woodrow Wilson announces arming of US merchantmen by executive 12/03/1917 order after failing to win approval. 15/03/1917Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates as a consequence of Russian Revolution. US President Woodrow Wilson's war cabinet votes unanimously in favour of 20/03/1917 declaring war on Germany. War College Division issues a report: Calling for a large force of between 500,000 and 1,000,000, and optimistically estimates that at least ten months would be required to ship a force of 500,000 to Europe once it was raised and trained, putting the earliest effects of US involvement in mid- to late-1918. The War College 29/03/1917 Division openly plans to send US forces overseas, but argues against offensives through Macedonia or Holland and repeats its opposition to sending an untrained American army overseas. Wilson publicly calls for a national army to be "raised and maintained exclusively by selective draft". President Woodrow Wilson delivers war address to Congress at 8:32 pm and asks 02/04/1917 the House of Representatives to declare war on Germany. 05/04/1917German forces finish their withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. United States comes out of neutrality and declares war on Germany, thus entering 06/04/1917 the First World War. 09/04/1917The Nivelle Offensive begins.
Sir William Robertson advocates to Haig the dispatch of immediate American 10/04/1917expeditionary force "to get some Americans killed and so get the country to take a real interest in the war". Canadian troops take Vimy Ridge and the surrounding area in one of Canada's finest 13/04/1917 battles of the war. 16/04/1917Chemin des Dames Offensive begins. Lenin arrives in Russia. The Nivelle Offensive, which includes the Second Battle of Aisne and the Third 20/04/1917 Battle of Champagne ends in French Failure. Chemin des Dames Offensive ends in disastrous failure for the French having 29/04/1917advanced only 500 yards at the cost of 250,000 casualties. A month long series of mutinies break out amongst the French army. The German submarine campaign exacts its heaviest damage of war sinking 881,027 Apr 1917 gross tons, 500,000 of which are British. 12/05/1917The 10th battle of Isonzo begins. 20/05/1917A month of sporadic mutinies in the French army finally fizzle out. 28/05/1917U.S. Brigadier General Pershing leaves New York for France. 07/06/1917The British explode 19 large mines under the Messines Ridge. 15/06/1917U.S. Espionage Act is passed. The first U.S. troops begin arriving in France. These are men of the U.S. 1st 26/06/1917 Division. 27/06/1917Greece enters the war on the side of the Allies. Jun 1917 Battle of Messines. 02/07/1917U.S. Brigadier General Pershing makes his first request for army of 1,000,000 men. 06/07/1917Aquaba captured by Arabs led by T.E.Lawrence. U.S. Brigadier General Pershing Pershing revises his army request figures upwards 11/07/1917 to 3,000,000 men. 16/07/1917Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) begins. 31/07/1917Another major British offensive is launched at Ypres. 06/08/1917Aleksander Fyodorovich Kerensky appointed Prime Minister of Russia. German troops break through the northernmost end of the Russian front during the 01/09/1917 Riga offensive. The 12th battle of Isonzo ends in Italian failure. Austria-German forces 24/10/1917 breakthrough at Caporetto on Italian front.
The Bolshevik overthrow the Kerensky's government and install of a Communist 07/11/1917 one under Lenin. 10/11/1917British reach Passchendaele. Third Battle of Ypres ends. 20/11/1917Battle of Cambrai begins with a surprise tank attack by the British. German-Russian armistice is signed by the new Russian government, represented by 03/12/1917 Leon Trotsky. 07/12/1917The United States declares war on Austro-Hungary. 09/12/1917Jerusalem captured from the Turks by the British. 22/12/1917Russia opens separate peace negotiations with Germany at Brest-Litovsk.
08/01/1918President Woodrow Wilson delivers his fourteen points speech to the U.S. Congress. 11/02/1918The U.S. President Woodrow Wilson makes "Four Principles" speech to Congress. A separate peace treaty is signed by Soviet Russia and the Central Powers 03/03/1918 (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) at Brest-Litovsk. 15/03/1918Soviets ratify the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. The Ludendorff Offensive begins with Germany launching its Spring push with the 21/03/1918Battle of Picardy against the British. This will eventually amount to five major offensives against Allied forces. Doullens Agreement gives General Ferdinand Foch "co-ordinating authority" over 26/03/1918 the Western Front. Germany launches second Spring offensive, the Battle of the Lys, in the British 09/04/1918 sector of Armentieres. 14/04/1918Foch appointed Commander-in-Chief of Allied forces on Western Front. Apr 1918 Zeebruggge Raid. 16/05/1918Espionage Act is passed. 25/05/1918German U-boats appear in US waters for first time. Third German Spring offensive, Third Battle of the Aisne, begins in French sector 27/05/1918 along Chemin des Dames. U.S. forces (28th Regiment of 1st Division) are victorious in their first major action, 28/05/1918 Battle of Cantigny. 06/06/1918US 3rd Division captures Bouresches and southern part of Belleau Wood. The Germans launch the fourth Spring offensive, Battle of the Matz, in French 09/06/1918 sector between Noyan and Montdider.
15/06/1918The Italians prevail against Austro-Hungarian forces at the Battle of Piave. 06/07/1918US President Woodrow Wilson agrees to US intervention in Siberia. The final phase of great German Spring push, the Second Battle of the Marne, 15/07/1918 begins. This was to be the last major German offensive on the Western Front. 16/07/1918Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, and children, are murdered by the Bolsheviks. 17/07/1918Archangel expedition A French led counterattack smashes into weakened German forces on the Marne, 18/07/1918halting the German forward momentum during the Second Battle of the Marne and seizing the initiative for the Allies on the Western Front. Jul 1918 The Italian Piave Offensive ends. 03/08/1918Allied intervention begins at Vladivostok in Siberia. Haig directs the start of a successful Amiens offensive, forcing all German troops 08/08/1918back to the Hindenburg Line. Ludendorff calls it a "black day" for the German Army. American forces attack the Germans as they are in the process of retreating from the St.-Mihiel salient. This was part of a plan designed by General Pershing in which 12/09/1918 the Americans would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city of Metz. The British begin an offensive against Turkish forces in Palestine, the Battle of 19/09/1918 Megiddo. The Battle of the Vardar is fought against the Bugarians by Serb, Czech, Italian, 26/09/1918French and British forces. The Meuse-Argonne offensive begins. this wll be the final Franco-American offensive of the war. 27/09/1918Haig's forces storm the Hindenburg Line, breaking through at several points. 28/09/1918Belgian forces launch an offensive at Ypres. 29/09/1918Bulgaria concludes armistice negotiations with the Allies. Germany and Austria send peace notes to US President Woodrow Wilson requesting 03/10/1918 an armistice. The British begin their advance to the Sambre and Schledt rivers, taking many 17/10/1918 German prisoners. 21/10/1918Germany ceases unrestricted submarine warfare. 27/10/1918Ludendorff resigns. 30/10/1918Turkey concludes an armistice with the Allies. The German fleet mutinies at Kiel. Trieste falls to the Allies as Austro-Hungary 03/11/1918 concludes an armistice. 05/11/1918Allies accept the fourteen points. 07/11/1918Germany begins negotiations for an armistice with the Allies in Ferdinand Foch's
railway carriage headquarters at Compiegne. 09/11/1918Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates. 10/11/1918German republic founded as Kaiser Wilhelm II flees to Holland. Armistice day as fighting ceases at 11am - World War I ends. Central Powers are 11/11/1918 forced to annul the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.
10/01/1919Communists begin a revolt in Berlin. The revolt by Communists in Berlin is crushed. German socialist rebels Karl 15/01/1919 Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg are murdered. 18/01/1919Start of peace negotiations in Paris. 25/01/1919Peace conference accepts principle of a League of Nations. 06/02/1919German National Assembly meets in Weimar. 14/02/1919Draft covenant of League of Nations completed. 24/02/1919President Wilson arrives at Boston aboard the George Washington 28/02/1919The campaign against the League of Nations starts in the US. Feb 1919 The Allies secretly agree to military intervention in the Russian Civil War. 04/03/1919Founding of Comintern (Third International) at Moscow. 13/03/1919Admiral Kolchak begins his offensive against Bolsheviks in Russian Civil War. 14/03/1919Wilson returns to Paris after a month's absence. 03/04/1919Wilson becomes sick with influenza. 07/04/1919The Allies evacuate Odessa. Wilson appeals directly to the Italians in an effort to gain their support for his views 23/04/1919 on the peace settlement. 24/04/1919The Italian Premier Orlando walks out of peace conference over the Fiume issue. 28/04/1919The League of Nations is founded. 06/05/1919Peace conference disposes of German colonies. 07/05/1919Treaty of Versailles is drafted and submitted to the German delegation. The German High Seas Fleet is scuttled at Scapa Flow after Rear Admiral Ludvig von Reuter, the officer in command of the 74 interned German Navy ships gives the 21/06/1919 order, in an attempt to prevent them from from falling into British hands. Nine German sailors are shot dead by the british whilst attempting to scuttle their ships. Five years after the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian Nationalist in Sarejevo, the Treaty of Versailles is signed between the Allies 28/06/1919 and Germany in Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, officially ending the Great War. The treaty was very harsh on Germany forcing her to accept full responsibility for the the
war and pay reparations, give up territories and reduce the army size to just 100,000 men. 19/07/1919The Cenotaph is unveiled in London.
10/09/1919The peace Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye is signed between the Allies and Austria. President Woodrow Wilson's campaign for the ratification of the Treaty of 25/09/1919Versailles and the League of Nations ends as he collapses during whistle-stop tour of the country. Prelude to War! The terms of the Treaty of Versailles imposed upon Germany at the end World War I sowed the seeds of World War 2 by stripping Germany of territory and requiring her to pay huge reparations to the victorious powers. The demands in Germany for vengeance were given added stimulus when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in January 1933. By early 1939 Germany had thrown off the shackles of the Versailles treaty, remilitarised the Rhineland introduced conscription, annexed Austria and occupied Czechoslovakia. The seeds of war were almost ripe! 30/01/1933Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler tells his top generals of his determination to 03/02/1933 conquer land, to the east. German Reichstag burns down. Four Communists are tried and executed for setting 27/02/1933 the fire. 12/03/1933First Concentration Camp opened at Oranienburg outside Berlin. 13/03/1933Joseph Goebbels is made Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. 23/03/1933Enabling Act passed by the Reichstag allowing Hitler to assume dictatorial power. 01/04/1933Nazis Boycott of Jewish owned shops. 10/05/1933Nazis burn books in Germany. 14/07/1933Nazi party declared official party of Germany; all other parties banned. 14/10/1933Germany withdraws from the Disarmament Conference at Geneva, Switzerland. 21/10/1933German Chancellor Adolf Hitler withdraws Germany from the League of Nations. 26/01/1934Germany and Poland sign a ten-year non-aggression pact. 01/03/1934Henry Pu-yi was crowned emperor of Manchukuo by the Japanese. The 1932 non-aggression pact betwen the Soviet Union and Poland is extended to 05/05/1934 the end of 1945. Hitler orders the elimination of much of the political and military opposition within 30/06/1934Germany, including SA Chief Ernst Rohm in what is known as the "Night of the Long Knives". More than a 1,000 people are assassinated and others are removed
from positions of influence within the SA and Army. 25/07/1934Nazis murder Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss. With the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler assumes 02/08/1934the office of Reich President as well. The Wehrmacht oath of allegiance is changed to be directly to Adolf Hitler. Hitler combines the offices of president and chancellor and assumes the title of 19/08/1934 Fhrer. 19/09/1934The Soviet Union joins the League of Nations. The Foreign Minister of France, Barthou and King Alexander of Yugoslavia are 09/10/1934 killed by Croatian terrorists in Marseille, France. 13/01/1935In a plebiscite, the Saar region decides to unite with Germany. Adolf Hitler denounces the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty. He announces that Germany will introduce compulsory military service, thereby 16/03/1935creating an army of 36 divisions. Germany also announces the existence of the Luftwaffe, which directly infringes upon the Treaty of Versailles, which forbids Germany to have an airforce. France and the Soviet Union conclude negotiations for a five-year Treaty of Mutual 02/05/1935 Assistance, although the treaty is never ratified by France. 16/05/1935Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union sign a five-year Treaty of Mutual Assistance. 25/05/1935Adolf Hitler agrees to not intevene in Austria or add Austria to the German Reich. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement is signed, limiting the German surface fleet to 18/06/193535 percent of British tonnage, and submarine fleet to 45 percent. The agreement signals Britain's unwillingness to defend the Versailles settlement. Nuremberg race laws promulgated, which relegates Jews to a separate second-class 15/09/1935 status in Germany, prohibits intermarriage and sexual relations with Germans. The Italians, wanting to be a great power in and around the Mediterranean, invade 03/10/1935Abyssinia (Ethiopia). In direct response the League of Nations decides to impose economic sanctions against Italy. 10/02/1936The Gestapo is placed above German Law. 12/02/1936Adolf Hitler decides the time is right for Germany to re-occupy the Rhineland. 27/02/1936The French chamber ratifies the Franco-Soviet pact. Hitler issues final orders for troops to re-occupy their former garrison posts in 02/03/1936 Rhineland towns. If French forces take action, the troops are instructed to withdraw. Hitler denounces the Rhineland provisions of Treaty of Versailles and Locarno Treaty. German troops march in to re-occupy the Rhineland. German representatives 07/03/1936inform foreign ministers and ambassadors of the German re-occupation of the Rhineland, and outline a peace plan including 25-year non-aggression pacts for all countries bordering on Germany. 09/05/1936Italian campaign in Ethiopia ends and King Haile Selassie I flees the country. 17/07/1936Spanish Civil War breaks out; Hitler and Mussolini send aid to Franco. 01/08/1936The Olympic games begin in Berlin. 01/10/1936Franco becomes dictator of Spain and is declared Head of State. 25/10/1936Rome-Berlin "Axis" alliance formed.
Germany signs an Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan, which commits them to 23/11/1936 cooperate in defense against international Communism. 19/01/1937Japan withdraws from Washington Conference Treaty limiting the size of its navy. The Polish Military Attach in Paris, France, agrees to cooperate with Belgian 01/05/1937 General Staff in exchanging information concerning the German Army. 28/05/1937Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister of England. 11/06/1937Josef Stalin begins purge of Red Army officer corps. Canada's Prime Minister William King meets with German chancellor Adolf Hitler 29/06/1937 in Berlin. A conflict on the Marco-Polo bridge in Peking leads to full-scale war between China 07/07/1937 and Japan The German Government pledges to respect the neutrality and territorial integrity of 13/10/1937 Belgium. During the Hossbach Conference, Adolf Hitler announces to five of his chief 05/11/1937subordinates his plans for an expansion of Germany over the next five years, in particular, into Austria and Czechoslovakia. 06/11/1937Italy signs the Anti-Cominterm Pact, joining Germany and Japan. The German General Staff's strategy plan, Plan Green, is completed, anticipating an 21/12/1937 aggressive war with Czechoslovakia. Hitler announces a reorganization of the army, abolishing the post of war minister, 04/02/1938appointing General Wilhelm Keitel as chief of the armed forces high command (OKW). Austrian Chancellor Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg meets with Adolf Hitler in 11/02/1938Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Adolf Hitler demands that Austria become a protectorate of Germany, governed by him. Schuschnigg signs in agreement. Adolf Hitler makes a speech in which he demands self-determination for Germans 20/02/1938 of Austria and Czechoslovakia. Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg calls for a public vote for the 13th 09/03/1938 March, to decide if the country should remain independent, or join Germany. 10/03/1938Hitler orders a plan for the military occupation of Austria. Hitler issues Directive No. 1 for the occupation of Austria and Directive No. 2 for 11/03/1938the bloodless invasion of Austria. Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg resigns. Germany announces "Anschluss" (Union) with Austria, as German forces cross the 12/03/1938 border. Russian Army Commander B.M. Shaposhnikov produces a war plan, proposing a 24/03/1938Red Army offensive or counter-offensive either north or south of the Pripet marshes, with a strong defence in the other sector. 26/04/1938An order is issued that forces all Jews to declare fortunes above 5.000 Reichsmarks. 20/05/1938Czechoslovakia begins to mobilise its armed forces. Swedish Foreign Minister Sandler announces that Sweden reserves the right to 27/05/1938 remain neutral. 30/05/1938Adolf Hitler issues a directive for Fall Grn (Case Green), for the occupation of
Czechoslovakia. Hitler says the Sudeten problem is an internal matter for the German minority in 12/09/1938 Bohemia and the Czecho-Slovak government. After a meeting with Adolf Hitler at Bergchtesgarden in Germany, British Prime 15/09/1938Minister Neville Chamberlain states that Adolf Hitler appears to be "a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word". Winston Churchill warns of the futility of appeasing Adolf Hitler: "The belief that 21/09/1938 security can be obtained by throwing a small state to the wolves is a fatal delusion." Adolf Hitler, quoted on his desire to annex part of Czechoslovakia says: "It is the 26/09/1938last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe, but it is the claim from which I will not recede." A two-day conference begins in Germany, held by Adolf Hitler, Italy's Benito 29/09/1938Mussolini, Britain's Neville Chamberlain, and France's Edouard Daladier, to discuss German demands on Czechoslovakian territory. Shortly after 0100 hours the Munich Agreement, allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia, is signed, by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, French Premier douard Daladier, Italian leader Benito Mussolini, 30/09/1938 and Adolf Hitler. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain says "This is the second time that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time." 01/10/1938German forces occupy the Sudetenland. The Czech Government resigns. Nazi authorities orchestrate a nationwide pogrom against the Jews in Germany and Austria. This follows the murder of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath, by Herschel Grynszpan a French Jew in the German Embassy in Paris. Jewish homes, 09/11/1938 businesses, and synagogues are looted and burned. 91 Jews are killed, and 20,000 are taken to concentration camps. This becomes known as Kristallnacht (Night of broken glass). 10/11/1938Adolf Hitler set the press the task of preparing the german people for war. Laws are announced in Germany that prevent Jews from obtaining driving licences 28/11/1938 or visiting theatres, concerts and cinemas. 24/01/1939SS leader Reinhard Heydrich is ordered by Gring to speed up emigration of Jews. Neville Chamberlain is criticized by many members of the British Parliament for his 27/01/1939 recognition of the Franco government in Spain. In his speech before the Reichstag on the sixth anniversary of his coming to power, Hitler proclaims... 'In the course of my life I have very often been a prophet, and have usually been ridiculed for it. During the time of my struggle for power, it was in the first instance only the Jewish race that received my prophecies with laughter when I said that I would one day take over the leadership of the state and with it that of the whole nation and that I would then among other things settle the Jewish 30/01/1939 problem. Their laughter was uproarious, but I think that for some time now they have been laughing on the other side of their face. Today I will once more be a prophet: if the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevising of the earth and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!'.
The Republican Government crosses the Pyrenees into France, followed by a flood 05/02/1939 of refuges. 14/02/1939The German battleship Bismarck is first launched. 21/02/1939Nazis force Jews to hand over all gold and silver items. The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain recognises Franco's Fascist 27/02/1939 Government in Spain. 10/03/1939Stalin postulates a "kinship" between Nazism and Communism in his radio speech. Czech president Emil Hacha accepts Adolf Hitler making Bohemia-Moravia a 14/03/1939German protectorate. That same day Slovakia and Ruthenia declare their independence from the Czech government in Prague. Adolf Hitler declares "Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist" as German troops occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia, annexing Bohemia and Moravia, making 15/03/1939Slovakia a protectorate and giving Ruthenia to Hungary. This was all in violation of Munich Agreement of the previous year, but only produced weak British and French protests. 17/03/1939Edouard Daladier announces that France intends to increase defence spending. The Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov, suggests to British Ambassador Sir William Seeds that delegates from the UK, Soviet Union, France, 18/03/1939Poland, and Romania should meet to discuss collective action in the event of war with Germany. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tells the Cabinet that continuing negotiations with Adolf Hitler is impossible. British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax replies to Soviet Commissar Maxim Litinov, 19/03/1939 saying they were examining an alternative scheme to a five-country pact. Hitler reiterates his demands against Poland for the return of Danzig and the "Polish 21/03/1939 Corridor" to the Reich. Poland again refuses German demands for the return of Danzig and the "Polish 22/03/1939 Corridor." German troops occupy the city of Memel, which is situated on the border of East 23/03/1939Prussia and Lithuania. Poland warns Germany that any similar attempt to seize Danzig would mean war. Poland partially mobilizes its armed forces. At a Foreign Policy Committee meeting of the British Cabinet, the Ministers decide 27/03/1939to side with Poland, rather than try for a multi-nation agreement involving the Soviet Union. Madrid finally falls to Franco's forces as the Spanish Civil War nears its end. Poland 28/03/1939 again rejects German demands that Danzig be ceded to Germany. France and Britain declare that they will stand by Poland. British Prime Minister 31/03/1939Neville Chamberlain announces in an address to the House of Commons British support of Polish independence. All resistance by Republican forces in Spain ends. 01/04/1939Franco declares the end of the Civil War in Spain. Adolf Hitler issues a directive to the Army High Command to prepare for an attack 03/04/1939on Poland, code named Fall Weiss (Case White), to be ready to implement by 1st September. 06/04/1939Britain and Poland sign a mutual-assistance pact. Mussolini, jealous of Hitlers successes, sends his troops into Albania which had 07/04/1939been under Italian influence since the civil war of 1925, in which Italy had intervened.
13/04/1939Britain and France pledge to support Romania and Greece should they be attacked. President Roosevelt seeks assurances from Germany and Italy that they would not attack another European country. However, such assurances were not forthcoming. 15/04/1939Hitler and Mussolini knew that Roosevelts hands were tied by the 1935-1937 Neutrality Acts, which forbade the USA from giving help to either side in the event of war. 18/04/1939The USSR proposes a ten-year alliance with Britain and France. 19/04/1939Slovakia passes its own anti-Jewish version of the Nuremberg Laws. Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin. He denounces the 1934 ten-year non-aggression pact with Poland and the Anglo28/04/1939German Naval Agreement of June 1935. Hitler calls the Anglo-Polish Agreement an alliance directed exclusively against Germany and demands the return of Danzig to Germany. 30/04/1939Jews lose rights as tenants and are relocated into Jewish houses. Two warships escort Britain's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on a visit to 06/05/1939Canada. Each ship carries about 15 million Pounds Sterling in gold for safekeeping in Canada. 12/05/1939Turkey and Great Britain conclude a security pact. In Halifax harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada, gold from two British warships is 16/05/1939 transferred to trains for delivery to Ottawa. Sweden, Norway and Finland reject Germany's offer of non-aggression pacts, 17/05/1939 although Denmark accepts. At the Reich Chancellory in Berlin, Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop sign a ten-year political and 22/05/1939 military alliance, dubbed the Pact of Steel, which guaranteed support from the other in the event of war. Winston Churchill writes in Collier's magazine: "Unless some change of heart or 03/06/1939change of regime takes place in Germany she will deem it in her interest to make war, and this is more likely to happen in the present year than later on. 04/07/1939German Jews denied the right to hold government jobs. Winston Churchill urges the British government to form a military alliance with the 09/07/1939 Soviet Union. 21/07/1939Adolf Eichmann is appointed director of the Prague Office of Jewish Emigration. Poland gives Britain and France a German Enigma machine each, whose codes they 25/07/1939 have broken. Albert Forster, Gauleiter for Danzig and Nazi leader, addresses a crowd of 100,000 in Danzig: "The hour of liberation is at hand... our Motherland and our Fhrer, 10/08/1939 Adolf Hitler, are determined to support us." A trial blackout is ordered for London, England, in preparation for war. 14/08/1939Poland rejects the USSR's demand for permission for the Red Army to enter Poland. 15/08/1939Indian troops arrive in Egypt to reinforce British forces around the Suez Canal. Captain Bertrand of the French Signals Intelligence gives to a British Secret Service 16/08/1939 Liaison officer a Polish-built copy of the German Enigma coding machine. Germany and Russia sign a trade treaty. 14 German U-boats are sent to patrol the 19/08/1939 North Atlantic Ocean. 20/08/1939Soviet forces under Georgi Zhukov attack the Japanese at Nomanhan in the
Mongolian People's Republic on the border with Manchukuo. The German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee slips through the North Sea, unobserved by the British. Adolf Hitler reads a telegram from Josef Stalin, acknowledging agreement on a non-aggression pact. Hitler responds by banging his 21/08/1939 fist on the supper table, exclaiming "I have them! I have them!". Shortly afterwards Berlin radio announces that Germany and Russia have concluded a treaty of nonaggression. Hitler authorizes the killing "without pity or mercy, all men, women and children of 22/08/1939 Polish descent or language." Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression pact in Moscow. A severe blow to the hopes of Britain and France Polands death-knell, since one of the clauses agreed a split of the country between Germany and the USSR. It also gave Russia a free 23/08/1939 hand in the Baltic states and Bessarabia. Hitler now gives orders for the invasion of Poland to begin on the 26th August 1939. Another German pocket-battleship, this time the Deutschland sails through the North Sea, without the British noticing. The Polish-British Common Defense Pact against Germany is signed. Mussolini complains to Hitler that he is not yet ready for war. The German battleship 25/08/1939 Schleswig-Holstein arrives at Danzig harbour. Hitler cancels his orders for an attack on Poland and issues Order X, for a partial mobilization in preparation for war. Hitler cancels the order for the invasion of Poland on this day. He sets a new date of the 1st September. The Canadian Government issue orders for the callup of the 26/08/1939militia to protect coastal defences and vulnerable industrial points. The Irish Regiment of Canada is called to active duty. Hitler guarantees the neutrality of Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Switzerland. Britain and France try to persuade Poland to negotiate with Germany, but she 27/08/1939refuses. In preparation for war, Poland disperses military aircraft to small camouflaged airfields around Warsaw. 29/08/1939The British Admiralty assumes control of all British-registered merchant ships. In Britian the Royal navy is put on full alert. Army and navy mobilization is commenced, censorship of all communications to and from the British Isles is imposed, the Stock Exchange is closed, and civil airplanes are banned from flying over half of Britain. In Moscow, the Soviet Parliament unanimously ratifies the Russo-German non-aggression pact, and Marshal Klemenly Voroshiloff, Commisar of War, announces the proposed Military Training Law. Conscription age is lowered from 19 to 17. The Slovak Government calls on Poland to return the Javorina district territory to Slovakia. Hitler receives the Polish Ambassador to Berlin, mainly to appease Mussolini, who is trying to establish a peace formula. The talks 31/08/1939 lasted no longer than a few minutes as Hitler had already made up his mind to invade Poland. Directive Number 1 declares that at 4:45am on the 1st September 1939, the German Armed Forces will invade Poland. German radio makes public a proposed 16-point peace plan the government had proposed for Poland, claiming Poland refused to accept the terms. The proposal deals with annexing Danzig, maintaining a corridor from Germany to East Prussia, and the treatment of minorities in Germany and Poland. That evening the German radio station at Gliewitz on the German-Polish border is "attacked by Polish troops". However, all is not what it seems as these soldiers were actually concentration camp inmates,
dressed in Polish uniforms and organised by the SS to give Hitler a pretext for invading Poland that he could show the world.
General Omar Bradley German StuG III
Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge
The Sturmgeschutz III was cheaper and quicker to manufacture than a tank and by 1943 the assault gun battalions were being employed as substitute armour, although the limited gun traverse was a serious disadvantage when on the offensive. "Dunkirk has fallen... with it has ended the greatest battle of world history. Soldiers! My confidence in you knew no bounds. You have not disappointed me." Adolf Hitler Order of the Day - 5th June 1940
General Dwight Eisenhower
Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch
German Hummel
The 15cm Self Propelled Howitzer was issued to all Panzer divisions and allowed the artillery to keep up with the pace of advance. "Like so many of our people, we have now had a personal experience of German barbarity which only strengthens the resolution of all of us to fight through to final victory." King George VI September 1940
Field Marshal William Ironside
Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess
German Fieseler 103 - V1
Known Vergeltungswaffe Eins (Reprisal Weapon 1), or more simply as the V1, the Fi 103 flying bomb could be launched from a 50m (152ft) inclined ramp or air-dropped from a carrier aircraft (usually an He 111). The weapons were launched against Britain (between 13th June 1944 and 29th March 1945). Although more than 30,000 were manufactured by Henschel, Mittelwerke and Volkswagen factories, only about 2,000 hit London. War in Britain!
01/09/1939In Britain, general mobilisation declared. 02/09/1939National Service Act passed in Britain. After Germany rejects the Anglo-French ultimatum of 1st September, which called 03/09/1939for the withdrawal of all German forces from Poland, Britain declares war on Germany at 11am. King George VI gives assent to National Registration Bill, providing government 07/09/1939 control over labour and introducing identity cards. 09/09/1939Chamberlains Cabinet plans for a 3 year war. 19/09/1939First British casualty list published. 27/09/1939Sir John Simons first war budget, income tax up to 7s 6d in the . 01/10/1939British men between 20 and 22 now liable for conscription. 09/10/1939Chamberlain announces committee of ministers to co-ordinate the economy. Rear-Admiral Hugh Sinclair, head of British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), died 04/11/1939 of cancer. Succeeded by his deputy, Colonel Stewart Menzies. Queen Elizabeth broadcasted a message to the women of the Empire, calling them to 11/11/1939 join the war effort. Prime Minister Chamberlain imposes an embargo on all German trade, with goods 21/11/1939 currently in Britain, but destined for shipment to Germany to be confiscated. 18/12/1939The first Canadian troops arrive in Britain. War in Britain! 01/01/1940Conscription extended to 20 - 27 in Britain. Hore-Belisha resigns as Secretary of State for War and is replaced by Oliver 05/01/1940 Stanley. 08/01/1940Rationing of butter, sugar and bacon begins in Britain. Nearly twice as many Britons have been killed on the roads since blackout started 15/01/1940 than by enemy action. 31/01/1940Sir John Simon announces food subsidies are running at 1,000,000 per week. 22/02/1940Two IRA bombs explode in London, injuring 12 people.
03/04/1940War Cabinet reshuffle, Churchill to chair committee directing general war policy. British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, tells the British people that Hitler has 05/04/1940 missed the bus, meaning that a German invasion of the west is now unlikely to
succeed. 12/05/1940The British government authorises the internment of Germans living in Britain. 15/04/1940British unemployment falls to 973,000, lowest figure since 1920. Budget Day raises taxes on beer by 1d, whisky up 1/9d (9p) and postage up 1d. 23/04/1940Estimates of the 1940 war expenditure as 2,000 million criticised by MPs for being too low. 24/04/1940Commons approves trade agreement with Spain, first since Spanish Civil War. New evacuation scheme introduced in Britain as a Ministry of Health survey shows 25/04/1940that only 8% of eligible children have been registered; 19% of parents refused to do so; 73% did not bother to reply. Amalgamated Engineering Union agrees to allow women workers in munitions 01/05/1940 factories. 05/05/1940Norwegian government-in-exile established in London. Opposition censure motion against Chamberlains conduct of the war; rejected by 08/05/1940 281 to 200, but over 30 government MPs vote for it. 09/05/1940Age for conscription in Britain is raised to 36. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns and is replaced by the First Lord of the 10/05/1940Admiralty, Winston Churchill, who forms a coalition government from all three main parties. 11/05/1940King signs proclamation canceling the Whitsun holiday. The Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth gives support to Churchills 13/05/1940government by 2,413,000 votes to 170,000. Churchill makes blood, sweat, tears and toil speech. Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch royal family arrive in London. The British Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden calls for volunteers to form 14/05/1940 the Local Defence Volunteers force (LDV). An official announcement by the British government says that the weekly butter 15/05/1940 ration will be reduced from 8oz to 4oz per head. Its announced that over 250,000 men enrolled into the LDV in just the first 24 21/05/1940 hours. Sir Oswald Mosley and other British fascists arrested. 76 IRA men arrested in 23/05/1940 Northern Ireland. Trade Union executives accept Nye Bevans manpower mobilisation plan, setting up 25/05/1940 Labour Supply Board and Production Council. General Sir John Dill is appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Edmund Ironside becomes C-in-C, Home Defence. Empire Day in Britain is declared as a 26/05/1940 national day of prayer. Coastal towns from Great Yarmouth to Folkestone are declared evacuation areas. 27/05/1940The British sugar ration is reduced from 12oz to 8oz per head. All signposts which might be helpful to parachutists landing in Britain taken down. 01/06/1940Unemployment in Britain falls 92,000 in May to 881,000, giving a total fall of 611,000 in a year. All aliens and stateless persons living in Britain are forbidden to leave home 03/06/1940 between 10:30pm and 6am. Churchill orders the setting up of commando forces to
be used for raiding occupied Europe. Churchill tells Commons 'We shall fight on the beaches, in the fields, in the streets 04/06/1940and in the hills. We shall never surrender.' Holiday camps are banned within 10 miles of east and south-east coasts of England and Isle of Wight. Home Defence commander Ironside announces the creation of the lronsides, small 05/06/1940 groups of highly mobile, armed men for defence against parachutists. Production of hundreds of household goods banned in Britain. All Germans and 06/06/1940 Austrians living in UK ordered to surrender their wireless sets. Householders in possession of Anderson shelters must by law have them up and 11/06/1940 earthed by today. General Sir Edmond Ironside, C-in-C of British Home Forces, completes plans for 12/06/1940 the defense of Britain against German invasion. Churchill broadcasts to the nation, saying the British will defend their island home 17/06/1940and fight on until the curse of Hitler is removed. Unemployment in Britain falls 114,000 in May to new low of 767,000. Churchill speaks to Commons, declaring let us so bear ourselves that . . . men will still say, "This was their finest hour". General de Gaulle forms the French National 18/06/1940 Committee in London and vows to continue the war on the side of Britain, saying that France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war. The British Jockey Club announces no more racing until further notice. If invaders 19/06/1940 come leaflet is issued by Ministry of Information to all British households. 20/06/1940Both Houses of Parliament meet in secret session to discuss Home Defence. Second London County Council evacuation scheme completed, with 100,000 22/06/1940 children moved to the West Country and Wales. 26/06/1940De Gaulle forms French Volunteer Legion in Britain. British government recognises de Gaulle as leader of Free French. Channel Islands 28/06/1940 demilitarised and partially evacuated. 30/06/1940Germans troops land on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. German troops occupy Jersey and complete the capture of the Channel Islands, the 01/07/1940only British territory ever captured by Germany during World War 2. British milk price maximum is raised to 4d a pint. 02/07/1940August Bank holiday cancelled in Britain. In the House of Commons, prime minister Churchill declares,' I leave the judgment 04/07/1940of our actions with confidence to Parliament. I leave it to the nation and I leave it to the United States. I leave it to the world and to history.' 08/07/1940British Metropolitan Police to be armed when guarding vulnerable positions. Commons passed War Credits of 1,000,000,000. Tea rationing of 2oz per head per 09/07/1940 week introduced in Britain. Birthday Honours list includes only service recipients. British Union Party (Fascists) 10/07/1940 banned. To celebrate Bastille Day, de Gaulle and Free French lay wreaths at Cenotaph in London. Churchill broadcasts that Hitler must recast his invasion plans. British 14/07/1940 commandos launch a raid against Guernsey in the Channel Islands, with negligible results. 15/07/1940Unemployment in Britain up 60,431 in June to 827,266, but still down half a million
on June 1939. Home Office bans fireworks, kite and balloon flying. General Sir Alan Brooke takes over from Ironside as C-in-C, Home Forces. Ironside 19/07/1940 becomes a Field Marshal. 21/07/1940Czech government-in-exile established in London under Dr. Benes. Lord Halifax rejects Hitlers peace proposals. The Special Operations Executive 22/07/1940 (SOE) is created in order to encourage resistance across occupied Europe. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Kingsley Wood announces the third War Budget, with income lax up 1d to 8s 6d in the , beer up 1d a pint, purchase tax introduced 23/07/1940for first time at 33% on luxuries, war expenditure for the next year estimated at 3,470,000,000. Secretary of War announces that Local Defence Volunteers to be called the Home Guard, more than 1,300,000 now enrolled. British Order in Council declares the start of the grouse shooting season to be 01/08/1940 August 5th instead of the 12th. 02/08/1940Lord Beaverbrook appointed to War Cabinet. 03/08/1940Churchill warns nation against believing rumours that invasion threat is over. 08/08/1940British forces pay increased by 6d per day; privates pay up to 17s 6d a week. 12/08/1940Wasting food becomes illegal in Britain. Ministry of Home Security announces that parachutes had been hound in 14/08/1940 Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Scotland, but no evidence of Germans discovered. 19/08/1940Whole of Britain declared a defence area. Commons allows nationalist forces of Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland, France 21/08/1940 and Czechoslovakia to train in Britain under their own flags. The codeword "Cromwell" is passed nation-wide, and church bells ring out in 07/09/1940 warning that a German invasion may be underway. 08/09/1940National day of prayer proclaimed in Britain. 09/09/1940German guns shell Dover. Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin announces that until the end of August 51,261 men 19/09/1940 had registered as conscientious objectors. Plans to evacuate mothers as well as children from Blitz areas announced; 444,000 24/09/1940 children already evacuated from London area. Petrol goes up to 2s & 2d per gallon. Chamberlain resigns as Lord President of the Council through ill health, and cabinet 03/10/1940is reshuffled with Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor, and Ernie Bevin, Minister of Labour joining War Cabinet. Churchill makes statement to Commons and claims that the Germans have the 08/10/1940 capability to throw 500,000 men onto salt water or into it. 09/10/1940Churchill is unanimously elected leader of the Conservative Party. 24/10/1940British Summer Time to be continued throughout winter. 26/10/1940Ministry of Food subsidises fish and chip shops to encourage potato consumption. Ministry of Health announces evacuation of 489,000 more children from London 28/10/1940 area.
Under-Secretary for War announces measures to give Home guard more permanent 06/11/1940 shape and better equipment without changing its local and friendly character. 24/11/1940Treasury cancels Boxing Day Bank Holiday. McGoverns ILP peace amendment is rejected by House of Commons, 341 votes to 05/12/1940 4. Home Office announces third German spy hanged at Pentonville Prison. Winchester 17/12/1940housewife sentenced to death for spying. Rations increased temporarily in Britain for Christmas week. 23/12/1940Anthony Eden becomes Foreign Secretary. War in Britain! 21/01/1941Communist newspaper, The Daily Worker is suppressed in Britain. 06/02/1941House of Commons vote for war credits of 1,600,000,000. The British foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden and General Sir John Dill, Chief of the Imperial General Staff leave London for a tour of the Balkan capitals in order to try 12/02/1941 and establish an anti-axis pact. However, Yugoslavia refuses to see them and Turkey refuses their proposals. Only Greece shows any interest. The Australian Prime Minister, R.G. Menzies arrives in Britain for talks with 20/02/1941 Churchill. 12/03/1941Churchill thanks America for a new Magna Carta. 07/04/1941British war budget raises income tax. 16/04/1941The first American "Lend-Lease" food aid shipments arrive in Britain. Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy and former World War I fighter pilot, flies from Augsburg to Scotland to persuade anti-Churchill politicians that England should stop the war with Germany, adopt a neutral attitude and allow Germany to eliminate 10/05/1941the Bolshevik menace and gain Lebensraum in the East. He was taken to a secret location, interrogated and then held incommunicado at various places until the end of the war, later to be charged and condemned as a major war criminal at Nuremberg. Ernie Bevin says that he would not negotiate with murderer Hess. Its reported that the Dame of Sark has been deported to a German concentration camp as a reprisal 15/05/1941 for civil disobedience. Announced that British losses in France and Norway were 13,250 killed and approximately 41,000 taken prisoner out of 437,000 men engaged. 20/05/1941Prime Minister says he is still not prepared to make a statement on Hess. 21/05/1941Its announced that Womens Land Army now more than 11,000 strong.
24/05/1941War Weapon Week ends in towns and cities, with 124m collected. 27/05/1941Proposal to introduce conscription in Northern Ireland finally scrapped. Lord Woolton announces experimental egg rationing, further restrictions on fish and 28/05/1941milk; successful prosecutions under Food Control Orders during war now total 17,319. 01/06/1941Clothes rationing introduced in Britain. Attlee memorandum approved by 2,430,000 to 19,000 at Labour Party conference 03/06/1941 A necessary prelude to a just peace is a total victory. British unemployment figures for May lowest yet at 243,656 out of work, 400,000 16/06/1941 less than a year ago. British press give details of development of radio location (radar) and its use in 18/06/1941 Battle of Britain. Churchill calls the German invasion of Russia, the fourth turning point of the war 22/06/1941 and offers to give whatever help we can. House of Commons votes for 1,000 million war credit as war expenditure now 24/06/1941 exceeds 10,250,000 per day. 29/06/1941Lord Beaverbrook becomes Minister of Supply in Cabinet reshuffle. 01/07/1941Coal deliveries to all establishments in Britain limited to one ton per month. 04/07/1941British Communist Party officially drops peace campaign and backs the war. 05/07/1941Foreign Secretary Eden categorically rules out possibility of negotiating with Hitler. 08/07/1941Soviet military mission arrives in London. 12/07/1941Britain and Russia sign mutual assistance agreement, pledging no separate peace. BBC announces the V Army, the resistance movement in Occupied Europe. 19/07/1941 George Armstrong executed at Wandsworth prison for spying. British government takes over railways for the duration of the war, paying 43m per 27/08/1941 annum in compensation to private operators. 19/09/1941Lord Woolton calls the black market in Britain a thorn in our side. The guard at a detention centre in Peel on the Isle of Man is strengthened after 30/09/1941 disturbances, which results with 20 British fascists being moved to Liverpool. 01/10/1941The House of Commons votes for the third 1,000m war credit of year. 03/10/1941British road deaths in the second year of war up 65% on the pre-war figure. The exiled Norwegian Government in London officially backs Milorg, the largest 20/11/1941 resistance organisation in Norway. Two Luftwaffe officers, make the war's most audacious attempt to escape from a 24/11/1941 British POW camp. Lt. Heinz Schnabel and Oblt. Harry Wappler were prisoners in
Camp No.15 near Penrith, Northumbria. Forging papers that identified them as Dutch officers serving in the RAF, they made their way to the RAF airfield at Kingstown near Carlisle and started the engine of a Miles Magister. Taking off, they soon realized they did not have the fuel to make it to Nazi-occupied Holland reluctantly they turned back, landing in a field about five miles north of Great Yarmouth. Recaptured, they were sent back to Camp No.15 again and sentenced to 28 days solitary confinement. Churchill introduces a new National Service Bill, including compulsory service for 02/12/1941 women. 05/12/1941Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Rumania. 08/12/1941Britain and dominions declare war on Japan. Karel Richter, a German spy who parachuted into Hertfordshire is executed at 10/12/1941 Wandsworth Prison. 12/12/1941Britain declares war on Bulgaria. War in Britain! 13/01/1942The allied conference in London pledges to punish axis war criminals after victory. 24/02/1942Parliament begins a two day debate on the conduct of the war. The debate in the House of Commons comes to a close with many speakers being 25/02/1942sharply critical of government policy, with the bombing of Germany being called in to question. 18/03/1942Lord Mountbatten is appointed Chief of Combined Operations. Churchill tells the conservatives, It now seems very likely that we and our allies 26/03/1942 cannot lose this war, except through our own fault. A US delegation led by special presidential advisor Harry L. Hopkins and joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General George C. Marshall arrive in Britain to discuss US and British strategy on the Second Front. The proposal they brought from 08/04/1942Roosevelt, was for major landings on the French coast in the summer of 1943, with Antwerp as the initial objective, and for a similar but smaller operation in 1942 to take advantage of a sudden German disintegration or to stave off an imminent Russian collapse. In a secret session of the House of Commons, Churchill delivers a speech declaring 23/04/1942 that the liberation of Europe was 'the main war plan' of Britain and the USA. The British Chiefs of staff approve a major raid against the French port of Dieppe. 13/05/1942Initially code-named 'Rutter', the plan had been under consideration since March by Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, who wanting to
explore the problems of an opposed landing on the French coast. The British C-in-C of the Home Forces orders an end to blood-lust inculcation in 23/05/1942 battle training. Britain and Russia sign a treaty in London. Each county pledges itself to fight Germany until final victory and not make a separate peace. The also agreed a 2026/05/1942 year alliance, not to join any coalition or treaty directed against one of them, and not to interfere with the other states internal affairs. A rehearsal for the raid against Dieppe operation 'Rutter' is held. General Bernard Montgomery's South-Eastern Army was tasked with mounting the attack and he had 11/06/1942selected the 2nd Canadian Division for the job. It was to make a frontal assault on the town with airborne troops neutralizing the batteries on the headlands each side of the port. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed to command US forces in the European 25/06/1942 Theatre. General Montgomery informs General Paget, C-in-C of British Home Forces that 01/07/1942 operation 'Rutter' would be mounted on the 4th July. A motion of No Confidence in the government is debated by the House of 02/07/1942 Commons, but Churchill easily defeats this by 475 votes to 25. 04/07/1942Bad weather delays operation 'Rutter', which is now scheduled for the 7th July. Operation 'Rutter' is again delayed. The date for the attack is now postponed until the 19th August. However, General Montgomery calls for the attack to be cancelled because too many people know about it, but General Paget and Admiral Lord Louis 07/07/1942 Mountbatten and General Paget insist the attack should be mounted. Two proGerman spies, Jose Key and Alphons Timmerman are hanged at Wandsworth prison. Churchill urges President Roosevelt to agree to operation 'Gymnast' as the best offensive option for 1942. THE british had concluded that operation 'Sledgehammer' 08/07/1942 would merely detract from operation 'Round Up' and that operation 'Jupiter' was not feasible, although Churchill still wanted it. 08/08/1942The commander of US ground forces, Eisenhower establishes a HQ in the UK.
A Commando raid on occupied Sark, in Channel Islands capture's one German 04/10/1942 soldier. The South Africa Premier, Field-Marshal Smuts, makes a historic speech to both 21/10/1942 Houses of Parliament saying, The stage is set for the last, for the offensive. 22/10/1942A Royal Proclamation is signed that reduces the British call-up age to 18. 23/10/1942Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt arrives in London for a three-week visit as guest of the
King. War in Britain! 13/01/1943The call-up for single girls in Britain is lowered to 19. 22/02/1943Churchill is said to be on the mend after a severe fever.
20/04/1943The limited recruitment of women into the Home Guard is announced in Britain. For the first time in the war, the British now claim more German prisoners than the 13/05/1943 Germans have British. Eden announces that Empire casualties in first three years of war are 92,089 killed, 01/06/1943 226,719 missing, 88,294 wounded and 107,891 captured. 03/06/1943The first fruits of victory reach British shops, Algerian wine. The House of Commons rejects any lifting of the economic blockade against 04/06/1943 occupied Europe. Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) becomes the official term for 18/06/1943 Radiolocation.
Brenden Bracken, the British Minister of Information, makes the first ministerial statement on Hess since May 1941 and says 'Hess came to find British Quislings to 27/08/1943 overthrow Churchill', a Nazi of very low mentality who babbled like an excited schoolboy.
15/11/1943The allied expeditionary air force is formed in Britain for the invasion of Europe. A storm of protest erupts in Britain over the release of Sir Oswald Mosley, the 17/11/1943 British fascist, on health grounds.
Ernie Bevin announces the conscription to mines as coal output continues to flag in 02/12/1943 Britain. 09/12/1943The Establishment of the Council of Freedom in Denmark is announced in Britain. War in Britain! Monty is reported to be back in Britain in order to take command of the British 03/01/1944 contingent of the Allied Expeditionary Force. 16/01/1944Eisenhower takes up his post as C-in-C Allied Expeditionary Forces in Britain. 14/02/1944Eisenhower sets up the SHAEF HQ in Britain. 03/03/1944British civilian casualties now total 50,324 dead, with military deaths at 50,103. 16/03/1944Oswald Job, a British subject, is hanged for spying at Pentonville Prison. The Foreign Office bans all coded messages from foreign embassies and says that 18/04/1944diplomatic bags are to be censored. Only the fighting allies are to be excluded from the ban. 24/04/1944All overseas travel is banned in Britain. Both the Canadian and New Zealand Prime Ministers arrive in London for the 27/04/1944 Imperial Conference. The South African and Rhodesian Prime Ministers arrive for the imperial 28/04/1944 Conference. 29/04/1944Curtin, the Australian Prime Minister arrives in London. The Imperial Conference opens in London. A military mission from Tito arrives in 01/05/1944 London, his 60,000-strong army is now the recognised force in Yugoslavia. Eden tells the House of Commons that 47 RAF officers were shot while escaping 19/05/1944 from Stalag Luft III. Prime Minister Winston Churchill takes to the floor of the House of Commons to announce that Spain will not be a target in the forthcoming Allied invasion of 24/05/1944mainland Europe and Spain's internal affairs are no business of the Allies. He expresses the hope that a post-war Francoist Spain will be "a strong influence for the peace of the Mediterranean after the war." The Guards Chapel, across the street from Buckingham Palace, is struck by a V-1 18/06/1944"buzz bomb" in the midst of Sunday morning services. One hundred and nineteen soldiers and civilians are killed. Eden tells the Commons ' the facts' about the killing of 50 escaping RAF officers 23/06/1944 at Stalag Luft III, saying 'These prisoners of war were murdered'
Beginning of the Bretton Woods Conference convened to deal with post-war 01/07/1944financial and economic problems. The establishment of the International Monetary Fund for Reconstruction and Development is announced.
The British government announces that Gen. Bernard L. Montgomery has been appointed field marshal. While nominally a promotion, the new rank is meant to 01/09/1944 salve the blow to Montgomerys pride at being superseded by Eisenhower as commander of the land battle in Western Europe. A National Day of Prayer is declared in Britain on fifth anniversary of outbreak of 03/09/1944war. British Empire casualties are revealed as 242,995 killed, 80,603 missing, 311,500 wounded and 290,381 captured. Rejoicing in the streets of Dover at the announcement that the last of the German 30/09/1944cross-channel guns, which have pounded the southeast coast of Britain for three years, have been silenced.
Britain's Home Guard, the civilian force assigned to the defence of Britain in the 03/12/1944event of German invasion, is stood down after five years. King George VI declares the "You have fulfilled your charge,". The British announce a call-up of 250,000 troops to sustain and nourish our armies 22/12/1944 in the line. War in Britain! British Empire casualties to November 1944 are announced as 282,162 killed, 18/01/1945 80,580 missing, 386,374 wounded and 294,438 captured.
Churchill reveals British Empire casualty figures up to this point as 306,984 killed. 10/04/1945Total casualties are 1,126,802, merchant navy losing 34,161 dead or captured. Civilians casualties are 59,793 killed and 84,749 injured.
08/05/1945VE-Day (Victory-in-Europe Day). The German garrison in the Channel Islands agree to surrender to British troops 09/05/1945after five years of occupation. The surrender terms are signed aboard the destroyer HMS Bulldog, which is moored off St. Hellier. 12/05/1945British relief troops land at St Hlier in Jersey, to an overwhelming welcome. The British Royal Family and allied military leaders attend a thanks giving service 13/05/1945 at St. Pauls Cathedral. 16/05/1945British troops land on Alderney, taking 3,200 Germans prisoner. 18/06/1945British demobilisation begins. 26/07/1945Clement Attlee is elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain. VJ-Day is declared in Britain and huge crowds cheer King and Queen en route to 15/08/1945Westminster for the State opening of Parliament. The British release details of one of most closely guarded secrets of war, RADAR. 19/09/1945William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) is sentenced to be hanged for treason. 08/10/1945Rudolph Hess is flown from England to Germany to stand trial. British Intelligence reports that Hitler probably committed suicide on the 30th April 01/11/1945 in Berlin after marrying his mistress, Eva Braun. Western Europe Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within Western Europe between the years 1939 and 1945. The countries encompassed within the timeline are France, Low Countries, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. Germany and Austria are also covered, but only in respect to the part they played in the Western European theatre of war.
"Dunkirk has fallen... with it has ended the greatest battle of world history. Soldiers! My confidence in you knew no bounds. You have not disappointed me." Adolf Hitler Order of the Day - 5th June 1940
American M24 Chaffee
General George Patton
Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
The M24 Chaffee light tank reached Europe in the winter of 1944 replacing the M5 Stuart. The gun was almost as powerful as a Sherman's, it was also had well-shaped armour and great mobility, making the M24 probably the best light tank of World War 2.
Western Europe! Britain and France, instead of immediately declaring war against Germany look to 01/09/1939Mussolini who had proposed an international conference to revise the Versailles treaty terms. In France, general mobilisation declared. Hitler indicates to the Britain and France that he would withdraw from Poland provided that he was allowed to retain Danzig and the Polish Corridor. This was 02/09/1939 dismissed and a joint ultimatum was given to Germany to withdraw her troops from Poland within twelve hours or find herself at war with Britain and France. After Germany rejects the Anglo-French ultimatum of 1st September, which called 03/09/1939for the withdrawal of all German forces from Poland, France declares war on Germany. 05/09/1939French forces begin a limited offensive towards Saarbrcken. 06/09/1939General Smuts wins cabinet battle in South Africa and declares war on Germany. Nine divisions of the French Army penetrate in to the Saarland, but their advance is 07/09/1939 very slow and no effort is made to attack the 'Westwall' itself. 09/09/1939Advance elements of the BEF begin to a arrive in France. 11/09/1939Arrival of first British troops in France officially announced. First Anglo-French Supreme War Council convenes under Chamberlain and 12/09/1939 Daladier. 24/09/1939Food rationing introduced in Germany on small scale. 25/09/1939Heavy artillery duels flare on Western Front. 27/09/1939Polish government-in-exile set up in Paris. Hitler in a speech to the Reichstag announces the victorious conclusion of the Polish 06/10/1939campaign and calls upon Britain and France to cease hostilities and come to terms with Germany. This is rejected by both the British and French government's. Hitler issues orders for the invasion of France and the Low Countries. This first plan called for the German Army to wheel through Belgium as they had done during 09/10/1939 World War One, although this time they were to invade Holland as well. Only the start date wasn't specified, although Hitler was thinking of November. However, bad
weather and demands by his generals for more preparation time caused postponement until the following year. 11/10/1939British Expeditionary Force on continent reaches strength of 158,000 in five weeks. 16/10/1939Heavy German attack on Western Front halted. 17/10/1939French troops are pushed back in the Saar region. The Belgium and Dutch Monarch's emphasize their country's neutrality, but offer to act as peace negotiators. Hitler rejects the proposal, as do both Britain and France. 07/11/1939 Paul Thummel, a double agent, passes details of the German plans for the western offensive to the Czech government-in-exile. A bomb intended to kill Hitler explodes at the annual meeting of the veterans of the 1923 Nazi Putsch in Munich, but the Fhrer had already left the beer cellar. The 08/11/1939German media accused Britain of orchestrating the assassination attempt on Hitler. Two British SIS agents, Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best, are captured in Holland by the Germans. The Supreme Allied War Council agrees on the co-ordination of British and French war production. It is also decided that if the Germans should invade Belgium, then both British and French troops will move forward in to Belgium to defend the Albert 17/11/1939 Canal, River Meuse and the River Dyle, which were strong positions from which to meet any German attack. However, the Belgium government refuses to allow Allied reconnaissance parties in to country for fear of provoking the Germans. 15/12/1939A fifth British division arrives in France. Western Europe! Hitler informs his commanders that the attack in the west will begin on the 17th January. On this same day a German light aircraft makes a forced landing at Malines 10/01/1940in Belgium, near the German border. The planes occupants were carrying details of the German plans, which alerted the Belgium and Dutch governments to German intentions. At the height of the cold weather spell in Europe, 50 of frost is reported in some 12/01/1940 places. Hitler orders the postponement of his attack in the west until the Spring. Likely reasons for this are the compromise of 'Fall Gelb' and increasing criticism from 16/01/1940some commanders that the plan was too predictable. Led by Gerd von Rundstedt, they proposed instead that the main blow should come through the wooded Ardennes region in southern Belgium as the allies would not expect this.
The US Under Secretary of State, Sumner Welles arrives in Berlin at the start of a 01/03/1940 peace tour of the belligerent countries.
Hitler changes his plans for the invasion of the west. At a military conference in Berlin, he decides to adopt the plan put forward by Gerd von Rundstedt and his former chief of staff, Erich von Manstein, for the Ardennes option. Code-named 06/03/1940Fall Sichelschnitt, it called for the attack against the Low Countries to go ahead, but with slightly fewer forces, in order to draw the allies forward, while the decisive thrust would be mounted through the Ardennes. Holding attacks would be made against the Maginot line. Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France, with Edouard Daladier being 21/03/1940 made Minister of Defence and War. 19/04/1940State of Siege is extended to the whole of Netherlands. Inter-Allied Supreme War Council meets in Paris at which both Poland and Norway 22/04/1940 are represented. 03/05/1940Hitler postpones X-Day to the 6th May due to bad weather. 06/05/1940Hitler again delays X-Day, this time till the 10th May. 07/05/1940All Dutch Army leave suspended. Hitler orders 'Operation Yellow', the great offensive in the West, to begin at 5.35am 09/05/1940 the next day. At 5.35am, the Wehrmacht begins 'Operation Yellow', the invasion of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, employing Army Group A (von Rundstedt) and B (von Bock), with Army Group C (von Leeb) in reserve. The attacking forces comprise 10 Armoured, 5 Motorised, and 75 infantry divisions. The 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian), 20th Panzer Korps (Hoth) and the 41st Panzer Korps (Reinhardt) field between them 2,445 tanks, most of which are of the light Marks I, II, 35(t) and 38(t) 10/05/1940type, against 3,373 French and British tanks. In his Order of the Day, Hitler declares, "Soldiers of the Western Front! The battle which is beginning today will decide the fate of the German nation for the next thousand years. Go forward now and do your duty!" Airborne troops seize airfields and strategic bridges near Amsterdam and Rotterdam in Holland. The Luftwaffe, using hundreds of level and dive bombers, attacks Allied airfields, troop assembly areas and rear communications. German troops occupy the Duchy of Luxembourg. A glider-borne parachute 11/05/1940detachment of 1st Fallschirmjger Regiment led by Hauptmann Koch and Leutnant Witzig captures the "impregnable" Belgian border fortress of Eben-Emael. French forces withdraw behind the Meuse river between Dinant and Sedan as advance German panzer columns push out from the Ardennes. Germans troops continue their advance through Holland, crossing the Yssel and Meuse rivers at 12/05/1940 several points. Massive German artillery bombardments are maintained on western front, the Luftwaffe continues to reek havoc across Northern France and Belgium, causing refugees to stream west, clogging the roads for allied forces. Supported by waves of Luftwaffe Stuka dive-bombers, the two German Panzer Korps of Heeresgruppe B establish bridgeheads across the Meuse river, tearing a 5013/05/1940 mile gap in the French defences between Dinant and Sedan. The 7th Panzer Division (Rommel) is the first division across. Dutch troops withdraw to their second and
final line of defence on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Utrecht line. 14/05/1940Germans take Rotterdam as the Dutch government arrives in London. After the fall of Rotterdam, Holland surrenders. The German 20th Panzer Korps (Hoth) repels a counter-attack by French armoured forces, destroying 125 out of 175 tanks. An attack by 6th Army (von Reichenau) against the Dyle line in Belgium is 15/05/1940repulsed. In Paris, panic breaks out over reports of a German breakthrough at Sedan with thousands of civilians fleeing the city for the west and south of the country, clogging the roads for Allied military traffic which is attacked by Luftwaffe bombers and fighter bombers. The Germans try to enlarge Sedan pocket. British troops withdraw from Louvain, 16/05/1940west of Brussels as troops of the German 6th Army break through the Allied Dyle line in Belgium. Belgian government leaves Brussels for Ostend. Brussels, Louvain and Malines in central Belgium all occupied by troops of the 6th Army. Germans attack further into N-E France; General Gamelin, French Commander-in-Chief, gives allied troops conquer or die order. French prime 17/05/1940 minister Pierre Laval is replaced by Paul Reynaud who forms a new government. Charles de Gaulle's newly raised 4th Armoured division launches a counter-attack near Laon, which is easily repulsed by the Germans. Germans take Antwerp, Belgiums second city. Allied forces are seriously split as German tanks of 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) reach Peronne and Rommels 7th 18/05/1940Panzer Division reaches Cambrai during their rapid advance toward the Channel coast. Amiens is occupied. Regions ceded to Belgium in Treaty of Versailles (1919) re-incorporated into Germany. General Gamelin is replaced by Maxime Weygand as Chief of the French General Staff and C-in-C of all theatres of operations. Marshal Henri Petain, the hero of the 19/05/1940 First World War, is appointed as Deputy Prime Minister. German troops of 20th Panzer Korps (Reinhardt) capture St. Quentin. 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) completes its advance to the Channel coast by capturing Abbeville and Noyelles, thus separating the British Expeditionary Force, 20/05/1940French 1st Army and the Belgian Army from the rest of the French forces to the south of the river Somme. German reinforcements pour into this split between the allied troops in northern France. A British counter attack is launched near Arras with armoured and infantry support against Rommel's 7th Panzer Division, throwing it off balance. A similar attack in 21/05/1940the south by a French armoured brigade under General de Gaulle fails after initial success. The French Ninth Army is surrounded and destroyed, its commander, General Giraud, taken prisoner. The 19th Panzer Korps (Guderian) strikes from Abbeville toward Boulogne, Calais 22/05/1940 and Dunkirk along the Channel coast. Heavy fighting around Boulogne. Units of the German 6th Army cross the Scheldt 23/05/1940 river at Oudenarde in Belgium. Hitler halts Panzer drive on Dunkirk. Infantry units of 19th Panzer Korps storm the citadel of Boulogne and take 5,000 British and French prisoners. The French fortress 24/05/1940 of Maubeuge surrenders, while 6th Army captures Ghent and Tournai in Belgium and St Omer in North-eastern France. 25/05/1940The British garrison of Calais rejects a German call for surrender. 15 French
generals relieved of their commands. Operation 'Dynamo' the evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from Dunkirk begins. Under the command of Admiral Bertram Ramsay, hundreds of 26/05/1940naval, commercial and private vessels participate in this most desperate rescue attempt. Calais falls to the Germans as they advance towards Dunkirk [View Battle Plan] after Hitler's stop order is rescinded. British position in Flanders worsens as King Leopold of Belgium surrenders the 27/05/1940 remnants of his Army. Belgium formally surrenders to the Germans. The British and French reject 28/05/1940 capitulation and continue the evacuation and rearguard actions at Dunkirk. German 6th Army takes Lille, Ostend and Ypres in western Flanders, Belgium. Luftwaffe activity increases as Hitler orders the Panzers to be switched south ready 29/05/1940 for main battle of France. 47,300 British and French troops are evacuated from Dunkirk today. 53,823 British and French troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, bringing total landed 30/05/1940 in England since May 27th to 126,606. Defence of Dunkirk continues as 68,000 allied troops are evacuated. The French 31/05/1940defence of Lille collapses. Churchill fly's to Paris for a meeting of the Supreme Allied War Council, the second time since the 10th May. German onslaught continues at Dunkirk as General Lord Gort, C-in-C BEF, returns from Flanders with another 64,400 troops who were evacuated off the beaches this 01/06/1940 day. However, in future, the evacuation will only continue during the hours of darkness due to the high losses of warships to daylight air attacks. 26,200 British and French troops are evacuated from the beaches today. Virtually all 02/06/1940British soldiers have now been evacuated and so the remaining French troops have taken over the defence of the perimeter. The last night of the Dunkirk evacuation sees 26,700 French soldiers lifted from the beaches. This brings the total rescued to 224,686 British, 121,445 French and 03/06/1940Belgian troops. Most of the French opt to return to France to continue the fight. During the evacuation, more than 200 ships and 177 aircraft were lost (Germans lost 140 aircraft). German troops enter Dunkirk, taking 40,000 French prisoners and huge quantities of 04/06/1940abandoned equipment, including 84,000 vehicles, 2,500 guns and 650,000 tons of supplies and ammunition. The Germans begin 'Operation Red', the Battle of France with 119 divisions, including 10 Panzer division's. Army Group B, with 50 divisions, opens the 05/06/1940offensive against the French left wing which is anchored along the Somme for 120 miles, in fortified positions known as the Weygand Line, just 100 miles from Paris. Charles de Gaulle is appointed as French Under Secretary of State for War. German tanks in groups of 200-300, break through French line in two places on Somme front and Rommel's 7th Panzer Division advancing to the West of Amiens, 06/06/1940 penetrates 20 miles into French territory. During these breakthrough's the Germans suffer heavy losses at Amiens and Petonne. 07/06/1940Allied troops fall back on Bresles front, 60 miles north of Paris. 09/06/1940German forces advancing South from the Somme capture Rouen on the Seine. The
British 51st Highland Division and part of the French 10th Army withdraw towards St-Valery-en-Caux, hoping to be evacuated to England. The French government of Premier Reynaud leaves Paris for Tours. German forces 11/06/1940 capture Rheims. On the orders from General Weygand, C-in-C of the French Army, the French forces opposing the advance of Army Group A withdraw to the South, offering little resistance. The Germans cross the River Marne, consolidate bridgehead South of the 12/06/1940 Seine and claim to have occupied Rheims. Four French divisions and most of the British 51st Highland Division is cut off and captured by Rommel at St. Valery-enCaux. Germans troops advance on both sides of Paris. General Weygand declares the 13/06/1940 French capital an open city. Germans enter Paris as Rommel's 7th Panzer Division takes Le Havre. The French government leaves Tours for Bordeaux. Army Group C, with 24 divisions, prepares 14/06/1940 to cross the upper Rhine to attack the Maginot Line in Alsace. All remaining British troops in France are ordered to return to England. Germans take Verdun. German forces of the 7th Army cross Rhine and break into the Maginot Line above Strasbourg. Weygand refuses to surrender French Army on 15/06/1940 its own. 30,600 British and Canadian troops are evacuated from Cherbourg, Brest and St. Malo. French front cracking as the Germans break through in Champagne to Dijon, with units of 19th Panzer Korps reaching Besancon on the Swiss border. German forces, supported by heavy artillery and Stuka dive bombers, continue their assault against 16/06/1940the Maginot Line on a broad front. The French government of Paul Reynaud resigns and is replaced by one led by Marshal Petain who immediately appoints Weygand as Minister of National Defence. 57,000 British troops are evacuated from Nantes and St. Nazaire. German troops cross the Loire near Orleans. Petain orders French to stop fighting 17/06/1940 and sues for honourable peace terms. French Army in general retreat as German troops capture Le Mans. The garrisons of 18/06/1940Belfort, Metz and Dijon surrender. Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich to discuss French request for peace. The Germans invite the French to send a representative to discuss armistice terms as their troops reach River Loire, advance on Lyons, capture Strasbourg, Brest and 19/06/1940 Tours. Rommels 7th Panzer Division captures Cherbourg along with 30,000 prisoners. German troops capture Lyons and the vital port of Brest in Brittany. French envoys 20/06/1940drive behind German lines to receive armistice terms. Italian forces begins an offensive along the Riviera coast into France. Franco-German armistice negotiations begin at Compiegne, during which Hitler informs the French representatives of his terms in the same railway carriage as the 21/06/1940German surrender was signed in 1918. Hitler issues a proclamation announcing the end of the war in the West and orders flags to be flown throughout Germany for ten days. Germans troops cross the River Loire in strength as an armistice between France 22/06/1940 and Germany is signed at Compiegne. Its terms are read out loud to the French
delegation by Generaloberst Keitel and provide for the occupation of the entire Channel and Atlantic coastlines, all major industrial areas, Alsace-Lorraine is to be returned to Germany. Most of southern France will remain unoccupied, with a French administrative centre at Vichy. The French Army and Navy is to be demobilised and disarmed and France is to bear the cost of the German occupation. All French prisoners of war are to remain in Germany until a peace treaty is signed. The German advance continues down west coast of France. Pierre Laval is appointed as Vice-Premier, while de Gaulle is cashiered by Weygand for 23/06/1940announcing the formation of French National Committee in London. Hitler makes a brief sightseeing visit to Paris. Driving through nearly empty streets, he makes a special point of viewing Napoleon's tomb, ending his tour at the Eiffel tower. British commandos make their first raid against France is made at Le Touquet, 24/06/1940 although this is aborted without casualties. At 1:35am, all acts of war between the French and German armed forces officially 25/06/1940 cease. Churchill says France is not freed of her obligations. 26/06/1940British blockade of war materials and food extended to whole of France. 27/06/1940German troops reach Franco-Spanish border. 30/06/1940Germans troops land on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. The French government of Marshal Petain moves from Bordeaux to Vichy. 01/07/1940Germany asks the USA and other neutrals to withdraw diplomatic missions from Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. Hitler orders preparation of 'Operation Sealion', the plan for the invasion of Britain. 02/07/1940Germans issue casualty figures for French campaign as 17,000 killed, with the French losing 1,900,000 as prisoners. In direct response to the devastating British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el04/07/1940Kebir, Algeria, the Vichy French government of Marshal Petain breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain. After spending 8 weeks in the west supervising the German offensive, a triumphant 06/07/1940 Hitler returns to Berlin and is cheered wildly by the population of Berlin. Marshal Petain replaces President Lebrun and proclaims himself Chief of French 11/07/1940State of the French Republic. Admiral Raeder, C-in-C of the German Navy expresses his reservations about any invasion of Britain. Hitler issues Directive No. 15 outlining the details of 'Operation Sea Lion', the German invasion of the British Isles. In advance of the landings, the Luftwaffe is to begin operations against British defensive positions, airfields and radar installations 13/07/1940 along the southern coast of England on the 15th August 15 with 2.600 aircraft having been earmarked for this purpose. Hitler declines an Italian offer to participate in the invasion of Britain. 14/07/1940Bastille Day in France declared day of meditation. Hitler issues Directive No.16, orders for the planning of 'Operation Sealion', the 16/07/1940invasion of Britain. Twenty divisions are earmarked for the invasion, but the Luftwaffe must gain air superiority first. All plans are to be ready by mid-August. The German Army presents its plan for the invasion of Britain. Six divisions are to 17/07/1940land between Ramsgate and Bexhill in the southeast corner of England, four will land between Brighton and the Isle of Wight and three on the Dorset coast. Two
Airborne division's will also be deployed, with follow up forces including six Panzer and three Motorised divisions. Hitler makes triumphant speech to Reichstag accusing the allies of war mongering 19/07/1940 and appeals to Britain for the last time to reason. 24/07/1940Red Cross estimates 5.5 million refugees in Vichy France. Reich Minster of Economics Funk outlines New Order for Europe, with forced labour from occupied countries. Compulsory evacuation of women and children ordered from Gibraltar. Swiss Gen. Henri Guisan, commander of all Swiss forces, reacts to an appeasement-oriented speech by Federal President Marcel Pilet-Golaz by assembling 650 Swiss military officers in the Field of Rutli - the birthplace of 25/07/1940 Swiss independence - to make it clear the Swiss Army would resist any German or Italian invasion. "As long as in Europe millions stand under arms, and as long as important forces are able to attack us at any time, this army has to remain at its post." Pilet-Golaz and Berlin react with outrage, but Switzerland remains independent. 26/07/1940Secretary-General of League of Nations, Joseph Avenol, resigns. 28/07/1940All road and rail links between occupied France and Vichy cut by Germans. A German memorandum issued by the OKM states that an invasion of Great Britain 29/07/1940will not be possible until the second half of September 1940 and that the prospects for such an invasion seem doubtful. Hitler appraised the Army plan for the invasion of Britain at a conference of his top Military chiefs. The Navy criticize the plan for being on a too broad a front, requiring 2,500 barges in order to transport the invading forces, which cant be 31/07/1940 concentrated before the 15th of September at the earliest. The Army refute these arguments, saying that too narrow a front would allow the British to concentrate what forces they have. Hitler signs Directive No.17, requiring the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to increase 01/08/1940 their attacks against Britain and her shipping, in preparation for 'Operation Sealion'. 02/08/1940French military court sentences de Gaulle to death in absentia. Anglo-Polish military agreement signed. Churchill and de Gaulle agree over organisation of free French forces. German government announces that in future all 05/08/1940 citizens will need an Ahnenpass (Certificate of Ancestry) proving their racial purity back to 1800. 10/08/1940Germans ban speaking of French in Luxembourg and listening to BBC in Belgium. Germany announces the total blockade of Britain by sea and air. Axis financial 17/08/1940meeting decides Berlin will replace London as European financial centre after victory. Weekly rations in Vichy France now 4oz of sugar, 6oz spaghetti, 1.5oz rice and 3oz 31/08/1940 margarine per person. 03/09/1940German invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, is set for the 21st September. Hitler opens Winter Relief Campaign with a speech claiming that the last island in 04/09/1940 Europe will be broken. 10/09/1940Hitler decides to postpone operation 'Sea-lion until the 24th September.
Hitler again postpones operations 'Sea-lion'. This time till the 27th September, the 14/09/1940 last day of the month with suitable tides. 17/09/1940Hitler postpones Operation Sea-lion, the plan to invade Britain, until further notice. New rations announced in Vichy France as 350g of bread, 300g of sugar, 50g of 23/09/1940 cheese, 360g of meat per day and 100g of fat per week. Court martial body set up in Vichy France for crimes against the state; no appeal 25/09/1940 allowed executions within 24 hours of sentencing. Germany, Italy and Japan sign 10-year pact in Berlin recognising New Order in 27/09/1940 Europe and Far East. 12/10/1940Hitler postpones invasion of Britain until the spring 1941. 21/10/1940Churchill broadcasts to France, Frenchmen rearm your spirits before it is too late. Hitler meets Franco, the Spanish head of state at Hendaye near the French-Spanish 23/10/1940border. Franco declares Spain will gladly fight at Germanys side, but remains non-committal regarding Spain's entry into the war. Hitler meets Petain at Montoire, which leads to agreement in principle of 24/10/1940 collaboration, but Petain rejects the idea of a Franco-German military alliance. 28/10/1940Laval becomes Foreign Minister of Vichy government. On the anniversary of the end of World War I, several hundred Paris students stage a disorganized protest on the Champs Elysee over the arrest of a popular professor. Although Gaullists in London report several deaths, it appears no one was killed, but 11/11/1940123 students are arrested. Although it is the first sign of organized anti-German feeling since the armistice in June, German authorities report to Berlin that the small size and unorganized nature of the protest demonstrates that pro-Gaullist feeling is minimal. War Guilt trial in Vichy France indicts MM Blum, Daladier, La Chambre and Gen. 06/12/1940 Gamelin. 08/12/1940Franco says Spain is not prepared to enter war. 13/12/1940Petain dismisses his Vice-Premier, Laval. On Hitlers orders, the body of Napoleons son, LAiglon (the Eaglet), is transferred from Vienna to the tomb of his father at Les Invalides in Paris. 15/12/1940Mussolini, laying claim to Napoleons home of Corsica, objects in vain. Marshal Petain, who was expected to be in Paris to formally receive the body of Napoleon II, decides to stay away. Western Europe! Hitler, in his New Year's order of the day to the German armed forces, promises 01/01/1941 "...completion, on the Western Front, of the greatest victory in our history...". Hitler and Mussolini meet at Berchtesgaden, with Mussolini accepting German 19/01/1941 military help in North Africa, but not Albania.
06/02/1941Hitler makes one last appeal to the Spanish leader, General Franco, to enter the war. 08/02/1941Laval declines Petains offer of Cabinet seat in the Vichy Government. 09/02/1941Admiral Darlan becomes Vichy Vice-Premier. Franco, in response to Hitler's appeal to enter the war, says I stand today already at 26/02/1941 your side, entirely and decidedly at your disposal,' but refuses to enter the war. 28/02/1941Vichy France reduces bread ration from 350g to 280g.
Admiral Darlan reports back to Vichy after meeting Hitler and von Ribbentrop. 14/05/1941Vichy Cabinet approves German concessions and French counter-concessions unanimously. 19/05/1941Vichy France announces release and repatriation of 100,000 French POWs. Vichy military court sentences 56 NCOs and privates, siding with de Gaulle to 21/05/1941death or hard labour in absentia. All property of free French fighters is to be confiscated. 03/06/1941Ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II, dies in exile in Holland. Germany and Italy expel US consular officials in retaliation for similar American 19/06/1941 moves. 29/06/1941Goering is named Hitlers successor. 30/06/1941Vichy France breaks off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Believing the campaign in the East soon to be concluded in Germany's favour, 14/07/1941Hitler orders the German war industry to shift production away from guns and armoured vehicles to U-boats and planes. 05/08/1941Vichy limits wine consumption to two litres per person per week. French resistance member Pierre "Fabien" Georges commits the first violent act of resistance against the Germans in Paris when he assassinates a German naval cadet 21/08/1941 in the Barches-Rochechouart Metro station. More than 150 Parisians would be shot by the Germans in reprisal. 26/08/1941Pierre Laval is shot and wounded by Paul Colette who is arrested. 29/08/1941Despite protests, Vichy parliament moves to holiday resort in the hills. 15/09/1941German soldiers attacked in the Champs Elysees in Paris. 24/09/1941Tobacco ration in Paris reduced to four cigarettes per day for men and zero for
women. The Free French government in London under General de Gaulle signs an alliance 26/09/1941 with the Soviet Union. 50 hostages shot in Nantes, France as reprisal for assassination of the German 22/10/1941military commander. 50 more to die if the assassin isn't caught. German Major shot in Bordeaux 100 arrested, 50 shot immediately. De Gaulle meets French Resistance and asks to spare the innocent and bide their 23/10/1941 time. Hitler takes time out from monitoring the assault on Moscow to meet with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in Berlin. While the Fuhrer refrains from 25/11/1941giving an unqualified endorsement of Arab nationalist aims in the Middle East (he did not wish to upset Vichy France), the two agree on the need for the "destruction" of the "Jewish element." In a speech before the Reichstag, Hitler, after denouncing the un-neutral and warlike anti-German policies of President Roosevelt and citing Germany's obligations under 11/12/1941 the Tri-Partite Pact with Japan and Italy, declares war on the United States. Italy follows suit some hours later. Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels broadcasts an appeal for winter clothing for 20/12/1941 the German troops on the eastern front. Western Europe! Jean Moulin, the mayor of Chartes, France, who escaped to England early in the 01/01/1942conflict, parachutes back into the country in an effort to organize and unify the feuding Resistance factions. The Irish Premier, de Valera protests at the arrival of US troops in Ulster. President 27/01/1942 Roosevelt is said to be amazed by this. 13/02/1942Vidkun Quisling visits Berlin. General Gamelin, Leon Blum and Paul Reynaud are put on trial at Riom by the Vichy government, charged with being responsible for the French defeat of 1940. 19/02/1942 The trial is never concluded. Blum defends himself so brilliantly that the trial is suspended. He remains a prisoner until 1945. A combined services parachute operation to destroy the radar station at Bruneval in 28/02/1942 North France succeeds. Vichy announces that 'official' German figures put the number of French arrested in 03/03/1942 1941 at 5,390 and executions at more than 250. 28/03/1942Naval and Commando raid against St. Nazaire.
Laval returns to power in Vichy as the Chief of Government with special powers. 14/04/1942 Thirty five hostages shot in Paris. 15/04/1942The French resistance attacks the German HQ at Arras with hand grenades. An assassination attempt on Doriol, head of the French Fascists fails. Laval speaks 20/04/1942 of increased Franco-German friendship. At what turns out to be its last meeting, the puppet Nazi Reichstag passes legislation 28/04/1942proclaiming Hitler "Supreme Judge of the German People," formalising the Fuhrer's position as being above the reach of the law. The Belgian resistance destroys Tenderloo chemical works, killing more that 250. 29/04/1942 Executions by the Germans reported to be running at 25-30 a month in Belgium. Hitler and Mussolini meet at Berchtesgaden to discuss future axis strategy in North 30/04/1942Africa and the Mediterranean, the main objectives being the reduction of Malta and the seizure of the Suez Canal. All 152 members of a student group that had displayed anti-Nazi posters in Berlin 27/05/1942 on May 18, are shot. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed to command US forces in the European 25/06/1942 Theatre.
12/08/1942Himmler is made responsible for order in Belgium and Holland. Now codenamed operation 'Jubilee', some 6,100 British and Canadian troops conduct a raid-in-force against the port of Dieppe, which ends in disaster. In less than 10 hours of battle, the British and Canadian forces lose 1,380 KIA, 1,600 19/08/1942wounded, 2,000 made prisoner. The RAF loses 107 aircraft and the Royal Navy lose a destroyer. Germans loses are 345 dead or missing and 268 wounded, with total Luftwaffe losses being just 40 aircraft. Civilian casualties are put at 48 dead and 100 wounded. The formal annexation of Luxembourg to Reich leads to a general strike. Use of 30/08/1942 French accents in the written Luxembourg dialect is now liable to fines.
Hitler orders German troops to shoot all captured allied commandos, to the last 18/10/1942 man.
On the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, Hitler tells his old 08/11/1942comrades that Stalingrad is practically in German hands, adding that he didn't want to take that city just because it happens to bear the name of Stalin. German forces begin the occupation of those parts of France controlled by the Vichy 11/11/1942government. In a letter to Marshal Petain, Hitler declares that the purpose of this move is "to protect France" against the allies. Continuing their occupation of Vichy France, German troops take the naval base of 27/11/1942 Toulon. British Commandos make daring raid on Bordeaux harbour, rowing 50 miles up the 07/11/1942 River Gironde and attaching limpet mines to German shipping. The Red Cross are now spending 375,000 per month on food parcels for allied 31/11/1942 POWs. Western Europe! Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu meets with Hitler and expresses concern about the 02/01/1943 unfolding disaster at Stalingrad. The whole of the German workforce is mobilised for total war. All men aged 1628/01/1943 65 and women aged 17- 50 to be registered. 29/01/1943Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner is appointed the successor to Heydrich. With the German Sixth Army in its death throes at Stalingrad, Hitler does the seemingly unthinkable and allows the 10th anniversary of the Nazi seizure of power 30/01/1943 to pass without speaking to the nation. It is the first unmistakable evidence of Hitler's retreat from public appearances as the tide of the war turns. Vichy France creates the Milice (Militia), under the command of Joseph Darnand, an extreme right-wing World War 1 veteran, to combat the Resistance. The Milice 31/01/1943 effectively becomes an arm of the German Occupation and reaches a strength of more than 20,000 by mid-1944. Dr. Mildred Harnack-Fish, a member of the German resistance sentenced to death 16/02/1943 by the German government, is beheaded at Berlin's Plotzensee Prison. In the wake of the Stalingrad disaster, Dr. Goebbels, speaking before an enthusiastic audience of soldiers and civilians in Berlin, announces the implementation of "total 18/02/1943 war" which, for the first time, mandates the employment of German women in the war effort. 13/03/1943An assassination attempt is made on Hitler. 21/03/1943Hitler breaks his four-month silence with a Hero's Day speech. Dietrich Bonhffer is arrested, charged with subverting the German armed forces 05/04/1943 and imprisoned. 07/04/1943Hitler spends the better part of four days at Klessheim Castle near Salzburg (which
has recently been refurbished as a Nazi Party conference center and spa) alternately browbeating and cajoling Mussolini to keep Italy in the war. Concerned by Mussolini's evaporating morale, Hitler spends the rest of April summoning to Klessheim the leaders Vichy France, Norway, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Croatia for a series of pep talks. With the war's tide clearly turning against the Axis, the Fuhrer has limited success. SA Chief of Staff Viktor Lutze is killed. The actual cause of his death remains mysterious. Officially, he died in a automobile accident, although rumours persist 02/05/1943 that he was killed when German partisans ambushed his car. He is succeeded by Wilhelm Scheppmann. 06/05/1943Hitler makes one of his increasingly rare visits to Berlin for Viktor Lutze's funeral. In a speech to Nazi Party Reichsleiters and Gauleiters in Berlin, Hitler says tht Uboat warfare will be stepped up as the surest way to "cut the arteries of the enemy." 07/05/1943 Even as the Fuhrer speaks, however, the calamity of "Black May" for the U-boat force is unfolding in the Atlantic. Jean Moulin presides over the first-ever unified meeting of the French Resistance at 48 Rue de Four in Paris, where Charles de Gaulle is unanimously recognized as the 27/05/1943 movement's leader. A month later, Moulin is betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo, dying on his way to a concentration camp in Germany. The British actor Leslie Howard, flying back to Britain from a five-week lecture tour in Spain and Portugal boosting the Allied cause, is killed when his DC-3 airliner is shot down by German fighter planes over the Bay of Biscay. Although it came to be believed that the real target was Howard's manager, Alfred Chenhalls, 01/06/1943 who bore a passing resemblance to Winston Churchill, it now appears certain that Howard was the actual target. Alerted to Howard's presence in the Iberian Peninsula by German agents, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had ordered the plane shot down in order to silence the outspoken anti-Nazi actor. General Sikorski and several other Polish leaders of the London-based anti04/07/1943Communist Polish government-in-exile, die in plane crash just after take-off from Gibraltar, which some suspect is the result of deliberate sabotage. Portugal, invoking her 1373 alliance with Great Britain, agrees to allow Allied 18/08/1943 forces the use of the Azores Islands for naval and air bases. 24/08/1943Himmler, becomes the Minister of the Interior. After weeks of prodding by Goebbels, Hitler consents to make a short radio broadcast to the German people on the dramatic events of the summer, particularly 10/09/1943 in Italy. After paying tribute to his fallen partner Mussolini, Hitler warns his enemies that getting rid of him will not be nearly so simple.
In a sign of the increasing confidence and audacity of the French Resistance, Julius Ritter, an aide to Nazi Labour Minister Fritz Sauckel, is shot to death in broad 16/09/1943 daylight on the Etoile in Paris. Fifty Frenchmen are taken hostage and executed by the Nazis in reprisal. 15/10/1943General de Lattre de Tassigny escapes from Vichy France. The Germans publish a plan to kidnap Hitler, which was allegedly drawn up by the 22/10/1943 Italians. 08/11/1943Hitler in his last speech to Nazi Party says We shall go on fighting past 12 oclock. 02/12/1943Hitler orders the conscription of German Youth for active service. Rommel becomes C in C of Army Group B, which covers the coastal defences from 12/12/1943 Holland to Bay of Biscay. A pitched battle is reported between the resistance and Germans troops in Bernex, 19/12/1943 eastern France. 20/12/1943Franco disbands Falangist (Fascist) Militia in Spain. Under pressure from the Allies to curtail German espionage operations in the Irish 21/12/1943Free State, Prime Minister Eamon de Valera confiscates the German embassy's radio transmitter. Commanders of the Second Front are announced as Eisenhower, Supreme 24/12/1943Commander Allied Expeditionary Force; Montgomery to be C in C of 21st Army Group. Western Europe! Field Marshal Rommel is appointed C-in-C of Army Group B, the German forces in 01/01/1944 France north of the Loire river. 04/01/1944The Germans announce the mobilisation of school children for war work. 12/01/1944Churchill and de Gaulle meet for talks at Marrakesh. The Eire government announces the arrest of two Quisling Irishmen, parachuted 19/01/1944 into County Clare by German planes. To make clear their displeasure about ongoing assistance to the Nazi war effort by Francisco Franco's Spain, the United States and Britain announce a total oil embargo of the country. With Spanish life grinding to a virtual standstill, Franco agrees 28/01/1944 finally to cease supplying the Germans with critical war materials and to withdraw the last Spanish troops fighting with the Germans in Russia. By May, the embargo is lifted. 08/02/1944Plans for invasion of France, Operation 'Overlord' are confirmed. Hitler speaks to a closed door meeting of Nazi Party leaders and activists at the 24/02/1944Hofbrauhaus in Munich on the occasion of the anniversary of the proclamation of the Party Program in 1920. Hitler refuses Goebbels requests that the speech be
broadcast and even prohibits any mention of it in the newspapers. Leon Degrelle, leader of the Belgian fascists and commander of the Belgian Waffen 05/03/1944SS legion in Russia, visits Paris in an effort to shore up morale among his French counterparts. 04/04/1944De Gaulle becomes the head of Free French armed forces in place of Giraud. 07/04/1944Goebbels takes overall control of Berlin. Amid rumors in the allied press that he is dead or is locked in an insane asylum, Hitler appears, but does not speak at the funeral in Munich of Gauleiter Adolf 17/04/1944 Wagner. It is the first time Hitler has shown himself publicly since his speech to the "Old Fighters" the previous November. Colonel General Hans V. Hube, whose hard-charging aggressiveness on the Eastern Front had made him one of Hitler's favorites, is killed when his plane crashes on 20/04/1944takeoff from Berchtesgaden on the return trip to his command after offering the Fuhrer birthday greetings. Grief-stricken at losing such an outstanding commander, Hitler orders a state funeral for Hube in the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. An increasingly depressed and dispirited Mussolini arrives at Klessheim Castle near Salzburg for one of his last meetings with Hitler. The Fuhrer warns that the Allied 22/04/1944invasion can be expected within "6 to 8 weeks," at which time he would unleash "new technical weapons" that would turn London in a "heap of ruins." The Duce leaves unconvinced. With Allied control of the skies over Germany now virtually complete, Goebbels strongly objects to Hitler's plan to fly to Berlin for one of his rare visits to attend 25/04/1944Colonel General Hube's funeral. Hitler insists on going anyway. It will be the last time the increasingly reclusive Fuhrer will show himself at a large public gathering in the Third Reich. Marshal Petain makes his first and only visit to Paris in the course of the war to 26/04/1944inspect Allied bomb damage in the city. Crowds cheer him enthusiastically, the same crowds who will cheer De Gaulle exactly four months later. 08/05/1944Eisenhower decides that D-Day will be the 5th June. The Free French claim that the resistance now numbers 100,000 and plead for more 10/05/1944 military aid. 20/05/1944The first orders from Eisenhower are broadcast to European underground armies. General Hans Cramer, the last German commander of the Afrika Korps, who was captured in May 1943, arrives in Berlin. Imprisoned in a POW camp in Wales, his deteriorating health caused him to be repatriated to Germany through the Swedish Red Cross. He was brought first from Wales to London, the route taken brought him 23/05/1944through the south and south-west of England. He was allowed to see the massive build up of tanks, planes and ships getting ready for the D-Day invasion. What he didn't know was the exact area of England he was being driven through. He was told it was southern and eastern England and this is what he reported to his seniors in Berlin, adding emphasis to the Allied propaganda that the invasion would take place
in the Calais area. Charles De Gaulle proclaims his Free French movement to be the Provisional Government of the French Republic. Though the new government wins recognition 26/05/1944from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia and Norway, Roosevelt and Churchill are furious and refuse recognition. They retaliate by excluding De Gaulle from the final planning for Operation Overlord. Eisenhower postpones 'Operation Overlord', the allied invasion of France, for 24 04/06/1944 hours because of rough seas in the English Channel. Before dawn, the Allied Expeditionary Force of British, American, Canadian, Polish, and Free French troops begins Operation Overlord, the long-awaited invasion of France. After an intensive naval and aerial bombardment, the first wave of 5 divisions (156,115 men) are landed at designated beaches in Normandy named Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah. This is preceded by the British 6th Airborne Division which lands near Caen and some 12,000 paratroopers of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions which are dropped on the Cotentin peninsula. These forces are supported by 1,213 warships, including 7 battleships and 23 cruisers, 1,600 06/06/1944 auxiliary ships, and 4,126 landing craft, as well as massive British and American air support, which flys 14,674 sorties that day. Opposing them in their bunkers and on the beaches are 5 German infantry divisions with about 50,000 men and 100 tanks and assault guns. Despite some heavy casualties, especially by the Americans on Omaha Beach, the German defenders, stunned and surprised by the massive onslaught, are progressively overwhelmed, and most of the allied objectives are reached and secured by nightfall. There is very little opposition from the Luftwaffe or Kriegsmarine. British troops liberate Bayeux, five miles inland from the Normandy coast. All 07/06/1944 beachheads are reported as established. U.S. forces advancing from Utah Beach capture St. Mere-Eglise and cut the crucial 09/06/1944road and rail links on the Cherbourg peninsula. Rommel puts all German forces in Normandy onto the defensive. German counterattacks against Allied invasion forces are unsuccessful for lack of armoured reserves in the area. Troops of the 2nd SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' 10/06/1944massacre more than 600 people in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane. While the men are shot immediately, the women and children are locked in a church the alter of which is set on fire; those who try to escape the flames are shot. U.S. troops fighting for Carentan, link up with British troops, thereby completing a 12/06/1944solid line along a 50-mile battle front. So far, the allies have landed 326,000 men and 54,000 vehicles onto the Normandy beaches. Near Villers-Bocage, a single Tiger tank from the 12th SS Panzer Division (Michael 13/06/1944Wittmann's) destroys 25 tanks and other vehicles of the British 7th Armoured Division. His Majesty the King and de Gaulle visit the Normandy front (separately). Carentan 14/06/1944 is finally in U.S. hands after a weeks fighting in Normandy. General de Lattre de Tassignys Free French land on Elba and complete its capture 17/06/1944 in just two days. 18/06/1944The US First Army cuts off and isolates the German forces defending Cherbourg.
A violent storm in the English Channel wrecks the U.S. Mulberry Harbour at St. 19/06/1944 Laurent (Omaha Beach). 20 allied divisions now oppose 16 German in Normandy. 20/06/1944U.S. troops attack the outer defenses of Cherbourg. 22/06/1944An all-out ground attack begins against Cherbourg. The British Second Army begins a major offensive in the area of Caen 'Operation 25/06/1944Epsom'. After a naval bombardment, street fighting is reported in Cherbourg. General Koenig is appointed C-in-C of the Free French forces. US troops enter Cherbourg taking the German garrison commander prisoner. The 26/06/1944 British launch Operation 'Epsom' in the Odon Valley West of Caen. 27/06/1944The British gain Hill 112 in Normandy. The British 2nd Army's Operation Epsom, designed to break through the German 28/06/1944defenses near Caen is halted by the fierce resistance of the 1st and 2nd SS Panzer Korps. The US VII Corps captures the last harbour fort at Cherbourg, but the port rendered completely useless for three weeks. The RAF carries out a saturation raid (250 29/06/1944 Lancasters) against the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions at Villers-Bocage near Caen. The remaining 6,000 Germans in the Cherbourg peninsula surrender. The Germans 30/06/1944 forces retake Hill 112 from the British 2nd Army. The invasion of southern France is fixed for the 15th August. Since D-Day, the Allies have landed 920,000 troops, 177,000 vehicles and 600,000 tons of supplies 04/06/1944 and equipment. In the 24 days of fighting, they have lost 62,000 men killed, wounded and missing. The end of the battle of the Scottish Corridor in Normandy result in the German 06/06/1944counter-attacks failing to eliminate it. Field Marshal von Rundstedt, C-in-C West, is replaced by Field Marshal von Kluge. 03/07/1944The U.S. VIII Corps drives southwards to Coutances. In Normandy, one U.S. division gains only 200yds and six German prisoners for 04/07/1944 nearly 1,400 casualties. Attacks by the US Seventh Army in the Carentan area of the Cotentin peninsula are 07/07/1944 blunted by violent German counter-attacks. The British Second Army begins a major offensive Operation Charnwood aimed at 08/07/1944 capturing Caen. Units of the British Second Army enter Caen which has been reduced to a heap of 09/07/1944rubble due to the preceding heavy aerial and artillery bombardments by the British. U.S. XIX Corps begins its push for St. Lo. The US VIII Corps continues its attacks from the Carentan area toward St. Lo, but is 11/07/1944 meeting with strong German resistance. The US VIII Corps slowly gains ground in its offensive towards St. Lo, against 12/07/1944 fierce resistance by units of the German 7th Army. 14/07/1944Hitler leaves Berchtesgaden for the last time. Rommel is severely wounded by a Spitfire attack after his inspection of defenses 17/07/1944 Southeast of Caen. The U.S. XIX Corps capture St. Lo, but has suffered 6,000 casualties since the 11th 18/07/1944 July. Montgomery launches Operation 'Goodwood' 40 miles east of Caen. However,
VIII Corps is stopped with loss of 200 tanks and 1,500 men after the death ride of the armoured divisions, which also destroys 109 Panzer's. The British 3rd Division is repulsed from Emiville four times as the Canadians clear 19/07/1944the southern suburbs of Caen. The British 11th Armoured Division takes Bras and Hubert-Follie. Heavy rain for next two days ends operation 'Goodwood' after 413 British tanks are 20/07/1944 lost. "Deutsche Gruss", the Nazi form of salute, is introduced in to the Wehrmacht in the 23/07/1944 wake of the July 20th bomb plot against Adolf Hitler. The US VII Corps launches 'Operation Cobra' in an attempt to breakout from the 25/07/1944southern end of the Cherbourg peninsula, near St. Lo. The Canadians attack South of Caen. Goebbels becomes the Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War. U.S. troops breakthrough at St. Lo, forcing a general German withdrawal from 27/07/1944 Normandy toward the river Seine. U.S. troops take Coutances, thereby meeting the objectives laid down for 'Operation 28/07/1944 Cobra'. 30/07/1944Six British divisions attack at Caumont, 15 miles East of St. Lo. The British VIII Corps begins 'Operation Bluecoat', an assault towards the river 31/07/1944Vire. The U.S. 4th Armoured Division captures Avranches, having advanced 35 miles and taken 20,000 prisoners since the 25th July. 01/08/1944Pattons U.S. Third Army is activated. The U.S. VIII Corps moves West from the Avranches area along the Brittany coast, 02/08/1944 but the main force drives eastward. Turkey ends diplomatic relations with Germany. Hitler orders a counter-attack against the U.S. troops from east of Avranches, in 03/08/1944 order to re-establish positions on the coast. A purge of the German Army is announced. In northern France, the allies take 04/08/1944 Rennes, Evrecy and Esqutsy. The U.S. XV Corps makes 50kms in about 7 hours, crossing the Mayenne river at 05/08/1944 Mayenne, while further south the river is reached at Laval. The U.S. XX Corps enters Laval and continues south-east. The U.S. 4th Armoured Division advances to Vannes and Lorient, while the U.S. 6th Armoured Division, on 06/08/1944their right flank, is headed for the westernmost point of the Brittany Peninsula and the ports of Brest. North of them, 8th U.S. Infantry Division is passing along the northern coastline of the peninsula. The German 2nd, 116th, 1st SS and 2nd SS Panzer divisions, with 145 tanks to the East of Mortain launch Operation Luttich, to counter-attack against the U.S. 3rd Armys sweep to the South. The Germans move against Avranches and achieve 07/08/1944 some success at Mortain. Assisted by RAF Typhoons, the Americans are able to stop the Germans by the afternoon. U.S. 15th Corps is turned north to meet the Canadians in Falaise. The Canadians launch Operation 'Totalize' South of Caen, with 600 tanks and 720 08/08/1944 guns. German Panzers fight viciously with the Canadians and Poles who make only slow 09/08/1944progress towards Caen. The U.S. 5th Armoured Division take Le Mans. Eisenhower sets up a HQ in France.
The U.S. 5th Armoured and 2nd French Armoured Divisions cover 15 miles to 10/08/1944 Alencon. 11/08/1944U.S. troops capture Nantes and Angers and drive South across the Loire. Monty launches Operation 'Tractable' towards Falaise with a carpet bombing by 800 14/08/1944 planes. The allies launch Operation 'Dragoon', a combined assault on the South coast of France from Toulon to Nice. 9,000 airborne troops are landed, along with 90,000 by sea. Six towns and 2,000 prisoners are taken. About 200,000 Germans (23 divisions) 15/08/1944 are in the 40-mile long, 11-mile wide (at narrowest point) Argentan-Falaise gap, but start to pull out as Anglo-Canadian troops resume the attack to the North. Adolf Hitler describes this as The worst day of my life. Radio Paris, the German-controlled collaborationist radio station, goes off the air. General de Lattre de Tassignys French First Army begins to land in force in southern France. Hitler orders the withdrawal of all German forces in southern France. The French Resistance steps up its attacks on German posts along the Swiss 16/08/1944border, assaulting Machilly, Saint-Julien and Valleiry. The first two surrender with minimal bloodshed, but the 20 German customs officers at Valleiry are shot out of hand by resistants following their surrender, along with two French women who were with them. A German relief column arrives too late, shooting seven civilians and burning 20 houses in retaliation. The remnants of the Vichy French regime in the French capital take flight for Germany as the Resistance comes out into the open and seizes strong points throughout the city. They establish a comic-opera government-in-exile in the German city of Sigmaringen until the end of the war. The Citadel at St. Malo surrenders after heavy fighting. Falaise falls to the Canadians and Monty orders the 17/08/1944 pocket to be sealed. U.S. armour frees Chartres, Orleans and Chateaudun. Field Marshal Model takes over command of German forces in the West from Field Marshal von Kluge who committed suicide because of his involvement in the 20th July bomb plot. Marshal Petain and his staff are interned at Belfort by order of the Fhrer. The Vichy French government under Premier Laval resigns. The German Seventh Army moves across the Orme but 18,000 prisoners are taken. 18/08/1944The Germans begin the evacuations of their troops stationed near the Spanish border and the Gulf of Biscay. The Falaise pocket is now just seven miles by six. The Germans forces are ordered to break out during the night across the Dives. Pattons armour reaches the Seine at 19/08/1944 Nantes and makes the first crossing 30 miles North West of Paris. The Germans are granted a truce in Paris to withdraw troops. The allies seal the Falaise gap, with blocking forces taking 4,000 prisoners. However, the Germans in the Falaise pocket break out along a single road and stream out of the pocket for six hours before the pocket is resealed. The Allies estimate that 10,000 Germans have died in the pocket and 50,000 prisoners taken. 20/08/1944 Although one German division (77th Infantry Division) is annihilated, 26 extremely weak divisions do escape the pocket. The U.S. 79th Division reaches the west bank of the Seine above Paris. Free French forces rise in Paris, while de Gaulle is reported in France. 21/08/1944The French First Army surrounds Toulon. The U.S. Third Army reaches Troyes and
Reims. U.S. armour is now at Melun, 35 miles Southeast of Paris. U.S. and Free French 23/08/1944 forces meet outside Bordeaux. The Germans stage comeback in Paris, with fierce fighting reported. Bordeaux is 24/08/1944evacuated by German troops who occupy fortified bunker positions on the Gironde west of the city. French armour reaches Paris as the 5,000-strong German garrison surrenders. De 25/08/1944 Gaulle enters the Paris. After a delirious day of celebrating their citys liberation from the Germans, Parisians are brought back to reality shortly before midnight when the Luftwaffe 26/08/1944stages a vindictive raid that destroys a substantial part of the citys working class neighbourhoods in the northeast. Allied troops pour across Seine and drive East. The French liberate Tarascon and Avignon in the South of France. The Canadians cross the Seine around Rouen. The remaining 1,800 Germans at 27/08/1944Toulon surrender as the French claim a total of 17,000 captured for just 2,700 French casualties. U.S. troops cross the Marne and take Meaux, 30 miles East of Paris. The last 28/08/1944German garrison at Marseilles surrenders to the French, who take 37,000 prisoners for 4,000 French casualties. The British begin the Race for Amiens. U.S. troops liberate Soissons, 60 miles 29/08/1944Northeast of Paris. Montelimar is taken by the French who also cross the Rhone in several places. The Canadians enter Rouen. The U.S. 3rd Army, whose 4th Armored Division is already at Troyes is ordered to 30/08/1944continue East until the tanks run dry and from that point, to advance on foot, in order to get across the Meuse river. The British 11th Armoured Division captures Amiens and take the German bridge 31/08/1944across the Somme in surprise attack. Montpellier, Beziers, Narbonne and Nice all taken. The U.S. Third Army reaches the river Meuse. The British XII Corps crosses the Somme and the Canadians liberate Dieppe. American troops of Patton's Third Army take Verdun. American troops start their 01/09/1944 attack to capture the strategic port city of Brest which the Germans have turned into a fortress. 02/09/1944The allies cross into Belgium. The British Second Army liberates Brussels. The U.S. First Army takes Tournai. 03/09/1944French and U.S. forces enter Lyons. Field Marshal von Rundstedt assumes command of the German armies in the West. 04/09/1944The British 11th Armoured Division takes Antwerp and the docks undamaged. 05/09/1944The U.S. 3rd Army crosses the Meuse as the British reach Ghent. The Canadians surround Calais, trapping the German garrison. Liege falls to British 06/09/1944troops, while the U.S. First Army pushes East through Belgium, crossing Meuse. Ghent and Courtrai are liberated. The British 11th Armoured Division crosses the Albert Canal, to the East of Antwerp. The U.S. Third Army crosses the Moselle. U.S. 9th Air Force fighters, 07/09/1944 supporting elements of the U.S. 7th Army in southern France, destroy an estimated 500 German vehicles along a 25km section of road. Germany's armoured forces
have been shattered along the western front. German Army Group B has only about a hundred operational tanks. Canadians take Ostend, while the U.S. First Army take Liege, just 20 miles from the 08/09/1944 German border. General de Gaulle forms a provisional French government that includes 09/09/1944 Communists. Eisenhower agrees to Montys airborne plan Operation 'Market Garden'. U.S. troops 10/09/1944enter Luxembourg. The first allied patrol crosses German frontier east of Liege, near Aachen. US First Army occupies Luxembourg. The 15th Scottish Division crosses the Dutch border, east of Antwerp. A bridgehead is established across Meuse-Escaut canal. The U.S. Third Army captures a large part 11/09/1944 of Maginot Line intact and reach the German border at Trier on the Moselle river. The 1st French Division occupies Dijon. 12/09/1944The German garrison at Le Havre surrenders after very heavy fighting. The U.S. Ninth Army is engaged in heavy fighting as the German garrison keeps up 13/09/1944 its resistance at Brest. The U.S. First Army reaches the Siegfried Line, to the East of Aachen and less than 15/09/194440 miles west of Bonn. Maastricht and Eysden in southern Holland liberated. The US First Army occupies Nancy. 16/09/1944Dr. Goebbels exhorts all Germans to resist with the utmost fanaticism. Operation 'Market Garden' begins with First Allied Airborne Army drops at Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem to secure bridgeheads, as the British Second 17/09/1944 Army pushes north into Holland from Belgium, to link up. Canadians launch all-out assault on the Boulogne garrison. The U.S. Ninth Army finally takes Brest after a long struggle. The Germans launch 18/09/1944 heavy counter-attack in Arnhem sector. The British advance from Belgium is now only two miles from the airborne forces at Nijmegen in Holland, but British paratroop forces dropped at Arnhem encounter 19/09/1944 unexpected heavy German resistance. The Belgian Parliament meets formally in Parliament House, Brussels for first time since May 1940. British armoured forces of XXX Corps link up with U.S. paratroops at Nijmegen, 20/09/1944 capturing the bridge intact. Polish paratrooper's land between Arnhem and Nijmegen as the British force at 21/09/1944Arnhem bridge is overwhelmed. Autumn rains impede the allied advance as the U.S. 85th Division takes Firenzwold. The British Second Army is now five miles North of Nijmegen, but still six miles 22/09/1944from Arnhem. The U.S. First Army halts its offensive West of Aachen. German troops holding out in the port city of Boulogne finally surrender to Canadian forces. 23/09/1944The Canadians win a bridgehead over the Escaut Canal. The British Second Army reaches the Lower Rhine in force. The British paratroops at Arnhem are now under severe pressure. British troops cross the German border to 24/09/1944 the Southeast of Nijmegen. The U.S. Third Army's Moselle bridgeheads to the South of Metz are sealed off by the Germans. The Canadians begin all-out attack on the German stronghold at Calais. Hitler 25/09/1944orders the formation of the Volksturm, the German home guard. The British evacuate the remaining paratrooper at Arnhem, but only 2,163 men out of nearly
10,000 return. The Canadians take Cape Gris Nez, Southwest of Calais and grant a 24-hour truce 29/09/1944 for Germans to evacuate civilians. The 7,500 strong Calais garrison surrenders to the Canadians. Rejoicing in the streets of Dover at the announcement that the last of the German cross-channel guns, 30/09/1944 which have pounded the southeast coast of Britain for three years, have been silenced. The allies begin a 60-hour truce at Dunkirk to allow the evacuation of civilians. The 03/10/1944 U.S. Third Army resumes its attack on Fort Driant, Metz for the next 10 days. 05/10/1944The Canadians enter Holland. 06/10/1944The Canadian 3rd Division attacks the Breskena Pocket, South of the Scheldt. 08/10/1944Units of the U.S. Ninth Army reach the outskirts of Aachen on the German border. The American 24-hour surrender ultimatum to Germans at Aachen is rejected. The 10/10/1944 Canadians enter the Breskens Pocket along the Scheldt with amphibians. 12/10/1944The Germans fall back across the Lower Rhine, west of Arnhem. Field Marshall Rommel commits suicide after he is implicated in the 20th July 14/10/1944 Bomb Plot. 16/10/1944The U.S. First Army surrounds Aachen. The call up for the Volksturm begins in Germany, with all able-bodied men from 16 18/10/1944to 60 to be conscripted. German radio says 50,000 officers have been killed so far in war. Himmler becomes Commander-in-Chief, Forces of Interior. 19/10/1944Field Marshal Model gives up the attempts to relieve Aachen. Aachen finally falls to the U.S. First Army, earning the distinction of being the first German city to be captured. 12,000 German prisoners have been taken since the 2nd 21/10/1944 October. Breskens is captured by the Canadians, but fighting continues for 10 more days in the pocket. 28/10/1944The Germans begin to withdraw into Walcheren. The British reach the river Mass, south of Rotterdam and establish a bridgehead. 31/10/1944 The Canadians reach Walcheren. The British Royal Marines and Army Commandos land on Dutch island of 01/11/1944Walcheren off the Scheldt Estuary in an attempt to clear the German defenders from this strategic island. The Canadians take Zeebrugge, the last corner of occupied Belgium, on Channel coast. The Canadian 2nd Division withdraws from a 700yd deep bridgehead in 02/11/1944 Walcheren. All eligible Germans are ordered to enroll in Volksturm on pain of court-martial. 06/11/1944Middelburg is surrendered by the 2,000 Germans. For the first time in the history of the Third Reich, Hitler fails to appear in Munich 08/11/1944to address "the Old Fighters" on the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. Speculation mounts as Himmler reads a speech in the Fhrer's place. The last Germans on Walcheren surrender. German forces evacuate the Moerdijk 09/11/1944 bridgehead across the Meuse river. 11/11/1944The German First Army HQ leaves Metz as the U.S. Third Army gains three
bridgeheads over the Moselle. Free French forces under General Leclerc attack from Alsace towards the upper 13/11/1944 Rhine. De Lattre launches an attack in the snow near the Swiss border, to take Belfort. The 14/11/1944U.S. 95th infantry Division begins to capture the Metz forts. The British begins their attack on Maas in central Holland. The U.S. First and Ninth Armies launch a new attack to the East of Aachen towards the Roer Dams (6 miles away) with four divisions on a 25-mile front. With 16/11/1944Antwerp, Marseilles and other liberated ports now available for Allied use, the socalled "Red Ball Express," a relay of U.S. Army supply trucks operating between the front and the Normandy beaches, is finally shut down. The U.S. Third Army crosses the German frontier. Metz is cut off and surrounded 18/11/1944 by the U.S. Third Army's, XX Corps. The U.S. 95th Division fights its way into the suburbs of Metz. The French 1st 19/11/1944 Armoured Division reaches the Rhine. With artillery audible in the distance, Hitler departs for Berlin from the Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair), his headquarters near Rastenburg in East Prussia that he has occupied 20/11/1944 since the beginning of the war with the Soviet Union in June 1941. Although construction work continues on the headquarters, Hitler never returns. 22/11/1944Fighting in Metz is over but seven forts still hold out. The allies cross the Saar near the Franco-German border. Troops of the French First 24/11/1944Army capture Mhlhausen in Alsace, while the French 2nd Armoured Division takes Strasbourg. 25/11/1944The French take Belfort. The U.S. Ninth Army reaches the Roer from Julich to Linnich. The French First 28/11/1944Army closes its pincers at Bumhaupt, but only part of German 63rd Corps is trapped, 17,000 prisoners and 120 guns have been taken since 14th October. 02/12/1944The allied advance into the Saar on the Franco-German border continues. Armoured units of the US 3rd Army succeed in penetrating the fortified German 03/12/1944 lines of the Westwall near Saarlautern. 05/12/1944The U.S. Third Army advances into Germany along a 30-mile front. 08/12/1944German troops evacuate Jlich on the Roer river. 10/12/1944The US Third Army captures Hagenau and Saargemnd. 12/12/1944The underground V-weapon factory at Wittring is captured by the U.S. Third Army. 13/12/1944German forces of 7th Armee withdraw in to the fortified positions of the Westwall. The German Army in the West begins Operation Wacht am Rhein, with the objective of splitting the allied forces and capturing the strategic port of Antwerp. Under the control of Heeresgruppe B, the attacking forces pouring forth from the 16/12/1944 Ardennes forest comprise of the 6th SS Panzer Army, 5th Panzer Army and the 7th Army providing flank support to the south of the line of advance. The German offensive manages to breakthrough the American front on a 70-mile front. After some deep penetrations into the lines of the unprepared American forces, the Germans make only slow progress due to limited roads as well as difficult terrain 17/12/1944 and weather conditions in the Ardennes, not reaching any assigned first day objectives. The allies rush reinforcements to the Ardennes.
'Operation Wacht am Rhein' begins to bog down in the face of stiffening U.S. 18/12/1944resistance and the lack of adequate logistical support, notably fuel for the armoured Kampfgruppen of the 6th SS and 5th Panzer Army's. Nearly 9,000 surrounded Americans surrender in the Schnee Eifel, the most serious U.S. reverse in Europe. SHAEF orders the 101st Airborne Division as well as the 19/12/1944 10th Armoured Division to be detached from 3rd Army and moved North to aid the 28th Infantry Division in its defense of the vital road junction of Bastogne. In their torturous advance toward the Meuse river, armoured units of 6th SS Panzer 20/12/1944Army capture Stavelot, searching for allied fuel dumps to replenish their nearly exhausted supplies of gasoline. The U.S. First Army retakes Stavelot but to the south, the Germans besiege 21/12/1944 Bastogne. Units of 5th Panzer Army capture St. Vith. The allies report that the Germans have penetrated up to 40 miles in the Ardennes. The American defenders of Bastogne receive the German surrender ultimatum 22/12/1944which Brigadier General McAuliffe, answers with the single word, "Nuts!". Rundstedts suggestion of a withdrawal is refused by Hitler. The U.S. 3rd Army begins an offensive to relieve Bastogne. The 2nd Panzer Division is just four miles from the river Meuse, Southwest of 25/12/1944 Liege, but is stopped by the U.S. 2nd Armoured Division with British help. Eight French Gestapo leaders are executed in Paris. Bastogne is relieved by the U.S. 26/12/1944 4th Armoured Division. 28/12/1944U.S. troops gain ground against the Ardennes salient. The Germans launch a heavy attack on the Bastogne corridor in the Ardennes. The 30/12/1944 British attack on Houffalize is halted by bitter German resistance. Rochefort is back in U.S. hands. Third Army launch new counter-offensive near 31/12/1944Bastogne. At about 11pm the Germans launch their 'Nordwind' offensive towards Strasbourg. Western Europe! Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey dies in plane crash near Paris and becomes the fourth 02/01/1945 prominent allied leader to die like this. 03/01/1945The U.S. First Army counter-attacks on the northern side of the Ardennes salient. The U.S. Third Army counter-attacks towards Houffalize, on the southern side of 09/01/1945 the Ardennes salient. 11/01/1945British troops capture Laroche, 20 miles Northwest of Bastogne. The German 'Nordwind' offensive is stopped 13 miles from Strasbourg. British and 12/01/1945 U.S. forces link up in the Laroche area. 13/01/1945The U.S. First Army attack the Germans between Stavelot and Malmady. The British Second Army attacks the Germans East of Maas, as the U.S. First and 16/01/1945Third Armies meet at Houffalize. The German offensive in the Ardennes is on its last legs. Hitler orders that all divisional sized and larger attacks, or retreats must have his 19/01/1945 approval. 20/01/1945The French First Army under de Lattre attacks against the Colmar Pocket in Alsace. 28/01/1945The Ardennes salient is finally eradicated. 29/01/1945The allied thrust into Rhineland continues with the capture of Oberhausen, 10 miles
Northeast of Duisberg. Quisling meets Hitler in Berlin for the last time. The U.S. First Army takes Remscheid, 20 miles to the East of Dsseldorf. The U.S. 01/02/1945 Seventh Army reaches Moder and Siegfried Line. 02/02/1945French troops occupy Colmar. The U.S. First Army takes the first of seven Ruhr dams. Belgium is now reported as 04/02/1945 completely free of German troops. The Germans blow up the floodgates in the Ruhr, flooding the area West of Cologne 07/02/1945 and preventing the use of assault floating bridges by Allies. 50,000 British and Canadians troops with 500 tanks and 1,034 guns launch a new 08/02/1945 offensive into the Reichswald, to the Southeast of Nijmegen. British and Canadians troops smash the first of the main Siegfried Line defence zones. The last Rhine bridge is blown in the Colmar Pocket. Half the German 09/02/1945 Nineteenth Army were evacuated, but General De Lattre's forces have taken 22,000 German prisoners since the 20th January. 10/02/1945The U.S. First Army captures the seventh and most important Ruhr dam. British and Canadians troops advancing from Southeast Holland take Cleve in 12/02/1945 western Germany. 14/02/1945Canadian and British troops reach the Rhine, 40 miles Northwest of Duisberg. The U.S. Third Army launches a new offensive into Germany, having pierced the 17/02/1945 Siegfried Line on a 11-mile front. The US Ninth Army begins an offensive from its bridgeheads on the Roer river 23/02/1945 leading to the bloody battle of the Hrtgen Forest. A haggard and aged-looking Hitler addresses his Gauleiters and Reichsleiters for what proves to be the last time in the Reich Chancellery in Berlin on the occasion of 24/02/1945the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of the Nazi Party program. Perhaps sensitive to the likelihood of public scepticism and derision, he refuses to allow the speech to be broadcast or even reported to the public at large. 26/02/1945The attacks by the US Ninth Army into the Hrtgen Forest make little progress. SHAEF reports that spectacular gains by the U.S. First and Ninth Armies on the 27/02/1945 Cologne Plain have been made. The US Ninth Army achieves a breakthrough near Erkelenz 30 miles to the West of 28/02/1945 Cologne, but loses 100 tanks in the process. 01/03/1945The US Ninth Army captures Mnchen-Gladbach and Rheydt west of the Rhine. Armoured spearheads of the US Ninth Army reach the Rhine near Neuss. The U.S. 02/03/1945 Third Army captures Trier on the Moselle. Units of the Canadian First Army capture Xanten on the lower Rhine in the battle of 03/03/1945 the Reichswald. The US First Army captures Krefeld. Advance patrols of the U.S. First Army reach Cologne. Germany is now 05/03/1945 conscripting 15 and 16-year-olds into the regular army. The U.S. Third Army reaches the Rhine Northwest of Koblenz, as Cologne falls to 06/03/1945 U.S. First Army. The U.S. 9th Armoured Division makes a surprise dash across the undestroyed 07/03/1945 Rhine bridge at Remagen, establishing a crucial bridgehead on the East bank.
British and Canadian troops involved in Operation 'Blockbuster' enter Xanten on the 08/03/1945Rhine after several days of heavy fighting further to the South U.S. troops enter Bonn. The U.S. First Army widens the Remagen bridgehead. The US Third Army captures 09/03/1945 Andernach on the Rhine. Field Marshal Kesselring replaces Field Marshal von Rundstedt as C-in-C of 10/03/1945German forces in the West. German troops evacuate Wesel on the lower Rhine. The US Third Army captures Bonn. 11/03/1945The US third Army captures Kochem on the lower Moselle river. 14/03/1945The U.S. Third Army crosses the Moselle, Southwest of Koblenz. Attacks by troops of the US First Army to expand the Remagen bridgehead further, 15/03/1945 meet with little success. The U.S. Third Army takes Koblenz. The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen, seized by 17/03/1945US troops on the 7th March, suddenly collapses, killing dozens of US Army engineers working to reinforce it. 18/03/1945The US Third Army captures Boppard on the Rhine. The U.S. Seventh Army take Worms, 60 miles to the Southeast of Koblenz. Hitler orders the demolition of all German industrial, utility and transport facilities in 19/03/1945 danger of falling into enemy hands; this order (Verbrannte Erde Scorched Earth) is sabotaged by armaments minister Speer and most local commanders. 20/03/1945The U.S. Seventh Army takes Saarbrcken. Units of the U.S. First Army advances from the Remagen bridgehead toward 21/03/1945 Siegburg. The U.S. First Army's bridgehead at Remagen is now 30 miles long. Units of the US 22/03/1945Third Army cross the Rhine at Oppenheim south of Mainz against minimal German resistance. The U.S. Third Army crosses the Rhine North of Worms, as the British Second and 23/03/1945 Canadian First Armies begin their assault across the Rhine above the Ruhr. Montgomery's 21st Army Group attacks across the Rhine, 15 miles North of Duisberg in the Wesel area, after 3,500-gun barrage. 16,870 paratroops land across 24/03/1945the river Rhine in Operation 'Plunder' and succeed in linking up with advancing British troops and establishing four bridgeheads. The US Third Army captures Speyer and Ludwigshafen on the upper Rhine. The U.S. First Army breaks out of the Remagen bridgehead. The British Second 25/03/1945 Army captures Wesel which has been nearly 100% destroyed by Allied bombing. The U.S. Third Army reaches Main and establishes contact with U.S. Seventh Army 26/03/1945 on the East side of Rhine, near Worms. The US Third Army captures Darmstadt. The allied bridgehead north of Ruhr is now 700 square miles. 16,257 POW's are 27/03/1945taken for 6,781 allied casualties in four days. The U.S. Third Army captures Aschaffenburg. The British Second Army begin its drive towards the Elbe as the U.S. First Army 28/03/1945captures Marburg, 60 miles Northeast of Koblenz. The US Third Army captures Limburg on the Lahn. The U.S. Seventh Army takes Mannheim and the U.S. Third Army takes Wiesbaden 29/03/1945 and Frankfurt. 30/03/1945The U.S. First Army begins a 3 day battle for Paderborn.
The Germans start pulling out of Holland. The French First Army crosses the Rhine 31/03/1945for first time since Napoleon. The US Third Army reaches Siegen 20 miles East of the Rhine. The U.S. First and Ninth Armies link up at Lippstadt cutting off a third of a million 01/04/1945German troops in the Ruhr area. The U.S. First Army enters Hamm, 40 miles Northeast of Essen. The British 7th Armoured Division enters Rhine on Dortmund-Ems canal, 60 miles 02/04/1945 Northeast of Essen. The British Second Army reaches Mnster; the U.S. Ninth Army captures 03/04/1945 Recklinghausen in the Ruhr, while the US First Army takes Fulda and Kassel. The US Third Army advancing toward Leipzig takes Suhl and Gotha and finally 04/04/1945clears Kassel of German resistance. The British Second Army captures Osnabrck. The French First Army enters Karlsruhe. Eighteen U.S. divisions begin the clearance of Ruhr Pocket. The French First Army 05/04/1945 captures Karlsruhe on the upper Rhine. The U.S. First Army takes Gttingen, 25 miles Northeast of Kassel. The US Ninth 07/04/1945 Army captures Hameln and Eisenach. A British SAS Brigade paratroops into eastern Holland, to clear the way for 08/04/1945Canadians troops who are moving North. The British Second Army reaches Hildesheim, while the US Seventh Army captures Pforzheim near the upper Rhine. The Canadian First Army continues its push North into Holland, taking Deventer, 30 10/04/1945miles North of Nijmegen. The British Second Army takes Wildenhausen, 20 miles Southwest of Bremen. The U.S. Ninth Army takes Hanover. The U.S. Third Army takes the historic town of Weimar. The British Second Army takes Celle, 30 miles Northeast of Hanover, cutting the road to Hamburg. The U.S. 11/04/1945 Ninth Army capture Essen, Bochum and Goslar in the Harz Mountains. The U.S. Seventh Army reaches Schweinfurt, 80 miles to the East of Frankfurt. The U.S. Ninth Army crosses the Elbe, taking Brunswick. The U.S. Third Army takes Erfurt. French troops take Baden-Baden on the southern flank. The U.S. 6th 12/04/1945 Armoured Division overruns Buchenwald concentration camp. The British Second Army captures Celle 60 miles to the South of Hamburg. A local truce is declared near Celle so that the British Second Army can take over 13/04/1945the notorious Belsen concentration camp. The U.S. Ninth Army clears the Duisberg Pocket. The US Third Army captures Erfurt and Weimar. U.S. troops split the Ruhr Pocket in two at Hagen. Glider troops capture the exGerman Chancellor von Papen at a hunting-lodge near Stockhausen along with three generals. The French launch a final assault on the trapped German garrison at 14/04/1945Bordeaux. The British Second Army reaches the outskirts of Bremen, while the US Third Army captures Gera and Bayreuth. The Canadian First Army assumes military control of the Netherlands where German forces are now trapped in the Atlantic wall fortifications along the coastline. The Canadian First Army reaches the coast in northern Holland and captures 15/04/1945Arnhem in the South. The US First Army captures Leuna and Merseburg in Saxony, while the French First Army captures Kehl and Offenburg on the upper Rhine. 16/04/1945In northern Holland the Canadians take Harlingen, 50 miles Northeast of
Amsterdam and occupies Leeuwarden and Groningen. The US First Army captures Solingen and Wuppertal. The Ruhr pocket is finally annihilated, with 317,000 Germans being captured, including 29 generals. The U.S. Ninth Army takes Magdeburg. The U.S. First Army enters Dsseldorf. General De Lattres French troops link up at Freudenstadt behind 18/04/1945 the Black Forest. The British Second Army captures lzen and Lneburg. The US Third Army captures Nrnberg advancing units across the German/Czechoslovakian frontier. The British Second Army reaches the Elbe and launches an attack on Bremen. The U.S. First Army captures Leipzig and Halle, 50 miles South of Magdeburg. On the eve of Hitler's 56th birthday, Dr. Goebbels exhorts the nation and predicts that in 19/04/1945spite of all misfortunes Germany will yet prevail, that the "perverse coalition between Bolshevism and Plutocracy" is about to break up, and that it is Adolf Hitler ("Our Hitler!") who will still turn back the tide and save Europe, as he has thus far, from falling into the clutches of the Kremlin. 20/04/1945The U.S. Seventh Army takes Nuremberg. The U.S. Ninth Army captures Blankenburg, 80 miles to the East of Kassel. The U.S. First Army take Dessau. The French First Army captures Stuttgart along with 21/04/1945 28,000 prisoners and crosses the Danube. Field Marshal Model, commits suicide. German troops keep up their resistance around Elbingerode in the Harz Mountains. The U.S. First and Ninth Armies clear all German resistance in the Harz Mountains, 40 miles Southwest of Magdeburg. The U.S. Seventh Army captures a bridge across the Danube. The British Second Army is fighting in the outskirts of Bremen. The 22/04/1945 U.S. Third Army starts its drive down the Danube valley as the French First Army reaches Lake Constance on the Swiss/ German border. Hitler, ignoring the pleas of his entourage, decides to stay in his bunker at Berlin to await the inevitable end. Dessau is reported as clear of German troops. The British Second Army reaches Harburg across the Elbe from Hamburg. Frankfurt is captured. Goring telegraphs Hitler saying that he will take over command as Hitlers Deputy. Hitler says he must 23/04/1945 resign all his posts and orders Gorings arrest. Reichsfhrer-SS Himmler begins secret negotiations for a separate peace in the West with Count Bernadotte, head of the Swedish Red Cross. The British Second and Canadian First Armies enter Bremen. The U.S. First Army 24/04/1945liberates Dachau concentration camp. The US Seventh Army crosses the Danube at Dillingen and captures Ulm. The U.S. Third Army crosses the Danube, 70 miles Northeast of Munich. The RAF attacks the Eagles Nest, Hitlers chalet and the SS barracks at Berchtesgarten. 25/04/1945 Troops of the U.S. Ninth Army and the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front meet on the Elbe at Torgau, 100 miles Southwest of Berlin. German troops at Bremen surrender to the British and Canadians. Allied troops now line the Swiss border from Basle to Lake Constance. The U.S. Third Army takes 26/04/1945 Regensburg on the Danube. Goerings fall from grace announced in Germany, General Ritter von Greim is to replace him. 27/04/1945The U.S. First Army captures Straubing and Kempten in Bavaria. The Canadian First Army captures Emden and Wilhelmshaven, while the U.S. 28/04/1945 Seventh Army takes Augsburg and reaches the Austrian border to the South. Hitler
marries his mistress, Eva Braun, and dictates his political testament in which he justifies the political and military actions of his 12-year-rule, blaming the war on international Jewry and exhorting the German people even after defeat to adhere to the principles of National Socialism, especially its racial laws. Grossadmiral Dnitz is appointed as his successor. The British Second Army crosses the Elbe near Hamburg, less than 100 miles west 29/04/1945of the Russian forces in Mecklenburg. The U.S. Seventh Army reaches Munich. The French First Army captures Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. Hitler commits suicide with Eva Braun. The U.S. Third Army liberates 110,000 POW's in the Moosburg area, Northeast of Munich. The U.S. Seventh Army clears Munich and the French takes Friedrichshafen and cross into Austria. The U.S. First 30/04/1945 Army meet the Russians at Ellenburg, South of Berlin. The British Second Army liberates 20,000 prisoners (two third POW's and one third political prisoners) from Sandbostel camp in northern Germany. Grossadmiral Dnitz, following the death of Hitler, assumes his duties as the new German head of state. The U.S. Ninth and British Second Armies link bridgeheads 01/05/1945over the Elbe. General Walther Wencks Twelfth Army falls back to Elbe with wounded and refugees and try's to negotiate with U.S. forces. The U.S. Third Army reaches the German/Austrian border at Braunan, 70 miles East of Munich. The British Second Army reaches Lbeck. The first lorry convoys carrying relief 02/05/1945 supplies to occupied Holland are allowed through German lines. German envoys meet Montgomery at his HQ on Lneburg Heath, South of Hamburg to discuss peace. The envoys return to Donitz and recommend unconditional surrender of all forces facing the 21st Army Group. The German defence system in NW Germany is now in chaos as troops, civilians and refugees 03/05/1945pour west to escape the Russian advance. General Wolz surrenders Hamburg to the British Second Army and declares Hamburg an open city. The U.S. Ninth Army makes contact with the Russians in the Wismar area. The U.S. Third Army crosses the river Inn, while the U.S. Seventh Army captures Innsbruck and reaches the Brenner Pass. Admiral von Friedeburg arrives at Montgomerys HQ on Lneburg Heath with German plenipotentiaries. At 8.15pm SHAEF announce that Field Marshal Montgomery has reported to the supreme allied command that all enemy forces in Holland, Northwest Germany and Denmark, have surrendered. The U.S. Ninth 04/05/1945 Army breaks up the German Ninth and Twelfth Armies. The U.S. Seventh Army takes Innsbruck, Salzburg and Berchtesgarten, which is still smoking after an RAF raid. Field-Marshal von Kleist gives himself up to the U.S. Third Army near Straubing. Admiral von Friedeburg arrives at General Eisenhowers HQ in Rheims. General Blaskowitz, the German C-in-C of the Netherlands, surrenders at a ceremony in the small Dutch town of Wagenungen in the presence of Prince Bernhard. The first 05/05/1945British victory salvo of war is fired at 3pm from Montgomerys HQ. Amsterdam is liberated. Eisenhower announces the capitulation of German Army Group C, which was covering the front from Linz to Swiss frontier. The U.S. Third Army takes Pilsen, Karlsbad and prepares to drive towards Prague.
The German Chief-of-Staff, General Jodl, signs Germany's unconditional surrender to the western allies and Russia at 2:41am. Operations are to cease at 1 minute after 07/05/1945 midnight (GMT) on the 8th May. British troops enter Utrecht to a tumultuous reception. 08/05/1945VE-Day (Victory-in-Europe Day). The German garrisons at Lorient, St Nazaire and La Rochelle on the French Atlantic Coast finally surrender. Reich Marshal Goring and his wife, children and staff, 09/05/1945surrender to Brigadier General Stack, of the U.S. 36th Division, near Salzburg. Field Marshal Kesselring, C-in-C West, is captured by U.S. troops at the village of Saalfelden, in western Austria. 11/05/1945The German garrison at Dunkirk surrenders to Czech troops. Vienna radio announces the re-establishment of the Austrian Republic. The 14/05/1945Anschluss with Germany is declared null and void. British troops occupy the German island of Heligoland in the North Sea. 21/05/1945The British Second Army arrest Himmler (in disguise) at Bremervorde. Montgomery is appointed as C-in-C of the British force of occupation in Germany 22/05/1945 and a British member of the allied control commission. British troops arrest the Donitz government and the remnants of the German High 23/05/1945Command at Flensburg. Himmler commits suicide at the British Second Army HQ on Lneburg Heath. SHAEF in Paris says that there are an estimated 4.25 million displaced persons in 29/05/1945the Anglo-American zone, of which only 1.39 million have so far been repatriated, most of these to Western Europe. The four allied powers sign a declaration on the defeat of Germany, which divides 05/06/1945 the country into four zones. The Anniversary of D-Day, sees Eisenhower order a holiday for troops in Europe. 06/06/1945 Allied casualties from D-Day to VE-Day were 776,967 of which 141,590 killed. SHAEF reveal the details of the German plans to exterminate all Jews in Europe by 08/06/1945 the summer 1946. The allies announce the division of Austria into four administrative zones. British 25/06/1945 Second Army in Germany is to be disbanded and sent back to Britain. SHAEF says of the 5.8m displaced persons (found in the Anglo-American Zone, 05/07/19453.26m have been repatriated and 2.53m, mostly Eastern Europeans) still remain in repatriation camps. 14/07/1945The first Bastille Day for five years is celebrated enthusiastically by the French. The French collaboration trials have so far resulted in 1,629 death sentences, 757 31/07/1945hard labour for life, 5,328 other hard labour, 1,136 solitary confinement, 11,073 prison sentences, 22,137 to suffer national degradation and 3,564 acquitted. The Belgians announce that 2,117 collaborators have been sentenced to death, out of 06/08/1945 16,000 found guilty.
25/09/1945The Nazi party is officially declared illegal in Germany. General Patton is removed from command for remarks that were allegedly 02/10/1945 sympathetic to former Nazis. The U-boat pens in Hamburg are blown up by British Engineers using German 21/10/1945 explosives. 12/11/1945The institute of France awards Churchill a gold medal. 13/11/1945General de Gaulle is elected head of the provisional French government. 01/12/194576 German industrialists who helped Hitler are arrested. 09/12/1945General Patton is seriously injured in car crash in Germany. 21/12/1945General Patton dies from his injuries. Southern Europe Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within Southern Europe between the years 1939 and 1945. The countries encompassed within the timeline are Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and various Mediterranean Islands such Crete and Malta.
"In my opinion the limit of endurance has been reached by the troops under my command...our position here is hopeless" Major General Freyberg VC (Shortly before the evacuation of Crete) May 1941
American M4A3E8 Sherman
Field Marshal Harold Alexander
Field Marshal Albert Kesselring
The US M4A3E8 variant of the Sherman was commonly known as the 'Easy Eight' and was equipped with the latewar standard 76mm gun. It also had a new, horizontallymounted suspension system rather than the vertical
suspension unit fitted to earlier models.

07/12/1939 Italy reaffirms her neutrality. 24/12/1939 Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas appeal for peace. 03/03/1940 Italy protests to Britain over proposed ban on Italian imports of German coal. 09/03/1940 Italian-Anglo agreement on coal, Britain to release Italian collier ships, Italy to import no more German coal. 18/03/1940 Mussolini and Hitler meet in the Brenner Pass in northern Italy, Mussolini agreeing to Italy's entry into the war "at an opportune moment". 16/05/1940 Churchill urges Mussolini not to become involved in the war. 30/05/1940 Mussolini tells Hitler he intends to enter the war. 10/06/1940 Italy declares war on Britain and France, effective from the 11th June 1940. 11/06/1940 Italian aircraft bomb Malta. 22/06/1940 French representatives fly to Rome to negotiate with Mussolini. 24/06/1940 An armistice is signed between France and Italy at Villa Indusa near Rome. 28/06/1940 The Pope offers to mediate between Britain, Germany and Italy. 04/07/1940 Italian bombers raid Malta. 07/07/1940 Italy allows French Mediterranean bases to remain armed. 03/09/1940 Dobrudja is ceded to Bulgaria by Romania under the Vienna award. 04/10/1940 Mussolini and Hitler meet at the Brenner Pass. 26/10/1940 The Italians protest to the Greeks about their 'non-neutral' attitude towards Italy. 28/10/1940 Italy attacks Greece after Greek rejection of three-hour ultimatum; Churchill promises all the help in our power. Hitler and Mussolini meet at Florence. 29/10/1940 British troops set sail for Crete. Italians claim to have made some advances but Greeks hold most positions. 31/10/1940 British troops occupy Canea in Crete. Italians claim advance towards Salonika in Greece. 01/11/1940 Turkey declares itself neutral in Greco-Italian war. 03/11/1940 Greek troops trap the Italian 3rd Alpine Division taking 5,000 prisoners. British troops arrive in Greece. 06/11/1940 Britain promises financial assistance to Greece, starting with 5 million advance. 08/11/1940 Italians begin big offensive in Albania. 12/11/1940 Germany prepares to enter war in Greece. 19/11/1940 Greek successes continue in northern Greece and Albania. The Italians are driven back across the Kalamas River. 21/11/1940 Greeks capture Koritza, defeating Italian IX Army. 29/11/1940 British and New Zealand troops under General Freyberg occupy the whole of the Greek island of Crete in the Mediterranean. 04/12/1940 Greeks capture Premeti, Pogradec and the Albanian port of Sarande. 06/12/1940 Greeks occupy Santi Quaranta, Albania. Italian Supreme Commander Badoglio resigns at his own request; replaced by Gen. Cavallero. 08/12/1940 Greeks take Argyrokastro and Delvino. 13/12/1940 Hitler issues Directive No. 20, the order for the preparation of Operation 'Marita', the plan for sending German forces to revive the bogged-down Italian offensive in Albania. 23/12/1940 Churchill broadcasts to Italy: All because of one man. 28/12/1940 Mussolini asks Hitler for support, to help the bogged down Italian forces with their offensive against the Greeks in Albania.
Southern Europe! Germany begins negotiations with Bulgaria to allow German troops to use Bulgaria 01/01/1941 as a springboard for their attack on Greece. 03/01/1941The Luftwaffes X Fliegerkorps arrives in Italy. 10/01/1941Heavy air attacks begin on Malta. Hitler confirms in Directive No.22, his intentions to send military support to the 11/01/1941 Italians in Albania. The operation is to be named 'Alpine Violets'. 13/01/1941Hitler demands that Bulgaria joins the Tripartite pact, but the Bulgarians play for
time. 29/01/1941Greek Premier, General. Metaxis dies aged 70. M. A. Korizis takes over. 33 Italian Fascist Party leaders are dispatched to bolster morale on the Albanian 03/02/1941 front. The first convoy of the newly formed Afrika Korps under the command of 08/02/1941 Lieutenant General Rommel leaves Naples for Tripoli in Libya. 09/02/1941In a radio broadcast, Churchill warns Bulgaria against joining the Tripartite pact. 14/02/1941Hitler starts to apply pressure on Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite pact. 23/02/1941Alexandros Korizis, the Greek premier formally accepts Britain's offer of troops. British Commando's land on the Italian held Island of Castelorizzo in the 25/02/1941 Dodecanese. British Commando's, having been left to hold Castelorizzo without out Naval 28/02/1941support or reinforcement, are forced to evacuate when the Italians land troops on the Island. Bulgaria finally joins the Tripartite pact after the discovery of a planned pro-British 01/03/1941 coup. Italian civilian rations are halved in order to allow food exports to Germany. The German Twelfth Army moves into Bulgaria. Great Britain breaks off diplomatic 02/03/1941 relations with Bulgaria. Hitler increases the pressure on Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite pact by inviting Prince Paul, the regent, to Berchtesgaden. Hitler demands that he allows German 04/03/1941 troops to pass through Yugoslavia for an attack on Greece. In return, the port of Salonika and part of Macedonia will be ceded to Yugoslavia. 07/03/1941British and Commonwealth troops begin to arrive in Greece. The Italians launch another offensive against the Greek 1st Army in Albania, but it 09/03/1941 makes very little progress. British diplomats from Bulgaria reach Istanbul, although 2 people are killed when a 11/03/1941 bomb in their luggage explodes. 20/03/1941Four Yugoslav ministers resign rather than accept German terms. 25/03/1941Under heavy pressure Yugoslavia finally signs the Tripartite pact. A coup in Yugoslavia by General Simonic and other army officers overthrows the 27/03/1941 pro-German government. King Peter takes control and a new cabinet is formed. 28/03/1941Anti-Axis demonstrations in Yugoslavia. German, Italian and Hungarian forces begin the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece. 06/04/1941The Luftwaffe carries out several devastating bombing raids against Belgrade and all but wipes out the Yugoslav air force on the ground. German troops capture Skopje in Macedonia forcing the Yugoslav forces to 07/04/1941withdraw in the south of the country, which exposes the Greek flank. British promise allegiance to Yugoslavia. Germans pushed towards Salonika. German forces capture Nis and Monastir in Yugoslavia. German tanks enter 09/04/1941Thessalonika, trapping the Greek 2nd Army in the Metaxas line, forcing them to surrender.
Germans enter Zagreb, allowing Ante Pavelic, the Croatian Fascist leader, to return from Italian exile and proclaim the independent state of Croatia, with him as 10/04/1941 Poglavnik (leader). British forces under General Wilson withdraw from the Aliakmon line. Italian forces begin their effort to push down the Yugoslav coast in order to link up 11/04/1941 with their forces in Albania. The Yugoslav capital Belgrade, surrenders. Greek and British forces fall back to the 12/04/1941 Mount Olympus line in Greece. German forces launch an attack against the Greek and British positions near Mt. 13/04/1941 Olympus. The Italian 11th Army in Albania begins to push the Greek Army back. Germans break through the new Greek frontline. The Greek Army of Epirus 14/04/1941 withdraws from Albania. 15/04/1941German troops occupy Sarajevo in Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia surrenders, with the Wehrmacht taking 334, 000 prisoners. King Peter of 17/04/1941 Yugoslavia is flown to Athens and then on to London by the RAF. The German 12th Army forces a crossing of the river Aliakmon between the Greek 18/04/1941First Army and the British forces. Athens is placed under martial law. Greek Prime Minister, Alexandros Korizis commits suicide. The Germans attack south through Greece on a wide front. The Greek Government agrees that British forces should be evacuated. General Wilson plans to make a 19/04/1941 strong stand at Thermopylae, to cover the withdrawal of his troops to ports in the Peloponnese. British forces in Greece retreat from Mt. Olympus. King George II heads new Greek 20/04/1941 government. The Greek Army surrenders to the 1st SS Leibstandarte Division. Its commander, Sepp Dietrich accepts this, without referring to his superiors. All Greek soldiers 21/04/1941were allowed to return home, while officers were allowed to retain their side arms. Mussolini, upon hearing of this is furious and makes the Greeks sign another surrender document with much harsher terms. 23/04/1941King George II of Greece and his government are flown to Crete by the RAF. German forces in Greece break through British positions at Thermopylae and land 24/04/1941paratroops on Greek islands in the north-eastern Aegean. The British expeditionary force begins the evacuation of its troops to Egypt and Crete. German paratroops seize Corinth and cross the Corinth Canal to the Peloponnese. Hitler issues Directive No.28, ordering the preparation of plans to capture Crete. 25/04/1941 The basic plan is to involve 22,750 paratroops, 650 combat aircraft and is to be launched on the 18th May 1941, although this is put back to the 20th May 1941. 27/04/1941German troops occupy Athens. 28/04/1941The British evacuation of Greece is completed. British intelligence 'Ultra', intercept numerous messages giving a positive indication 29/04/1941 that the Germans plan to attack Crete. All of Greece is under German and Italian occupation. During the campaign, the Greeks lose 15,700 killed and 300,000 prisoners. The British lose 2,000 killed and 30/04/1941 10,000 made prisoner, while the Germans only suffer about 2,000 killed and missing.
Major General Bernard Freyberg VC, is appointed by General Wavell to command approximately 40,000 British, New Zealand, Australian and Greek troops which are 05/05/1941stationed on Crete. While a strong force on paper, these troops have virtually no artillery or tanks and are very disorganised after their hurried evacuation from Greece. 11/05/1941German troops complete the occupation of the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. 15/05/1941The Luftwaffe begin preparatory attacks against Crete. 16/05/1941Last British reinforcements arrive in Crete. 18/05/1941Italy annexes the Yugoslavian territory of Dalmatia. In order to save life's and aircraft in the face of total Luftwaffe supremacy, the RAF 19/05/1941 evacuates all its aircraft and personnel from Crete to Egypt. After initial air attacks by dive-bombers of the VIII Flieger Korps, German paratroops of the 7th Flieger Division carried in 490 Ju-52 transports of XI Fliegerkorps, land at Maleme, Canea, Retimo and Heraklion airfields. They suffer 20/05/1941very heavy losses as the British and Commonwealth troops put up fierce resistance and by nightfall have only secured Maleme airfield, although it still remains under fire from the British. However, the capture of Maleme allows the Germans to begin sending reinforcements by sea during the night. 80 Ju-52s crash land a regiment of 5th Gebirgsjger Division to support the hard21/05/1941pressed paratroopers who are defending Maleme airfield. A British counter-attack at Maleme airfield is repulsed by the now reinforced paratroopers. Fierce fighting continues as British troops begin to pull back from Maleme airfield 22/05/1941 towards Suda Bay in order to regroup and protect their main point of supply. Further German attempts to land troops by sea on Crete are repulsed as heavy 23/05/1941 fighting continues around Canea. Heavy German bombing of Crete continues all day. The King of Greece leaves for 24/05/1941 Cairo. The Germans decide to go on the offensive having now received substantial 25/05/1941 reinforcement through Maleme airfield. Germans paratroopers take Canea and with it the main British supply point of Suda 27/05/1941Bay. This convinces Major General Freyberg VC, that the situation has gone against the British and that he must withdraw from Crete to save what he can. British and Commonwealth forces begin evacuating Crete through the port of Sphakia on the southern coast of Crete. The withdrawal is to be covered by two 28/05/1941 recently landed Commando Battalions. However the garrisons at Retimo and Heraklion will be evacuated separately. The evacuation of Crete is completed, with 17,000 British, Commonwealth and Greek troops being rescued, although the Australians lose more than half their 01/06/1941contingent. Final figures for the British are 16,500 killed, wounded or captured, along with a large number of warships sunk or damaged, while the Germans lose about 6,200 men. Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass on the German-Italian border to 02/06/1941 discuss the progress of the war. The Germans say that 15,000 prisoners were taken on Crete. British later say that 05/06/1941 12,970 were unaccounted for.
Italian casualties for May announced as 1,948 killed, 5,204 wounded and 27,292 09/06/1941 missing. 14/06/1941Croatia joins the Tripartite Pact. 28/06/1941Albania declares war on the Soviet Union. Germany and Italy announce the dissolution of the state of Yugoslavia, with large 08/07/1941 portions annexed to Italy. 07/08/1941Mussolinis second son Bruno dies in air crash.
Hitler issues Directive No.38 which tasks Kesselring as C-in-C South, with gaining air superiority and naval supremacy over the area between southern Italy and Libya 02/12/1941 in order to deny British supplies to Malta and Libya. To assist with this, he was reinforced by Fleiger Korps II, which was transferred from Russia. 11/12/1941Italy declares war on the U.S.A. 12/12/1941Bulgaria declares war on both Britain and the USA. 21/12/1941The Axis launch a renewed air offensive against the Island of Malta.
20/03/1942 Kesselring launches an intensified air offensive against Malta, which by the end of March had racked up 4,927 sorties for the Luftwaffe, as opposed to 2.497 during February. 02/04/1942 Axis air forces begin a bombing campaign against La Valetta, the British naval base on Malta. 15/04/1942 During its darkest hours, the Malta is awarded the George Cross for "heroism and devotion" by King George VI. This was in recognition of the way in which the Maltese people had stood up to more than 2,000 bombing raids and constant shortages over the past twelve month. 20/04/1942 46 Spitfires arrive on Malta as reinforcement, although such is the intensity of the axis air onslaught (9,599 sorties in April), that almost all these aircraft had been destroyed on the ground within 3 days. 30/04/1942 Hitler and Mussolini agree that the capture of Malta (Operation Herakles) should take place on the 10th July 1942. 10/05/1942 Kesselring declares that Malta has been neutralised. However, that same day the Axis airforces found themselves outnumbered for the first time in the sky over Malta, losing 12 aircraft in return for 3 RAF Spitfires. This marked a definite turning point in the fortunes of Malta with Axis air activity slackening noticeably as aircraft were drawn off to Russia. 21/05/1942 Hitler postpones the invasion of Malta indefinitely. 24/06/1942 The German, Italian and Croatian forces in Yugoslavia, begin another offensive against Tito's partisan army. 26/06/1942 Italian aircraft strength is increased on Sicily by withdrawing aircraft from Libya. This allows the Italians to step up their air attacks against Malta. 08/07/1942 Axis bombers
carry out raids on the harbour facilities at Valetta in Malta. 10/10/1942 German and Italian bomber forces begin a major offensive against the British island of Malta in the Mediterranean. 05/02/1943 Mussolini sacks his son-in-law, Count Ciano from Foreign Ministry and takes control himself. 25/03/1943 Greek partisans temporarily take over Samos Island from the Italian garrison. 13/05/1943 The Royal Navy begin the bombardment of Pantelleria Island, between Tunisia and Sicily. 17/05/1943 The Germans launch a fifth offensive to destroy Titos partisans in Yugoslavia. 21/05/1943 The Luftwaffe carries out a raid by FW190 fighter bombers against Malta. 27/05/1943 The first British liaison team is dropped into Yugoslavia to join up with Titos partisans. 09/06/1943 Tito is wounded during a German air attack. 11/06/1943 Operation 'Corkscrew', the invasion of Pantelleria meets little resistance after a 20-day aerial bombardment of the island. 02/07/1943 Greek guerrillas to come under the direct control of the supreme allied command in the Middle East. 09/07/1943 Operation 'Husky' begins, with the US 82nd and the British 1st Airborne Divisions making the first landings on Sicily at night. However, due to navigational errors, hundreds of U.S. paratroopers are dropped in the sea and are drowned, while many others are widely scattered and miss their assigned targets. 10/07/1943 Operation 'Husky', the Allied invasion of Sicily, is now fully underway with 12 divisions (160,000 men and 600 tanks) of the British Eighth and U.S. Seventh Armies being brought ashore by 3,000 landing craft (200 sunk by rough seas) on the south-east coast of Sicily. The British approaching Syracuse meet with little German resistance, the U.S. forces are held back by strong counter-attacks of the Hermann Goring and the Italian Livorno Divisions. 13/07/1943 The British advance into Sicily continues with the capture of Augusta and Ragusa. 14/07/1943 British and German paratroops fight for key Primosole bridge in Sicily. 16/07/1943 Canadians forces take Caltagirone, 40 miles inland from Syracuse. The Americans take Agringento, before beginning their drive for Palermo. The British finally secure Primosole bridge and Montgomery advances on Catania. 17/07/1943 An allied military government (Amgot) is set up in Sicily. 20/07/1943 The Italians surrender to U.S. forces en masse in western Sicily. The Canadians start to push around Mt. Etna as Catania drive falters. 22/07/1943 Pattons 2nd Armoured Division captures Palermo and surrounds 45,000 Italian troops in western Sicily. 24/07/1943 A 10-hour meeting of fascist grand council passes a motion, 19 votes to 7, asking that the King of Italy takes over command of all Italian forces from Mussolini. 25/07/1943 Benito Mussolini is arrested by order of the Italian King. Marshal Badoglio, a First World War hero becomes Prime Minister, introduces martial law and incorporates the Fascist militia into the ordinary armed forces, thus ending the Fascist regime in Italy. Hitler orders German divisions rushed South in to Italy to disarm their former allies. Allied forces begin to face stiff resistance as they approach Messina. 26/07/1943 Marshal Badoglio is appointed head of Italy by the Italian King after the arrest of Benito Mussolini. The Marshal immediately excludes all Fascists from his new cabinet and dissolves the Fascist Party. 27/07/1943 The liberation of Mussolini, the occupation of Rome and Italy, plus the capture of the Italian fleet is decided upon by the German High Command. Mussolini himself is transferred from Rome to the Island of Ponza. Heavy fighting continues in Sicily, leading Kesselring to order preparations for the evacuation of the island. 01/08/1943 Increasingly heavy fighting continues on Sicily, with some of the fiercest fighting yet seen. 03/08/1943 The Italians begin evacuating Sicily. 04/08/1943 U.S. troops are halted by fierce opposition at Furiano River and at Troina, Sicily. 05/08/1943 Germans evacuate Troina in Sicily after a six-day defence. The Eighth Army takes Catania. 06/08/1943 German troops pour into Italy as Axis foreign ministers meet at Treviso. 08/08/1943 A Royal decree places Italy under a state of siege. 11/08/1943 German night evacuation of Sicily begins, using 134 small craft covered by 500 AA guns. 14/08/1943 The Eighth Army is now only 29 miles from Messina. Italy declares Rome to be an open city. 16/08/1943 U.S. troops enter Messina in
North eastern Sicily in a final push to clear the island. Axis evacuation of 100,000 troops has been completed. 17/08/1943 German and Italian forces successfully evacuate Sicily across the Strait of Messina, with little interference by the Allies. This allows Montgomery and Patton enter Messina. The whole of Sicily is now in allied hands. The shelling of the Italian mainland from Messina begins. 28/08/1943 The Bulgarian King, Boris III dies under mysterious circumstances. 03/09/1943 The new Italian government under Marshal Badoglio signs an armistice with the allies in secret. This allows the allies to launch Operation 'Baytown', the invasion of mainland Italy. The British Eighth Army crosses the Strait of Messina unmolested. 05/09/1943 The Eighth Army captures San Stefano, 10 miles inland in Calabria, Italy. 08/09/1943 Eisenhower announces the Italian unconditional surrender. German reserves are rushed to Italy in the wake of the cease-fire between the Badoglio government and the Allies. 09/09/1943 All Italian forces within the German-controlled areas of Italy, southern France, Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece are disarmed without opposition and made prisoners of war. Operation 'Avalanche' sees the U.S. Fifth Army land at Salerno, South East of Naples. Taranto is occupied by the British without resistance. Formation of an anti-Badoglio, Republican Fascist Government is formed in northern Italy. 10/09/1943 German troops occupy Rome and disarm all Italian troops in Italy and Greece. 11/09/1943 British 8th Army occupies Brindisi in southern Italy. 12/09/1943 Mussolini, held prisoner by the Badoglio government on the Gran Sasso, is rescued by German paratroopers who land in gliders on top of the mountain. SS major Otto Skorzeny, leads a daring glider attack on the hotel where Mussolini is being held. The Duce is freed and taken to Germany. Hitler signs decrees appropriating Italian industry for German uses as well as annexing the German-speaking regions of northern Italy to the Greater German Reich. The latter violates the undertaking Hitler gave to Mussolini in 1940 that Germany had no territorial ambitions south of the Brenner Pass. 13/09/1943 Heavy German counter-attacks by six divisions round Salerno, forces the Fifth Army back to within five miles of beaches. The allies consider an evacuation. The battle for supremacy in the Aegean begins with an Allied raid on Rhodes. 14/09/1943 Heavy fighting continues in the Salerno bridgehead, with another German counter-attack. A U.S. paratroop battalion is dropped behind German lines. French commandos land in Corsica to help patriots fighting the Germans. British Special Boat Squadron occupies Kos in Aegean. 15/09/1943 Mussolini proclaims his return to power and re-establishes fascism in northern Italy. The Axis is resumed and the death penalty introduced for all Italians carrying arms in German occupied areas. 16/09/1943 British occupy Leros in Aegean. German counterattacks against the U.S. bridgehead at Salerno are halted. Tito's partisans are reported to have captured Split on Yugoslavia coast. 17/09/1943 The Germans begin a withdrawal from Salerno as the British 8th Army joins forces with British and U.S. troops in the Salerno bridgehead. 19/09/1943 Germans are reported to have been forced out of Sardinia by the Italian resistance. 20/09/1943 The British 8th Army occupies Bari in southern Italy. The allies also bomb Venice. 22/09/1943 The British 78th Division begins landings at Bari on the South East coast of Italy. 28/09/1943 Germans anti-partisan forces retake Split from Tito's partisans. 29/09/1943 The allies take Pompeii, between Salerno and Naples. Marshal Badoglio and Eisenhower meet aboard HMS Nelson, where a full armistice signed and also discuss war plans. 30/09/1943 The British announce that 5,211 casualties were suffered at Salerno. 01/10/1943 The allies capture Naples, although the Germans thoroughly demolish its harbour facilities. Hitler orders a defence of Italy to the South of Rome. 02/10/1943 The British 2nd Special Service Brigade lands at Termoli on East coast of Italy and links up with troops moving North from Foggia. 03/10/1943 The Germans invade Kos with the assistance of massive air support. 04/10/1943 Organised British resistance ends on Kos. The French complete their take over of Corsica. 05/10/1943 German troops complete the evacuation of the island of Corsica. 06/10/1943 The U.S. Fifth Army takes Capua and Caserta. 07/10/1943 The U.S. Fifth Army is halted by German defences along River Volturno, 20 miles North of Naples. 12/10/1943 The U.S. Fifth Army begins an offensive along the Volturno river. 13/10/1943 The new Italian government of Marshal Badoglio declares war on Germany. The U.S. Fifth
Army crosses the Volturno River. 19/10/1943 The offensive by the US 5th Army along the Volturno river bogs down due to bad weather and a skilful German defence. 27/10/1943 Montgomery resumes the offensive in Italy. 31/10/1943 The U.S. Fifth Army resumes its offensive to the North of the Volturno. 04/11/1943 The U.S. Fifth Army capture Isernia, 50 miles North of Naples and link up with Eighth Army moving North West from Foggia. US casualties in Mediterranean since the landings in North Africa is given as 31,126. 05/11/1943 The US Fifth Army reaches the Sangro river in southern Italy. 08/11/1943 The Eighth Army gains the heights on the Sangro less than 100 miles East of Rome. 12/11/1943 German troops invade Leros by sea and drop 500 paratroops. 15/11/1943 Mark Clark calls off the U.S. Fifth Army's offensive. The British counter-attack on Leros fails as the Luftwaffe flies 600 sorties a day. A State of emergency is declared in Milan as unrest in northern Italy continues. The Germans take 1,750 hostages, machine guns are in the streets and 8pm curfew enforced. 16/11/1943 Leros surrenders to the Germans. 20/11/1943 The Eighth Army crosses the Sangro River for first time. 4,800 British prisoners are taken at Samos in the Aegean. 21/11/1943 Field Marshal Kesselring is appointed commander-in-chief of all German forces in Italy, while Rommel leaves his command to organise the Atlantic wall. 22/11/1943 German troops complete the occupation of the islands of the Dodecanese in the eastern Mediterranean. 23/11/1943 The allies cross the Sangro in strength. 27/11/1943 The British 8th Army begins an offensive across the Sangro river. 28/11/1943 The Eighth Army offensive on Sangro continues, with a second bridgehead being established. 01/12/1943 The British 10th Corps opens the U.S. Fifth Army's offensive on the Garigliano. 02/12/1943 German forces in Yugoslavia begin a major operation against Tito's partisan's. 04/12/1943 Titos Partisans set up a provisional government in the liberated part of Yugoslavia. 06/12/1943 Monte Carnino is finally taken by U.S. Fifth Army. 10/12/1943 The British Eighth Army crosses the Moro. 15/12/1943 Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union all break off diplomatic relations with the Yugoslav government in exile and recognize Tito's Communist Popular Liberation Committee as the Yugoslav government to be. 17/12/1943 The U.S. Fifth Army captures the village of San Pietro in central Italy after 10 days of heavy fighting. 20/12/1943 US counter intelligence reports the smashing of a Nazi spy ring in Sicily. A 19-year-old ringleader Grammatico and 27 others are arrested. 21/12/1943 The Eighth Armys 1st Canadian Division battles to capture Ortona in central Italy. 22/12/1943 The allies announce that Tito is to be the allied commander in Yugoslavia as his partisans are now estimated at 250,000 men. 24/12/1943 Sir Henry Maitland Wilson is made Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean and Alexander is C in C Allied Armies, Italy. 28/12/1943 The Eighth Army finally clears Ontona after bitter street fighting.
Southern Europe! General Mark Clark takes over the U.S. Seventh Army in addition to the command 01/01/1944 of the U.S. Fifth Army. The US Fifth Army begins an offensive against the German forces in Italy who are 03/01/1944 entrenched in the Gustav Line along the Rapido river, with its centre at Cassino. The trial of Count Ciano and 18 other Fascists responsible for Mussolinis downfall 08/01/1944 opens at Castel Vecchio, in Verona. 09/01/1944Countess Ciano escapes to Switzerland and is interned. All but one of the Fascist ex-ministers on trial are sentenced to death at Castel 10/01/1944 Vecchio. 11/01/1944Ciano and 17 others are shot by firing squad. The U.S. Fifth Army gains Monte Trocchio, overlooking Rapido River as the 15/01/1944 Germans withdraw across it. French troops under General Juin capture Monte Santa
Croce. 20/01/1944U.S. troops are thrown back on the Rapido. The U.S. Fifth Army lands two divisions (36,034 men and 3,069 vehicles) under 22/01/1944 Major-Gen. John P. Lucas at Anzio, 30 miles South of Rome. A Royal Navy destroyer, Janus is lost as the fighting rages around the Anzio 23/01/1944 beachhead. Hitler orders that German troops in Italy hold the Gustav Line at all costs. The 24/01/1944French attack to the North of Cassino. Allied patrols from Anzio beachhead are halted but the Germans. 27/01/1944The Germans counter-attack the French at Cassino. 30/01/1944A U.S. Ranger battalion is wiped out at Anzio. 31/01/1944The U.S. 34th Division crosses the Rapido. An attempt to breakout of the Anzio Beachhead ends after an advance of just three 03/02/1944 miles in three days. The German begin their first counterattacks against Anzio. 05/02/1944U.S. troops reach the outskirts of Cassino, but are repulsed. 07/02/1944The Germans begin a full-scale counter-attack against the Anzio Beachhead. 09/02/1944The Germans capture Aprilia in the Anzio beachhead. The allies announce that southern Italy is to be handed over to Italian government 10/02/1944 jurisdiction. Americans troops at Cassino are relieved by Indian and New Zealand forces. The 11/02/1944 allies are pushed back to final defence line at Anzio. The allies halt the German attack around Cassino. The Italians in Cassino Monastery 13/02/1944 are warned that it will be bombed. Monte Cassino is devastated by 422 tons of bombs as the Indian and New 15/02/1944Zealanders begin their offensive to capture the monastery which is now occupied and defended by paratroopers (the Green Devils) of 1st Fallschirmjger Division. Kesselring launches seven divisions in a second major attack against the US 5th 16/02/1944 Army's bridgehead at Anzio. Renewed allied attacks at Cassino are broken off. The Germans make further gains 18/02/1944 at Anzio but are repulsed by allied artillery and warships. General Lucas is sacked from the Anzio command and is replaced by Major General 23/02/1944 Truscott. German counter-attacks drives the Anzio beachhead back further. 29/02/1944The Germans launch their third major offensive at Anzio. 03/03/1944German attacks cease at Anzio after loss of 3,500 men and 30 Panzer's in four days. The allies pound Cassino, dropping 1,250 tons of bombs dropped and firing 195,969 15/03/1944 in 7 and a half hours, but the troops make slow headway. 16/03/1944The British Eighth Army continues to batter itself against Monte Cassino. 17/03/1944New Zealand troops take Cassino railway station. A New Zealand tank attack on Monte Cassino is repulsed, with the loss of all 17 18/03/1944 tanks. 19/03/1944The RAF launch Operation Strangle, aimed at German communications in Italy. 22/03/1944Alexander halts the frontal attacks on Cassino. 24/03/1944The US Fifth Army's bridgehead at Anzio is bombarded by German heavy long-
range guns and Luftwaffe aircraft using guided bombs, causing severe casualties in men, ships and equipment. Persistent US and British attacks against the Gustav Line at Cassino are repulsed by the German defenders. In response to the killing of 35 German soldiers in Rome by the Italian resistance, SS Colonel Herbert Kappler orders the execution of 335 Italians, at least 255 of whom are civilians in reprisal. All are shot by German troops in the Fosse Ardeantine caves outside of Rome. 22/04/1944Titos Partisans storm the Adriatic Island of Korcula, capturing 800 Germans. 26/04/1944The Greek PM resigns and George Papandreou forms a new government. The British Eighth and U.S. Fifth Armies begin an attack on Gustav Line in central 11/05/1944 Italy with a 2,200-gun bombardment. Fierce German counter-attacks are put in by the German defenders at Monte 12/05/1944 Cassino. 13/05/1944The allies take Sant Angelo and Castelforte, thereby opening the way to Rome. 14/05/1944French troops in Italy break through the Gustav Line. The Germans begin a withdrawal from the Gustav Line to new positions, called the 15/05/1944 Adolf Hitler or Dora Line, some 30 miles to the South of Rome. Kesselring orders the evacuation of Cassino. The French breakthrough is now 25 17/05/1944 miles deep. 18/05/1944Polish troops finally capture the town of Cassino. 19/05/1944British troops capture Aquino airfield in the Liri valley, to the South East of Rome. 20/05/1944The U.S. Fifth Army captures Gaeta to the South of Rome. The U.S. Fifth Army begins an offensive from the Anzio bridgehead toward Rome. 23/05/1944 Canadian troops breach the Adolf Hitler Line to the South West of Monte Cassino. U.S. troops take Terracina in Italy. The retreating Germans are subjected to heavy 24/05/1944 air-attacks. The U.S. Fifth Army make first contact with troops from the Anzio beachhead. German airborne troops attack Tito's Partisan HQ at Drvar in Bosnia on Titos 52nd 25/05/1944 birthday. Tito and Churchills son Randolph, both manage to escape in to the mountains. U.S. troops from Anzio take Cori, 22 miles inland. Mark Clark makes a decision to 26/05/1944direct four divisions on Rome, but only one to Valmontone on Highway 6 to cut German retreat. 29/05/1944The British reach the factory, 10 miles North of Anzio. 30/05/1944The Eighth Army captures Arce, 15 miles Northwest of Cassino, en route to Rome. 01/06/1944The British Eighth Army captures Frosinone to the South East of Rome. U.S. troops are now only 20 miles from Rome. The Bulgarian government seeks 02/06/1944 terms of surrender from the western allies. Hitler allows Kesselring to withdraw from Rome, which has now been declared an 03/06/1944 'Open City'. 04/06/1944The U.S. Fifth Army enters Rome. 06/06/1944The French take Tivoli in Italy.
07/06/1944The Americans take Civitavecchia on the western coast of Italy. 08/06/1944The U.S. Fifth Army continues its drive North in Italy, taking Civita Castellana. 09/06/1944The U.S. Fifth Army is now 50 miles Northwest of Rome. 14/06/1944The allies take Orvieto, 65 miles Northwest of Rome. The Eighth Army captures Foligno and Spoleto, east of Orvieto and approach 16/06/1944 Perugia. 17/06/1944German troops evacuate the island of Elba off the west coast of Italy. 18/06/1944The Eighth Army take Assisi. 20/06/1944Eighth Army take Perugia as its advance North continues. 02/07/1944German troops evacuate Siena. 03/07/1944French troops take Siena, only 30 miles South of Florence. 06/07/1944The British Eighth Army captures Osimo 20 miles South of Ancona. 16/07/1944The Eighth Army captures Arezzo and reaches the Arno river. 18/07/1944The Polish II Corps takes Antona in Italy. 19/07/1944The U.S. 34th Division captures Livorno on the Italian coast. French troops begin their withdrawal from the Italian front, ready for the invasion of 20/07/1944 Southern France. 23/07/1944The U.S. 34th Division takes Pisa. 04/08/1944Florence is evacuated by German forces. Hitler orders a withdrawal from Greece. Bulgaria, Germany's ally, withdraws from 26/08/1944 the war against Russia and declares its neutrality. The British 8th Army renews its offensive North on Italy's eastern coast. Slowed by 27/08/1944rain and mud, the British attack toward the Gothic Line at Pesaro, just north of the Foglia river. Canadian Armoured forces with the British 8th Army attack west of Pesaro. Without supporting artillery, they are beaten back by the Germans, who destroy or badly 30/08/1944 damage 32 of the 50 tanks engaged in the attack. German troops withdraw from Bulgaria. The U.S. Fifth Army crosses the Arno while the Eighth Army attacks the Gothic 31/08/1944 Line in Italy. 01/09/1944Gurkha units from the British Eighth Army storm Tavoleto. 02/09/1944The Germans begin to evacuate the Aegean Islands. Allied air forces start operation 'Ratweek' to hinder the German retreat from 04/09/1944 Balkans. 05/09/1944The Russians declare war on Bulgaria. 08/09/1944The U.S. Fifth Army launches an assault against the Gothic Line. The British make am unopposed landing on the Greek Island of Kythera off the 10/09/1944 Peloponnese. The Russians enter Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. German troops evacuate Rhodes and other Greek islands in the eastern 12/09/1944 Mediterranean. 13/09/1944The Canadians take Coriano Ridge in the Gothic Line.
The British make am unopposed landing on the Greek Island of Kythera off the 16/09/1944 Peloponnese. The Russians enter Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. 17/09/1944Monte Altuzzo finally falls to the U.S. 85th Division. 19/09/1944The Eighth Army occupies the Republic of San Marino, in Italy. A British tank breakout attempt through the Gothic Line is defeated by the tenacious 20/09/1944 defence. The Eighth Armys Greek Mountain Brigade take Rimini on the Adriatic coast. 21/09/1944 German forces of Army Group E evacuates the Peloponnes peninsula in Greece. 24/09/1944The British XIII Corps captures Marradi in Italy. 26/09/1944The Eighth Army crosses the Rubicon in north-eastern Italy. 27/09/1944German forces of Army Group E evacuate western Greece. An agreement between Tito and Stalin is reached in Moscow, which allows the Red 28/09/1944 Army to be enter Yugoslavia. Monte Battaglia in the Gothic Line is captured by the U.S. Fifth Army after a 4-day 01/10/1944 battle. The Red Army crosses the Danube into Yugoslavia. The British launch Operation 'Manna', and intervene in Greece, with 2nd Airborne 04/10/1944Brigade landing at Patras. Other landings take on Crete and other Islands in the Aegean. The Russian 46th Army is within 10 miles of Belgrade. The Eighth Army resumes its attacks on the Gothic Line. The British reach Corinth, 07/10/1944 land at Nauplion and take the island of Samos. 09/10/1944The 1st Bulgarian Army attacks towards Nis in Yugoslavia. The British take Corinth as Army Group E begins its final retreat from Greece. The 10/10/1944 Red Army breaks through the German lines in Serbia as it moves towards Belgrade. 12/10/1944The Germans evacuate Athens. The British liberate Athens and Piraeus and also land on Corfu. Russian troops and 14/10/1944 Yugoslav Partisans force their way in to Belgrade. 19/10/1944The Germans evacuate Belgrade. 20/10/1944The Red Army captures Belgrade, while Yugoslav partisans capture Dubrovnik. 28/10/1944The Germans begin to evacuate Albania. On the orders of Prime Minister Churchill, British troops occupy Salonika in Greece 31/10/1944to assist the new government in its efforts to prevent a take-over by Communist insurgents in the wake of the recent withdrawal of German troops from Greece. German forces manage to stop the Russians at Kraisevo, enabling the Second Panzer 02/11/1944 Army to establish a firm line west of Belgrade. 05/11/1944British forces land at Salonika, in Greece. Titos forces take Monastir in southern Yugoslavia and now control the whole 06/11/1944 border with Greece. 13/11/1944German troops evacuate Skopje in Yugoslavia. The RAF's destruction of Drina bridge at Visegrad, causes an 85-mile German 19/11/1944 traffic jam in Yugoslavia. 21/11/1944Albanian patriots free the capital, Tirana. 23/11/1944The allies declare Macedonia on Greek Yugoslav border, free of Germans.
04/12/1944Athens is now under martial law. 05/12/1944The British Eighth Army takes Ravenna in and cuts the rail link to Bologna. Southern Europe! 09/01/1945British troops enter Thebes, to the Northwest of Athens. German forces of Army Group E complete their withdrawal from Greece and 13/01/1945 Albania. After a heavy four-day battle, the U.S Fifth Army takes the Upper Reno Valley in 22/02/1945 northern Italy between Bologna and Florence. 25/02/1945Turkey declares war against Germany. Beginning of secret negotiations at Bern, Switzerland, between representatives of the American OSS (Allan Dulles) and the German High Command in Italy (General 08/03/1945 von Vietinghoff and SS General Wolff) for an early surrender of German forces in Italy. 06/04/1945Sarajevo falls into the hands of Yugoslav partisans. In Yugoslavia, German Army Group E under General Lhr evacuates it remaining 07/04/1945 troops from Sarajevo. The British Eighth Army launches its final offensive in Italy with a 1,800-plane and 1,500-gun bombardment of the German positions East of Bologna. The U.S. Fifth 09/04/1945Army begins its offensive toward Bologna and the Po river valley. Army Group E is now completely isolated from the main German forces, but continues its struggle against Titos partisan forces in Yugoslavia. 12/04/1945In Yugoslavia the Germans evacuates Zenica. The British Eighth Army captures Bastia bridge intact, while Hitler rejects an appeal 14/04/1945 for a German withdrawal to the Po river. The U.S. Fifth Army reaches the Po river Plain in northern Italy as a German retreat 20/04/1945 to river ordered. The 2nd Polish Corps which is fighting with the British Eighth Army captures 21/04/1945 Bologna in co-ordination with the U.S. 34th Division, of the U.S. Fifth Army. 23/04/1945The U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Armies reach the Po, to the North of Bologna. The Eighth Army captures Ferrara, 30 miles to the Northeast of Bologna and crosses 24/04/1945the Po after fierce fighting. The U.S. Fifth Army takes Spezia on the Gulf of Genoa and Modern. The U.S. Fifth Army enters Mantua, 60 miles Northwest of Bologna and continues 25/04/1945its drive up coast, while the British Eighth Army crosses the Po river and captures Parma. Italian Partisans take Genoa and stage revolt in Milan. The U.S. Fifth Army captures 26/04/1945 Verona, 20 miles Northeast of Mantua. 27/04/1945The U.S. Fifth Army enters Genoa.
The U.S. Fifth Army take Brescia, 30 miles East of Milan. The British Eighth Army reaches Venice. Italian Partisans capture Mussolini, his mistress Clara Petacci and 28/04/1945 12 of his cabinet members in a German convoy trying to reach Switzerland. All are shot in nearby village. The bodies of Mussolini and Clara Petacci are brought to Milan and hung upside down from lamp-posts in the square where 15 Partisans were executed a year ago. The bodies are shot and spat upon. The Germans armies in Italy sign surrender 29/04/1945terms at The Royal Palace, Caserta, but German officers do not guarantee acceptance, the ceremony takes only 17 minutes. The British Eighth Army secures Venice and advances towards Trieste. The U.S. Fifth Army enters Milan and makes contact with the Eighth Army at Padua. The U.S. Fifth Army in Northwest Italy, links up with French troops on the 30/04/1945 French/Italian border. The cessation of hostilities and surrender of all German forces in Italy is announced. This is as a result of unauthorised and secret negotiations with the allies by the German C-in-C, General von Vietinghoff. and SS General Wolff. New Zealand 01/05/1945troops capture Udine, 60 miles Northeast of Venice and makes contact with Titos partisans in the Trieste area. The situation is now desperate for the surrounded Germans of Army Group E in Yugoslavia as Titos partisans reach the river Isonzo near Monfalcone. The German Army in Italy abides by the Caserta agreement and surrenders to the 02/05/1945 allies, with hostilities ceasing at 12 noon GMT. 04/05/1945The U.S. Fifth Army reaches the Brenner Pass. 06/05/1945The U.S. Fifth Army enters Austria from Italy. 07/05/1945The British Eighth Army crosses the Italian/Austrian border. 09/05/1945German forces in the Greek islands surrender. 12/05/1945The German garrison in Crete under Major General Bentach surrenders. The Axis Croation forces that surrendered to British troops in Austria are handed 15/05/1945over to Tito's partisans who without delay proceed to massacre them, killing a total of 110,000, including women and children.
22/12/1945Britain and the USA formally recognise Titos Yugoslavia. Eastern Europe Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within Eastern Europe between the years 1939 and 1945. The countries encompassed within the timeline are Poland, Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. Germany and Austria are also covered, but only in respect to the part they played in the Eastern European theatre of war.
"The Red Army and Navy and the whole Soviet people must fight for every inch of Soviet soil, fight to the last drop of blood for our towns and villages...onward, to victory!" Josef Stalin July 1941
German Tiger I
Marshal Georgy Zhukov
Field Marshal Erich von Manstein
The Pzkpfw VI Tiger was a powerful tank, with thick armour and an 8.8cm main gun. It was all but invulnerable to standard allied anti-tank guns making it an excellent defensive tank, but fortunately for the allies it was a complex tank to manufacture and took time to build, thereby limiting the numbers that were available to commanders on the ground.
Eastern Europe! Three German Army Groups begin the invasion of Poland at 4:45am. Massive strikes by the Luftwaffe destroy vital communications and assembly areas, 01/09/1939decimating the Polish air force on the ground. Panzer and motorised divisions make deep penetrations into the Polish defences, using tactics soon to be known as the Blitzkrieg. Officially, the first shots of the war are fired from the 280mm deck guns
of the vintage First World War Battleship Schleswig-Holstein. Under the guise of honouring the anniversary of the Battle of Tannenburg, the German Battleship, complete with a hidden cargo of Marine assault troops, was allowed by the Poles to anchor directly off the strategic peninsula of Westerplatte, located at the mouth of the Vistula River in Danzig. At 4:47am, permission was given to the ship to open fire on the island, a strategic point on the Baltic Coast needed to support the troops advancing to the south. Shortly after 4:47am, the ship opened up its massive main guns, firing at near-point-blank range and zero elevation. Needless-to-say, the shells literally pounded the small island, but although the ships guns devastated the target, they inflicted minimal casualties on the Poles stationed within. When the Assault Marines hidden within the Battleship disembarked and launched their main assault on the island, they were repulsed taking heavy casualties. Another assault was launched later in the morning the Assault Marines after more shelling from the Schleswig-Holstein, but this also ended in heavy German casualties. The Westerplatte would prove impossible to take on the first day of World War 2. Lieutenant Wladyslaw Gnys of 2 Krakow Air Regiment shoots down two Dornier 17 Bombers. These were to be the first German airplanes to be shot down in World War 2. The Luftwaffe raids Warsaw. German troops capture the Jablunka pass in the Tatra mountains. Fighting continued for the strategic peninsula of Westerplatte at the mouth of the Vistula River. A massive attack was launched by 60 Stuka dive 02/09/1939bombers of the II and III Stukageschwader Immelmann directed at crushing the garrison. The air assault was not directly followed up by a German attack from the ground and the Poles were able to reorganise their defences. German aircraft bomb railway station at Kolo, killing 111 refugees. 03/09/193955 Polish peasants are rounded up and shot at Truskolasy by the Nazis. The German 3rd Army and 4th Army join in the Corridor and re-establish the land connection between East Prussia and the Reich that was severed in 1919 as a result of the Versailles Treaty. German troops cross the River Pilica in southern Poland. The German successes in Poland are beginning to wear down the Polish armies, 04/09/1939 which are now becoming isolated from one another, making the mounting of coordinated counter-attacks increasingly difficult. At Bydgoszcz, a thousand Poles are murdered, including several dozen Boy Scouts who are shot against a wall by German troops. Under the relentless pressure by the Wehrmacht, the Polish Army withdraws behind 05/09/1939 the Vistula river, but the German troops gain bridgeheads on the opposite bank. German troops advancing through Poland occupy the former German industrial area 06/09/1939 of Upper Silesia. Polish forces trying to hold the line at the Narew River, start to collapse. Krakow surrenders to German troops. The German 10th Army closes ever nearer to Warsaw. 07/09/1939A deeper defensive line is prepared by the Poles at the Bug River, as their battered armies begin a withdrawal toward that line. The BBC commences daily radio broadcasts in Polish. Polish defenders of the Westerplatte at Danzig surrender after a week of continuous 08/09/1939bombardment. The Polish government leaves Warsaw for Lublin, while its forces surrounded at Radom face a hopeless situation.
The 8th Army (Blaskowitz) captures Lodz and Radom, as the 1st and 4th Panzer 09/09/1939Divisions reach the outskirts of Warsaw. Further penetrations in to the suburbs of Warsaw by the 4th Panzer Divisions are repulsed by the cities defenders. German troops achieve a breakthrough at Kutno and Sandomir and reach the 10/09/1939 Vistula. The battle of the Vistula bend flares up near Kutno, the last major engagement of the 12/09/1939 Polish campaign. The Luftwaffe bombs Krzemieniec. 13/09/193960,000 Polish troops who are trapped in the Radom pocket surrender. Gdynia is captured by German forces. A Polish breakout attempt from the Kutno 15/09/1939 pocket fails. Kutno and Brest-Litovsk are captured by German troops. The Red Army invades Poland from the East with a million troops on the pretext of "protecting Poland's 17/09/1939Byelorussian and Ukrainian population." The Polish government seeks asylum in Romania, where it is interned. The Polish Air Force scores its last kills during the battle for Poland, by shooting down a German Dornier bomber and a Soviet fighter. 18/09/1939The Wehrmacht and Red Army stage a joint parade in Brest Litovsk. The conclusion of the battle of the Vistula bend, with the Wehrmacht taking 170,000 prisoners. Germans suppress a Czech rebellion. Lavrenti Beria, chief of the 19/09/1939Soviet NKVD, sets up a Directorate for Prisoners of War and establishes camps for the 240,000 Polish POWs in Soviet custody; about 37,000 will be used as forcedlabour. German troops in eastern Poland withdraw to the line agreed upon in the GermanSoviet treaty. The Red Army moves in behind them to occupy the formerly Russian 20/09/1939 territory. Polish troops at Grodno manage to kill 800 Red Army soldiers and destroy ten tanks, whilst defending the city. 60,000 Poles, all that remains of the Polish Southern Army surrender at Zamosz and 21/09/1939 Tomaszov. Germany and Russia agree on partition of Poland. 217,000 Polish troops who are fighting against the Red Army surrender at Lvov. The NKVD begins rounding up thousands of Polish officers and deporting them to Russia where they will be 22/09/1939 executed a year later in the forest of Katyn near Smolensk. A Polish regiment repels attacks by forty Soviet tanks and infantry units at the Battle of Kodziowce. Soviet losses amount to hundreds killed and twenty tanks destroyed. 1,150 German planes bomb Warsaw. German Special Task Force troops execute 24/09/1939 800 Polish intellectuals and leaders in Bydgoszcz. The Luftwaffe bomb Warsaw with 420 planes. Casualties in the city since the start 25/09/1939 of the war have now reached 40,000 dead. 26/09/1939Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa - AK) is formed in Warsaw. Warsaw, besieged for more than two weeks, surrenders after continuous air and 27/09/1939artillery bombardments. Near Grabowiec, 150 Polish policemen, 4 NCOs and 6 officers among 5,000 taken prisoner, are executed by the Soviets. German and Soviet troops meet at Brest-Litovsk and together stage a military 28/09/1939review. An agreement is signed affirming their common border lines in eastern Poland. Poland formally surrender, relieving the 35,000 besieged Polish troops who are 29/09/1939 defending the fortress of Modlin of their obligations thereby enabling them to
surrender. German troops enter the devastated city of Warsaw. The Polish garrison on the Hel 01/10/1939 Peninsula surrenders to the Germans after repeated attacks. The first Poles are imprisoned in Pawiak Prison in Warsaw. Some 100,000 people 02/10/1939will undergo Nazi interrogations here, of whom 37,000 will be executed and 60,000 sent to concentration camps. Hitler enters Warsaw in triumph. The Soviet Union forces a treaty on Latvia that 05/10/1939 allows the Red Navy to establish bases in her Baltic harbours. After a 2 day battle against Soviet tanks and planes and then a 5-day fight against 06/10/1939the Germans. The last remaining Polish troops (17,000 men) surrender to German forces at Kock and Lublin. 08/10/1939An SS unit executes 20 Poles in the Jewish cemetery in Swiecie. The Soviet Union signs and agreement with Lithuania that allows the Soviets to 10/10/1939 establish military bases in the country. 12/10/1939Hans Frank appointed Nazi Gauleiter (governor) of Poland. The Russians prepare to hand over 30,000 Polish soldiers and refugees to the Nazis 18/10/1939 who respond with their own prisoner exchange. 19/10/1939Germany officially incorporates western Poland into the Reich. The Germans start deporting Poles from Posen (Poznan), largest city of western 21/10/1939Poland (250,000 people), in their attempt at establishing "pure and Germanic provinces" in Poland. "Elections" are held in Soviet-occupied Poland now called "Western Byelorussia" and "Western Ukraine." The USSR confiscates all property including bank accounts, and replaces Polish currency with the ruble. Poles are fired from their jobs and thrown into jail as the NKVD compiles lists for deportation. Factories, hospitals, 22/10/1939 schools, are dismantled and shipped to the USSR. Polish education and language is phased out; libraries are closed and books burned. Churches are destroyed and priests arrested. Even the wearing of crosses is forbidden. Owning a typewriter is now a crime. On the 21st anniversary of Czech independence, celebrations become mass protests. 28/10/1939 A young medical student, Jan Opletal, is fatally wounded. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov boasts: "One swift blow to Poland, first by the 31/10/1939German Army and then by the Red Army, and nothing was left of this ugly offspring of the Versailles Treaty!". He also accuses the British of aggression. The Gestapo rounds up 183 professors of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and sends them to Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. In Soviet occupied 06/11/1939 Poland, Ukrainian peasants murder 200 Polish refugees after offering them food and accommodation. The funeral of Czech Jan Opletal becomes the occasion for a large student demonstration. The Germans strike back ruthlessly, sentencing nine student leaders 17/11/1939 to death, closing the Czech universities, and sending 1200 students to concentration and labour camps. 29/11/1939The USSR forces Soviet citizenship on all residents of Polish territory under their
control. Because of its brutal aggression against Finland, the Soviet Union is expelled from 14/12/1939 the League of Nations. Lavrenti Beria, head of the NKVD, orders the start of large-scale deportation of 18/12/1939 Poles to the USSR.
12/02/1940 Germany and Russia agree new trade pact, that provides for the delivery of vital war materials (grains, oil, strategic minerals) by the Russians, in return for German manufactured goods. 06/03/1940 A Finnish delegation arrives in Moscow. 12/06/1940 The Soviet Union issues an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding that the Red Army be allowed to occupy the country. 15/06/1940 New Russo-German frontier agreement announced. The Red Army advances across the Lithuanian border. 16/06/1940 The Red Army occupies Latvia. Tens of thousands of "hostile' natives and their families are rounded up and deported to NKVD prison camps around the Soviet Union. Estonia is also occupied by the Soviet Union. 28/06/1940 Following an ultimatum to the Romanian government, the Red Army occupies Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina. 05/07/1940 Romania announces its alignment with the Axis powers. 21/07/1940 Hitler orders preliminary planning for invasion of Russia. 23/07/1940 The Soviets officially absorbs Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the Soviet union, as per the Soviet-German nonaggression pact. 28/07/1940 The Slovakian President and Premier meet Hitler and von Ribbentrop at Berchtesgarden. 31/07/1940 Hitler formally announces to his military commanders that he has decided to invade Russia. 01/08/1940 Russian Foreign Minister Molotov reaffirms Soviet neutrality and the Russo-German pact while verbally attacking both Britain and the USA. 26/08/1940 Hitler orders an initial redeployment of two Panzer and ten Infantry divisions from western Europe to Poland in preparation for the invasion of Russia. 30/08/1940 In an effort to avert war between her allies Romania and Hungary and to secure his southern flank prior to attacking the Soviet Union, Germany and Italy under the second Vienna Award compel Romania to cede large chunks of her territory to Hungary and Bulgaria, in exchange for a German guarantee of security for the rump Romanian state. 03/09/1940 Romania is forced to cede Transylvania to Hungary and Dobrudja to Bulgaria under the Vienna award. 06/09/1940 King Carol of Romania abdicates the throne to his son, Michael and appoints Marshal Antonescu head of state. 07/10/1940 German troops enter Romania to help restrain the Army. 12/10/1940 A German military mission is set up in Bucharest, Romania, for the purpose of aiding in the training of the Romanian Army. 22/10/1940 British Ambassador in Moscow Sir Stafford Cripps tries to woo Russians with three-point co-operation plan. 12/11/1940 Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrives in Berlin to discuss the mutual spheres of interest, especially the presence of German troops in Finland. The talks show serious disagreements between the participants. 20/11/1940 Hungarian Premier and Foreign Minister in Vienna agree to join Tripartite. 23/11/1940 The Romanian leader Antonescu agrees to joins the Tripartite pact. 24/11/1940 Slovakian Prime Minister joins the Tripartite pact in Berlin. 27/11/1940 Romanian extremists, Iron Guard, begin a murder campaign with 64 executions. 29/11/1940 German High Command issues draft plan for invasion of Russia. [View Battle Plan] 05/12/1940 The German draft plan for the Invasion of Russia Operation 'Otto' is presented to Hitler. 13/12/1940 Twenty four German divisions begin their redeployment to Romania, through Hungary as part of Directive No. 20, Hitler's order for the preparation of Operation 'Marita', the attack on Greece. 18/12/1940 Hitler issues Directive No. 18, confirming plans for Operation 'Barbarossa', [View Battle Plan] previously Operation 'Otto', the attack against the Soviet Union. The aim of this new plan was to destroy the Red
Army in western Russia, before moving against Moscow. All preparations were to be completed by the 15th May 1941.
Eastern Europe! Germany and the Soviet Union sign a fresh treaty, which recognises their existing 10/01/1941 spheres of influence and affirms current trade agreements. With Hitler's tacit support, Marshal Antonescu suppresses a rebellion by the Iron 20/01/1941 Guard in Romania. Hitler reviews the plans for Operation 'Barbarossa', as German intelligence estimates that 155 Red Army divisions are deployed in western Russia against just 116 03/02/1941 German and Axis divisions. The starting date is again confirmed as the 15th May 1941. Great Britain breaks off diplomatic relations with Romania as it is now clear that the 15/02/1941 Romanians are firmly allied to the Germans.
07/04/1941Great Britain severs diplomatic relations with Hungary. 13/04/1941A 5 year Neutrality Pact is signed in Moscow between the Soviet Union and Japan. The German build up for Operation 'Barbarossa' continues with 59 divisions now 23/04/1941 deployed along the border with the Soviet Union. 06/05/1941Stalin declares himself 'Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars'. Over 100 German divisions have now been deployed along Germanys frontier with 05/06/1941 the Soviet Union. Hitler issues a directive for the implementation of the Kommissarbefehl (Commissar Order) which calls for the summary execution of all Soviet political commissars 06/06/1941 attached to the Red Army. This order is tacitly disobeyed by most German army and corps commanders who deem it contrary to German military custom and tradition. Russian news agency Tass, denies German threat on its borders and calls rumours absurd and obviously sheer hostile propaganda. The Russians begin to arrest those 13/06/1941 in the Baltic States who might support a German occupation. In all, about 50,000 are rounded up, with the majority never to be seen alive again. Hitler meets with his top generals to discuss matters concerning the upcoming 14/06/1941campaign against the Soviet Union. The 'Lucy' spy ring passes information to the Soviet Union, detailing the start date for a German attack as the 22nd June. German formation commanders receive confirmation of the date and time that the 15/06/1941attack on the Soviet Union will begin. This is to be 03:30 on the 22nd June 1941. German Panzer units begin to move up to their final jump-off positions. [View
Battle Plan] The Russians order a black-out of all major cities and towns near the border. 19/06/1941However, they still do not allow their troops to take up battle positions, in spite of information given by two German deserters of an imminent attack. Just after midnight the Red Army is given orders to come to combat readiness, although they were still not allowed to occupy battle positions. At 3:15am, Operation 'Barbarossa' [View Battle Plan] begins with German and Axis forces comprising 183 divisions (3,500,000 men), 3,350 tanks, 7,184 guns and 1,945 aircraft launching the biggest military operation in history on an 1,800-mile front from 'Finland to the Black Sea'. Three Army Groups supported by powerful Panzer armies and Luftwaffe bomber fleets, Army Group South (von Rundstedt) with Panzer Group 1 (von Kleist), Army Group Centre (von Bock) with Panzer Groups 2 22/06/1941(Guderian) and 3 (Hoth), and Army Group North (von Leeb) with Panzer Group 4 (Hoepner), go into action against 132 Soviet divisions (2,500,000 men), 20,000 tanks and 7,700 aircraft. The overall objective of the campaign is to destroy the Soviet forces in western Russia by the Autumn and to occupy the European part of the Soviet Union up to the line Archangel - Urals - Volga - Astrakhan. By the end of the first day, the Luftwaffe had destroyed 800 Soviet aircraft on the ground at 60 airfields and 400 in the air. The Red Army along the border seemed unprepared for the assault and offered only limited resistance, which allows the Panzer divisions to advance up to 50 miles and maul 12 Soviet divisions. The Red Army launches an armoured counter-attack near Tilsit in Lithuania, but this is repulsed with heavy losses. German forces cross the River Bug, bypassing Brest23/06/1941 Litovsk from the North and South and penetrating 50 miles into Russian occupied Poland. Slovakia declares war on the Soviet Union. Army Group North sweeps into Lithuania and White Russia, taking Vilna and 24/06/1941 Kaunas. Hungary breaks off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Major Russian forces are close to being surrounded in the Bialystok area by Panzer 25/06/1941units of Army Group Centre. Panzer Group 1 captures Lutsk and Dubno, in what was before September 1939 eastern Poland. German forces of Army Group North capture Dnaburg in Latvia. The Luftwaffe 26/06/1941carries out raids on Leningrad. Heavy fighting in the Bialystok area as the German Panzers units close the pocket. German forces capture Bobruisk and Przemysl. Hungary declares war on the Soviet 27/06/1941 Union and agrees to send troops to help Army Group South. Army Group Centre's Panzer Groups meet to the east of Minsk, capturing the city 28/06/1941and trapping 27 Red Army divisions in a pocket to the west. Army Group South meets tougher than expected resistance in its drive through the southern Ukraine. Russian Defence Committee is formed with Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Malenkov 29/06/1941 and Beria. Army Group Centre continues to constrict the Bialystok pocket to the west of Minsk. Pilots of Luftwaffe fighter wing JG-51 down 100 Soviet bombers attacking 30/06/1941 German panzer forces east of Minsk, with its CO, Oberst Mlders, accounting for 5 of them. German forces of Army Group South capture Lemberg (Lvov). 01/07/1941Armoured forces of Panzer Group 4 of Army Group North cross the Dvina and
capture Riga. Units of Panzer Group 2 of Army Group Centre reaches the Berezina near Borisov. Advanced units of Panzer Group 4 force their way through the Stalin line near Ostrov on the Latvian border. Troops of the German 11th, Romanian 3rd and 4th 02/07/1941 Armies begin an offensive from Moldavia toward Vinnitsa and the Black Sea port of Odessa. For the first time since the beginning of the German attack on the Soviet Union, Stalin speaks to the Russian people over the radio. Demanding utmost resistance 'in our patriotic war against German Fascism' and says 'A grave threat hangs over our country.' He calls for a policy of scorched earth if the Red Army is forced to yield 03/07/1941 ground and the formation of 'people's partisan' groups behind enemy lines, as well as the summary execution of all cowards and shirkers. Army Group Centre eradicates the Bialystok pocket capturing 290,000 prisoners, 2,500 tanks, 1,500 guns in the process. 04/07/1941Units of Army Group Centre capture Ostrov. Units of German 6th Army break through the Stalin Line East of Lvov, while Panzer 05/07/1941 Group 1 continues its advance toward Zhitomir and Berdichev in the Ukraine. Army Group North continues its advance, reaching a line from Lake Peipus through 06/07/1941 Reval to Parun, North of the Gulf of Riga. Litvinov Broadcasts in English from Moscow saying that the UK and Russia must 08/07/1941strike at Germany together. Panzer Group 4 of Army Group North captures Pskov and advances toward Novgorod and Leningrad. 09/07/1941Panzer Group 3 defeats Russian blocking forces and capture Vitebsk. Panzer Group 1 repulses a violent Soviet counter-attack in the area of Korosten to 10/07/1941 the west of Kiev. Stalin replaces 3 major Soviet commanders appointing Voroshilov for the northern, 11/07/1941Timoshenko for the central and Budjenny for the southern fronts. Armoured units of Panzer Group 1 advance within 10 miles of Kiev. The Soviet Union and Great Britain sign a mutual assistance pact declaring that 12/07/1941 neither state will make a separate peace with the axis powers. Troops of Army Group North continue their advance from Pskov toward Luga, 75 13/07/1941 miles from Leningrad. 14/07/1941Army Group North is now only 80 miles from Leningrad. Army Group Centre encircles Smolensk, along with a large body of Russians to the 15/07/1941 west of the City. 16/07/1941Army Group South traps 20 Russians divisions in a pocket at Uman. Hitler issues Directive No.33. This states that Moscow is no longer the priority, but that once the Smolensk pocket has been reduced, then Army Group Centre is to 19/07/1941hand over Panzer Group 3 to Army Group North and Panzer Group 2 to Army Group South. This will enable the flanks to be secured by capturing Leningrad in the North and overrunning the Ukraine in the South. Stalin appoints himself Defence Commissar. USSR resumes diplomatic relations 20/07/1941 with German occupied countries. The Luftwaffe launches its first bombing raid on Moscow with 127 aircraft, but 22/07/1941 achieve minimal results. 23/07/1941Brest-Litovsk is taken by German troops after a month-long siege.
26/07/1941Three Soviet armies are encircled and destroyed in the Mogilev area. German troops liberate Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Guderian's Panzer Group 2 is removed from its subordination to von Kluge's 4th Army and put directly under the 27/07/1941control of Army Group Centre. This is due to severe disagreements between the von Kluge and Guderian, which are disabling operations. Fierce battles rage 25 miles to the east of Smolensk. German troops begin to eliminate the Russian forces trapped in the pocket to the 28/07/1941 west of Smolensk. 29/07/1941Marshal Zhukov resigns as Russian Chief of Staff. Army Group North, which is slowly advancing toward Leningrad, reaches Lake 31/07/1941Ilmen, to the south of Novgorod. However, its troops are very fatigued due to the marshes and heavily wooded terrain. Army Group Centre continues its liquidation of the Smolensk pocket. Soviet troops put up fierce resistance near Orsha and Vitebsk west of Smolensk. A powerful 01/08/1941 counter-offensive is launched at Gomel south of Mogilev against German bridgeheads over the Dnieper River. 38,000 Soviet prisoners are taken by Army Group Centre after the Roslavl battle of 03/08/1941 encirclement. German troops capture Smolensk and take 310,000 Red Army prisoners as the 05/08/1941 remnants of 16th and 20th Armies surrender. 07/08/1941Joseph Stalin appoints himself Generalissimo of the Red Army. 08/08/1941Uman pocket eliminated and 103,000 Russian prisoners taken by the Germans. German Army Group South resumes its offensive to the east, along the river Bug, 09/08/1941 with 11th and 17th Armies. Hitler issues Directive No.34 which temporarily abandons Moscow as an objective 12/08/1941in favour of the Ukraine. Soviet forces counterattack at Staraya Russa south of Lake Ilmen. Stalin acknowledges UK and US aid plan and agrees to the apportionment of our joint resources. Anglo-Soviet exchange agreement signed. 56th Panzer Korps of 16/08/1941Panzer Group 4 takes Novgorod on the road to Leningrad. German and Romanian forces of Army Group South captures Nikolaev, an important Soviet naval base on the Black Sea. Army Group North in its drive toward Leningrad captures Narva. The Romanians 17/08/1941 seal off and begin a siege of the Black Sea port of Odessa. Russians withdraw across the Dnieper River, allowing the Panzer Group 1 to 18/08/1941 establish a bridgehead across the river at Zaporozhe, in the Ukraine. South of Lake Illmen, the Soviet 38th Army is close to outflanking the German 10th 19/08/1941Corps, but the German 56th Panzer Corps counterattacks the Soviets and rolls through their positions. German 11th Army captures Kherson on the Black Sea and opens the gate to the 20/08/1941Crimea. German 11th Army captures Kherson on the Black Sea and opens the gate to the Crimea. Marshal Voroshilov tells the people of Leningrad to defend their city to the last. 21/08/1941Hitler orders the investment, not capture, of Leningrad, and the transfer of several divisions from the North and Centre to capture the Crimea and the Donets basin, an
industrial region vital to the Soviet war effort. Russians counter-attack in the Gomel sector. Heavy Romanian losses around 24/08/1941 Odessa. Panzer Group 2, along with the 2nd Army, attack southeast from their positions around Gomel and Bryansk, in an attempt to link up with units of Army Group South and encircle Kiev. Panzer Group 1 begins a breakout towards the north from 25/08/1941 its bridgeheads across the Dnieper, with the aim of linking up with units of Army Group Centre east of Kiev. The German 6th Army engages the bulk of the Soviet forces gathered around Kiev to stop them from retreating. German losses on Russian Front reach 440,000, more than in the entire war before 26/08/1941the 22nd June 1941. Army Group North surrounds and destroys the Soviet forces in the area of Velikije Luki. 27/08/1941Army Group North captures Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The German 20th Panzer Division destroys the northern Front's already broken 30/08/1941 Soviet 48th Army, and takes the town of Mga, 40kms to the Southeast of Leningrad. Army Group South manages to move some of 17th Army across the Dnieper river 31/08/1941 Southeast of Kremenchug. Hitlers War Directive No. 35 orders the capture of Moscow after the Ukraine 06/09/1941 operation has been completed. 07/09/1941The German 6th Army achieves a breakthrough at Konotop in the Ukraine. Leningrad is now completely surrounded after German troops close the land bridge 08/09/1941at Schluesselburg. The Russians announce gains near Smolensk and claim eight German divisions have been beaten. German order of the day says Leningrad must be taken quickly, regardless of cost. 11/09/1941 Zhukov takes command of city. The first snow reported on Russian Front. German forces in the Kremenchug 12/09/1941bridgehead across the Dnieper in the Ukraine and advance north to aid in the encirclement of Kiev. German High Command announces that Russian POWs will get less rations than 13/09/1941 other nationalities. 14/09/1941Army Group Centre completes the encirclement of two Soviet armies at Kiev. 15/09/1941Siege of Leningrad begins. Guderians Panzer Group 2 and Kleists Panzer Group 1 meet east of Kiev, trapping 16/09/1941 five Red Armies. Russians conscript all men aged 16 - 50. Units of Army Group South capture 18/09/1941Poltava in the Ukraine. The Russians evacuate Kiev, but the fight to the death continues in the area for a week. Germans forces take the ruins of Kiev, along with a massive haul of 600,000 19/09/1941 prisoners, 2,500 tanks and 1,000 guns. Army Group South begins an offensive against the vital land bridge to the Crimea at 24/09/1941 Perekop. Hitler orders all attacks by Army Group North on Leningrad stopped and the city to 25/09/1941 be besieged and starved-out. After its foreseen surrender, the city is to be leveled. German High Command final records show the capture of 665,000 prisoners in the 26/09/1941 Kiev operations.
27/09/1941The first of the autumn rains fall and quickly turns the ground to mud. A Soviet-British-US conference opens in Moscow to discuss western aid to Russia. 28/09/1941 Lord Beaverbrook represents Britain and Averell Harriman the USA. The attacks by Army Group South (von Rundstedt) to force an entry into the Crimea 29/09/1941 are halted. As part of operation 'Typhoon' [View Battle Plan] Guderian's Panzer Group 2 opens 30/09/1941its offensive against Moscow, 2 days ahead of the rest of Army Group Centre and makes 50-miles in its advance towards Orel. The Soviet-British-US conference in Moscow concludes with a protocol being signed committing the Britain and the USA to supply Russia with 400 aircraft immediately and 500 aircraft per month until the 30th June 1942. There-after the 01/10/1941 protocol would be renewable annually. Further, both countries undertook to deliver 41,000 tons of Aluminium immediately and 6,000 tons of rubber and 1,500 tons of tin per month. Food and medical supply's were also included. Army Group Centre launches operation 'Typhoon', the main offensive towards 02/10/1941Moscow. Hitler tells his troops: Today is the beginning of the last great battle of the year'. Army Group South begins an advance against Kursk and Kharkov. Hitler tells the German people that Russian 'has already been broken and will never 03/10/1941 rise again'. Troops of Army Group Centre capture Orel. 05/10/1941Advancing in the southern Ukraine, Panzer Group 1 reaches the Sea of Azov. Stalin lifts ban on religion in Russia to boost morale. German advance on Moscow 07/10/1941 continues with the capture of Vyasma. Hitler announces that the war in the East, for all intents and purposes, has already 09/10/1941 been decided in favour of the Reich. The 250th 'Blue' Division, made up of Spanish volunteers and formed within days of the German attack on the Soviet Union, goes into action against the Russians for the first time in the sector between Lake Illmen and the west bank of the Volkhov river. 10/10/1941 General Zhukov is put in charge of the West Front for the defence of Moscow. Army Group South concludes the battle along the Sea of Azov and takes 100,000 prisoners. Rumours of an impending capture of Moscow by the German Army cause thousands 11/10/1941 of civilians to flee the city. Army Group Centre captures Kaluga and Bryansk. Women and children evacuated 12/10/1941 from Moscow. German forces of Army Group Centre capture Kalinin, just 100 miles to the West of 13/10/1941 Moscow. Army Group Centre wipes out the Russian pocket at Bryansk, but only capture about 50,000 prisoners. The rain and mud begins to impede the German advance, 14/10/1941but German troops manage to capture Rzhev. Hitler orders that Moscow is to be enveloped, rather that assaulted directly. Russian troops fall back in the southern Ukraine as the Germans make for the port of Rostov. Moscow now considered in real jeopardy. Following the evacuation of the Soviet government and diplomatic corps from Moscow to Kuibyshev, panic begins to 16/10/1941 spread among the civilian population, with thousands fleeing the city to places further east, but Stalin decides to stay. Odessa falls to the Romanians after a Soviet
evacuation by sea. During the 2 month siege, the Romanians have suffered 98,000 casualties. 17/10/1941Taganrog on the Sea of Azov is captured by Army Group South. 18/10/1941German units are now only 80 miles west of Moscow. Army Group Centre finally clears the Vyazma pocket capturing 670,000 Russians, 19/10/19411,000 tanks and 4,000 guns. Stalin declares state of siege in Moscow and orders its defence to the last. 21/10/1941Units of 6th Army capture Stalino in the industrial Donets Basin. 24/10/1941Army Group South takes Kharkov and Belgorod. The Russians launch numerous counter-attacks around Moscow in an attempt to halt 27/10/1941the German advance. 11th Army forces a breakthrough at Perekop, thus opening the gate to the Crimean peninsula. Germans troops advance in strength, down in to the Crimea, forcing the Russians to 29/10/1941 fall back in to Sevastopol. The worsening weather and seas of mud bring the German offensive against 30/10/1941Moscow almost to a standstill. This gives the Red Army precious time to reinforce their defences in front of Moscow. German troops of the 11th Army take Simferopol, the capital of the Crimea and 01/11/1941 close in on Sevastopol. 03/11/1941Germans troops capture Kursk. 04/11/1941Units of 11th Army capture Feodosiya in the Crimea. Stalin claims Axis casualties on Eastern Front now 4.5 million, when actually less 06/11/1941 than 700,000. The first cases of frostbite in the German Army are recorded. Speaking from Red Square in Moscow, with the spearheads of the Wehrmacht less than 100 miles from the capital, Stalin predicts that 'the Fascist German invaders are 07/11/1941facing disaster'. The German High Command decides to resume the advance on Moscow as soon as possible, although by now it is estimated that 80 Russian divisions stand in their way. Army Group North advances across the Volkhov river and captures Tikhivin. Hitler 08/11/1941 claims Russian losses are 8 - 10 million, which is perhaps double the truth. 09/11/1941Germans capture Yalta in Crimea. 13/11/1941Temperature near Moscow drops to -80F (-22.2C). In temperatures of -20C, Army Group Centre resumes its offensive against 15/11/1941Moscow, employing Panzer Groups 1, 2 and 3, as well as the 2nd, 4th and 9th Armies. The German 11th Army takes Kerch in the eastern Crimea, although Sevastopol still 16/11/1941 holds out. The Germans establish the post of Reichskommissariat Ostland under Alfred 17/11/1941Rosenberg, to administer the recently conquered territories in the east. Siberian troops are heavily engaged in front of Moscow. 22/11/1941The 3rd Panzer Korps captures Rostov-on-Don. 23/11/1941German troops are now only 35 miles north-west of Moscow. The Germans continue their advance against Moscow, throwing all their available 25/11/1941 strength in to the attack in a final attempt to capture the Russian capital. 27/11/1941German Panzers only 19 miles from Moscow. Some armed patrols have penetrated
in to the western suburbs of the city and managed to get a good look at the Kremlin. Overextended and short of supplies, the 3rd Panzer Korps evacuates Rostov and 28/11/1941 withdraws to the Mius river, 30 miles to the West. Depleted by continuous savage fighting, blizzards and sub-zero temperatures, Army Group Centre's offensive begins to grind to a halt as German units find it 29/11/1941increasingly difficult to make ground. The Russians launch a counter-attack at Rostov-on-Don, forcing the German to evacuate the city and withdraw west towards the river Mius. 02/12/1941Germans patrols are just five miles from the Kremlin. 04/12/1941Temperature falls to -31F (-37C) on Russian Front. With the main forces of Army Group Centre just 19 miles from Moscow, Hitler abandons the offensive for winter and agrees to some local withdrawals to more defensive terrain. Zhukov launches a counter-offensive across the frozen upper Volga in the area of Kalinin, to the northwest of Moscow. He uses Konev's Kalinin 05/12/1941 Front for the purpose, but despite the severe cold and exhaustion of the German troops, his forces meet severe resistance, with only the 31st Army enjoying any success as it pushed towards Turginovo. Hungary declares war on Britain. Romania declares war on Britain. Zhukov extends the Red Army's counter-offensive along the whole Moscow axis in an attempt to prevent Panzer Groups 3 and 4 from outflanking Moscow from the 06/12/1941 northeast. To launch this offensive, Zhukov uses 4 armies on the right flank of his own West Front. Field Marshal von Brauchitsch after suffering a recent heart attack tenders his resignation to Hitler, although this is not accepted immediately. Zhukov issues orders to the left flank armies of his West Front to begin offensive operations 07/12/1941 against Panzer Group 2, which is attempting to withdraw out of a salient near Tula. The aim of this offensive would be to cut off Panzer Group 2 and destroy it in the area of Stalinogorsk. The Soviet offensive against Army Group Centre succeeds in breaking through the German lines in many places, causing hasty withdrawals by ill-prepared and frost08/12/1941 bitten troops that are forced to abandon much heavy equipment that was immobilised by the below-zero weather. The Red Army recaptures Tikhivin. Zhukov issues an order forbidding frontal 09/12/1941attacks, in favour of envelopments and outflanking maneuvers, as he says frontal attacks merely allow the Germans to withdraw in good order. 12/12/1941Hungary declares war on the USA. Romania declares war on the USA. The Soviet press issues a triumphant statement on the repulse of the German Armies before Moscow. The Red Army launches a new counter-offensive using Timoshenko's South West Front in an attack northwest against the juncture of Panzer Group 2 and the German 2nd Army between Yelets and Livny. This results 13/12/1941in Panzer Group 2's right flank being left open as the 2nd Army is forced to withdraw in order to save itself. Field Marshal von Brauchitsch meets Field Marshal von Bock, C-in-C of Army Group Centre and decide that Army Group Centre must withdraw some 90 miles west to take up a 'winter line'. Secret orders are passed to this effect.
As German forces evacuate Kalinin, 100 miles to the Northwest of Moscow, Hitler 14/12/1941furious at what he sees as weakness by his Generals, countermands Field Marshal von Brauchitsch's plans for withdrawal. Stalin orders all functions of the Soviet state to relocate back to Moscow now that he is sure that the threat to the capital has been removed. Stalin also orders that the 15/12/1941counter offensive should be extended along the whole of the eastern front. Klin is recaptured by the Red Army. Stalin orders that Army Group Centre should be destroyed by a double envelopment from the north and south. Field Marshal von Brauchitsch's resignation as head of OKH is accepted by Hitler, who now assumes personal command of the Army and its operations on the Eastern front. Hitler sacks Army Group Centre's commander, Field Marshal von Bock and 18/12/1941 replaces him with Field Marshal von Kluge. Stalin creates the Bryansk Front, which is to operate between the West and South West Fronts and lend added weight to the southern prong of the double envelopment of Army Group Centre. Hitler orders that there should be 'No withdrawal by the German Army and that it 19/12/1941 should stand and fight where it is. German forces of Army Group Centre retreating from before Moscow reach a new 20/12/1941defensive line more than 100km to the west, where, following strict orders by Hitler, they are to stand and fight off any further Soviet advances. 21/12/1941Typhus reported to be sweeping through the German forces along the Russian front. Over 3,000 starve to death in Leningrad. Hitler removes Guderian from command of 25/12/1941 Panzer Group 2. The Russians land on the Kerch Peninsula in an attempt to relieve the siege of 26/12/1941 Sevastopol. 27/12/1941The Red Army continues its counter-offensive in the Kalinin area. Soviet troops make an amphibious landing at Feodosiya on the south coast of the 29/12/1941Crimea in order to relive pressure against Sevastopol and hopefully clear the Germans from the Crimea. The Russian success in the Crimea continues as the Germans make a hurried 30/12/1941 evacuation of Kerch. All further German attacks against the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol are halted for 31/12/1941 the winter. Eastern Europe! 02/01/1942The Red Army achieves a breakthrough at Rzhev. 04/01/1942The Red Army captures Kaluga to the southwest of Moscow. 05/01/1942German forces in the Crimea repulse a Soviet landing at Eupatoria. In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister denounces German atrocities in occupied 06/01/1942Russia, where in Kiev alone 52,000 people have been massacred. The Soviet Union will never forget or forgive. The Soviet North West Front begins an offensive south of Lake Ilmen in an attempt 07/01/1942to encircle Demyansk. At the same time the newly created Volkhov Front launches an attack to force the Germans back from around Leningrad. Field Marshal von Leeb, C-in-C of Army Group North, requests permission to 12/01/1942withdraw his forces south of Lake Ilmen behind the river Lovat, as the 2nd Corps at Demyansk is in serious danger of being cut off. Hitler refuses von Leebs request
who resigns in protest. His place as C-in-C of Army Group North is taken up by Field Marshal von Kuechler. Army Group Centre evacuates the Kaluga sector and takes up winter positions 20 15/01/1942 miles to the West. The Red Army cuts the main supply route for the German 2nd and 10th Corps at Demyansk near Lake Ilmen, forcing the Luftwaffe to begin flying in supplies. Field Marshal von Bock takes over command of Army Group South from Field Marshal 18/01/1942von Reichenau who died of a heart attack. The Soviet South West Front launches an offensive across the river Donets, to the South of Kharkov in an attempt to cut of all German forces north of the Sea of Azov. German troops of 11th Army recapture Feodosiya and seal off the Soviet bridgehead at Kerch in the Crimea. 24/01/1942German troops of Army Group Centre, recapture Sukhinichi near Kaluga. 28/01/1942Timoshenkos offensive in the Ukraine slows down after a 60-mile thrust. 01/02/1942The Red Army begins an offensive toward Vyazma. Zhukov is promoted to command the West Theatre, which includes the Kalinin, West and Bryansk Fronts. German forces of Army Group Centre launch a counterattack at Vyazma, cutting off 03/02/1942 and encircling several Red Army divisions. The Soviet North West Front finally cut all land communication for 90,000 troops of 08/02/1942the German 2nd and 10th Corps at Demyansk, as the 11th and 1st Shock Armies link up on the river Lovat, about 25 miles to the west of Demyansk. 13/02/1942The Russians advance in to White Russia, but meet strong German resistance. 14/02/1942The Soviet Union introduces universal labour conscription. The Red Army launches an major attack against Army Group B from the Kerch 13/03/1942 peninsula in the eastern Crimea. An offensive by Army Group North cuts off the Soviet 2nd Shock Army, commanded by General Vlasov, in a salient between Novgorod and Gruzino. Operation 'Munich' is launched. Joined by a new air detachment, German troops attack partisan bases around Yelnya and Dorogobuzh. Operation 'Bamberg' kicks off near Bobruisk, with SS Police troops attacking Russian villages. The German security forces burn many villages and kill 3,500 people, which only infuriate the 19/03/1942 Russian civilians more, which encourages many of them join the partisans, making the whole exercise very counter-productive. The 3rd Panzer Army diaries says "There are indications that the partisan movement in the region of Velikiye Luki, Vitebsk, Rudnya, Velizh, is now being organised on a large scale. The fighting strength of the partisans hitherto active, is being bolstered by individual units of regular red army troops." The Red Army offensive at Kerch in the Crimea is defeated with heavy losses to the 20/03/1942 Russians. A Polish newspaper editor is beheaded for listening to the BBC, as German terror 22/03/1942 continues in Poland. 05/04/1942Fuhrer Directive 41 rolls off the mimeograph machines in Rastenberg and the
Wehrmacht has its marching orders for 1942. Leningrad is to finally be captured, but that's a secondary objective. The big plan is in the South, which involves 2nd Army and 4th Panzer Army breaking through to Voronezh on the Don. 6th Army will break out South of Kharkov and combine with the 4th Panzer Army to surround the enemy. After that, the 4th Panzer Army and 6th Army will drive East under the command of Army Group B and surround Stalingrad from the North, while Army Group A's 17th Army and 1st Panzer Army will do so from the South. Once Stalingrad is taken, the 6th Army will hold the flank defense line while Army Group A drives South into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields and become the northern punch of a grand pincer movement (the southern half being Rommel) to seize Suez, the Nile Delta, the Middle-East and its oilfields. The Germans make some limited advances towards their surrounded units at 09/04/1942Kholm-Staraya Russa. Russian troops attack furiously at Kerch in the Crimea, but there have no success because of the stubborn German defense. Progress continues as German relieve forces push nearer the surrounded Kholm 11/04/1942garrison. The Russians try to land troops near Eupatoria in the Crimea, but are stopped dead by the Germans. Both German and Russian forces pause for breath after an extremely difficult winter (temperatures dropped to a nippy Minus 30C). The Russians have outrun their supply lines and exhausted their supply store of tanks and guns, which has allowed the initiative to slip back to the Germans. However, the Germans are aware that they 12/04/1942 can no longer take Moscow with a knockout blow and so choose another alternative. They intend to drive southward as part of a "grand pincer" movement through the Caucasus to link up with Rommel's Afrika Corps, which will solve their oil problems, disable the Russian economy, and menace the Middle East. Adolf Hitler plans the German summer offensive, but the first priority is to remove the Barvenkovo salient in the Ukraine, which is gives the Russian a springboard to retake Kharkov, or turn South and retake the Ukraine. General Friedrich Paulus, a 20/04/1942 tall, ascetic Prussian staff officer, draws up the plans for an panzer offensive to pinch out this salient. Amazingly, the Russian are simultaneously planning their own offensive out of the salient. The Russian plan to hit the Germans with a powerful force of 640,000 men, 1,200 23/04/1942tanks, and 900 aircraft in the Kharkov area, while the Germans plan to hit the Russians with 636,000 men, 1,000 tanks, and 1,220 aircraft. Heavy fighting also continues on the front around besieged Leningrad whose inhabitants are suffering from bombing, disease and starvation. The siege of the 01/05/1942Crimean fortress of Sevastopol by the 11th Army continues with a ceaseless bombardment by batteries of heavy guns (up to 800mm) and hundreds of bombers (up to 1,000 sorties a day) of Luftflotte 7. The German 11th Army begins its summer offensive in order to clear the Eastern Crimea. The 11th Army has thirteen Infantry, one Panzer, and one Cavalry division. Luftwaffe support is provided by Fliegerkorps 8 and naval support comes from 08/05/1942 German E-boats and Italian midget submarines, which attack Russian supply ships reinforcing Sevastopol. The Germans hit Gen. D.T. Kozlov's Crimean Front along Feodosiya Bay and crash through the 44th Army's two divisions, relying on Junkers
87 Stukas to do the damage. Winston Churchill warns that Britain will use poison gas on Germany if the Germans do so on the Soviet Union. The battle for Sevastopol rumbles on, with the Russian Coastal Army fielding 106,000 men, 600 guns, 100 mortars, 38 tanks, and 55 planes. The Germans hurl 204,000 men, 670 guns, 450 mortars, 720 tanks, and 10/05/1942 600 aircraft at Sevastopol. The Germans also move in 19 motor torpedo boats, 30 patrol boats, eight ASW boats, and a unit of 150 bombers trained in anti-shipping operations. German artillery ranges from 76mm field guns to mammoth 800-mm railway-mounted super-heavy siege mortars. German troops continue their attack at Sevastopol, surrounding some defenders at 11/05/1942 Ak-Monay. The Luftwaffe is making about 1,800 sorties per day. Timoshenkos offensive grinds forward into Army Group South with two pincer attacks, one Northwest out of the Izyum bulge by the 6th Red Army and the other 12/05/1942 West then Southwest by the 28th Red Army from the Volchansk area, designed to converge west of Kharkov. The Red Army falls back towards Kerch in the Crimea. The siege of Leningrad continues. Tanya Savicheva, a young girl, writes in her address book, "Mummy 13th May at 7.30 morning 1942. The Savichevs are dead, 13/05/1942all dead, only Tanya remains." Her book also lists the death of her brothers, grandmother, and two uncles. Evacuated to Gorky on the Volga, Tanya herself dies of chronic dysentery in the summer of 1943. Kerch is captured by German troops, forcing the Russians to evacuate their troops across the straits in extremely difficult conditions and under heavy fire. For five 16/05/1942 days, Russian ships shuttle back and forth, finally pulling out 86,000 men, including 23,000 wounded. The Russians continue to evacuate their forces across the Kerch Straits, leaving 17/05/1942behind vast amounts of artillery and heavy equipment, which the Germans then turn upon the besieged fort of Sevastopol. German forces finally halt the Russian summer offensive just short of Kharkov and let loose Group von Kleists with a strength of 15 Divisions (1st Panzer Army and 17th Army), of which two are Panzer and one Motorised. The Germans aim for Izyum to the South of Kharkov in order to pinch off the Russian salient. The Germans attack with their usual skill, technology, and ferocity and drive through the 18/05/1942 Russian defenses. The Germans have a 4.4-1 edge in tanks, 1.7-1 edge in artillery, and 1.3-1 edge in infantry on the battlefield. Russian co-ordination is poor and the Germans quickly gain local air superiority. Russian officers lack adequate combat experience to handle the fast pace of the German blitzkrieg, and their divisions literally come apart. A busy day for Soviet partisans, who blast railway tracks between Bryansk and Roslavl at five points. Hungarian security troops move in to fight the partisans and do so by killing everyone in the local villages. An irritated Josef Goebbels diaries "In consequence, we can hardly get any agricultural work done in such regions. The 19/05/1942German 6th Army launches an offensive to the North of the Russian salient in order to link hands with Kleists Panzers who have ripped a 50 mile gap through the Red Armys flank. With the Germans cutting off the Russian Barvenkovo offensive from their rear, the Russian cancel their offensive, do a fast U-turn and try to fight their way out of the pocket and back to safety. Unfortunately, the attack is badly
organised and uncoordinated. The Crimea is finally cleared of the Red Army. 170,000 Russians taken prisoner. 20/05/1942 Manstein's gaze now turns fully towards Sevastopol. The 6th Army and Kleist's Panzers meets thereby pinching of the Russian salient 22/05/1942 Southeast of Kharkov. The Germans decide they've had quite enough of the partisan harassment in Russia and launch operation 'Hanover', to clear the Bryansk-Vyazma railway. For six days, 45,000 German troops, including panzer and SS-police units, search for an estimated 24/05/194220,000 partisans, catching or killing many of them. In the Barvenkovo salient, General Ewald von Kleist's Panzer's start to chop up the Russian 6th and 9th Armies. Moscow admits the loss of 5,000 dead, 70,000 missing, and 300 tanks destroyed, but the Germans claim 24,000 POW's and 1,200 tanks. The Soviet Union and Great Britain sign a 20-year treaty of alliance, to avert all chance of a confrontation between Communism and the western democracies. Both 26/05/1942 nations agree not to negotiate or conclude any armistice with Germany or her allies "except by mutual consent." The siege of Sevastopol rages on, becoming the only incident of a formal siege of a modern fortress being pushed through to final reduction. Sevastopol is the premier port on the Black Sea, and its defenses include three zones of trenches, pillboxes, and batteries. The strongest defenses lie in the middle zone, which includes the heights and the south bank of the Belbek River. Among these hills are "Fort Stalin" on the East and the massive western anchor of "Fort Maxim Gorki I," with its turret of twin 305 mm (12-inch) guns sweeping the length of the Belbek valley. 105,000 men defend this port. Against this the Germans and Romanians range 203,000 men 27/05/1942 and some of the most powerful siege artillery ever disposed by any army in World War II. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein aims 305 mm, 350 mm, and 420 mm howitzers at the Russians, along with two of the new, stubby "Karl" and "Thor" 600 mm mortars. Also on hand is the 800 mm (31.5-inch) "Big Dora" from Krupp, which has to be transported to position by 60 railway wagons. "Big Dora" is commanded by a major general and a colonel, protected by two flak regiments and periodically fed with a 10,500 lb. shell. Czech patriots shoot Reinhard Heydrich in the suburbs of Prague. His condition is described as critical. The Russian pocket Southeast of Kharkov continues to be broken in. 200 Poles are 28/05/1942taken from Warsaw to the village of Magdalenka and shot. Among them are three women brought on stretchers from Pawiak prison hospital. 'Fridericus I' is completed as the Russian pocket to the Southeast of Kharkov is finally wiped out and 214,000 Russians captured, along with 1,200 tanks and 2,000 29/05/1942 guns destroyed. German casualties in the fighting around Kharkov amount to some 20,000. Hitler arrives at Poltava, the HQ of Army Group South to approve Field Marshal von Bocks plan for the main offensive. A high level plan had been prepared to make the Russians believe that Moscow was still the objective, Goebbels organised leaks 01/06/1942 to this effect to the foreign press while Army Group Centre made overt preparations for an offensive under the cover-name of 'Kremlin'. The siege of Sevastopol by the 11th Army continues with a round-the-clock bombardment by heavy artillery and
Luftwaffe bombers. The Germans begin a five day bombardment, using all the artillery at their disposal, 02/06/1942including super heavy siege artillery, against Sevastopol in order to soften up the defences ready for the main assault. 04/06/1942Reinhard Heydrich dies of his wounds. Operation 'Birdsong' kicks off between Roslavl and Bryansk, as 5,000 German troops pursue 2,500 partisans. In four weeks, 1,198 partisans are killed, for the loss of 58 German dead. Even so, the Germans are not happy as "The partisans," a German officer reports, "continued their old tactic of evading, withdrawing into the 05/06/1942 forests, or moving in larger groups into the areas South and Southwest of the Roslavl-Bryansk highway and into the Kletnya area." Although no further partisan attacks are reported in the area, "mines continued to be planted" and several German vehicles damaged. General Erich von Manstein hurls his troops in the grand assault on the besieged port of Sevastopol in a two-pronged assault. The Soviets resist fanatically in excellent fortifications. The Germans gain ground but take heavy casualties, and 07/06/1942have to bring in reinforcements to take the city. However, the continuous German attacks wear down the defenders ammunition supplies, which must be brought in by sea through a tight German blockade maintained by the Luftwaffe, E-boats, and Italian midget submarines. Fifteen Poles, including 12 women are publicly hanged in Posen. The bodies left 08/06/1942 hanging for 48 hours as a warning. Heydrich lies in state in Berlin. Himmler calls him, a noble, honest and decent 09/06/1942 human being. Another German offensive in the East begins as two German armies of 33 division, five of them Panzer, attack from Kharkov on the Volchansk Front, a massive assault that will roll on until the 26th, scattering the Russian forces ahead of them. Prague 10/06/1942 radio announces the extermination of Lidice, a village of about 2,000. All the men were shot and women sent to concentration camps. All buildings are razed to the ground as a reprisal for Heydrich killing. German troops of the 16th Regiment of the 22nd Airlanding Division take Fort 14/06/1942 Stalin in Sevastopol. German troops seize Fort Maxim Gorky in Sevastopol, digging out Russian naval infantry (in their black Sailor hats) with flame-throwers. Germans announce the 18/06/1942 killing of Heydrichs assassins, just two hours after ultimatum demanding information expired. Plans for the offensive in to the Caucasus are captured by the Russians when a staff officer from the 23rd Panzer Division is shot down. Against all order, he was carrying the plans on his person. 40th Panzer Corps commander, General Stumme 19/06/1942and his chief of staff are immediately sacked and imprisoned on Hitlers express orders. No changes were made to the plan as although the Russians considered them authentic, they believed that it was only a subsidiary thrust and that the main objective was still Moscow, which suited the Germans. 20/06/1942Fort Lenin in Sevastopol falls to the Germans. German infantry and combat engineers of 11th Army are gaining ground slowly in 21/06/1942 their assault on Sevastopol, but the ferocious Russian defense at Sevastopol forces
Adolf Hitler to do something he doesn't like to do, namely delay the German Summer offensive. The Russians withdraw to the South side of Sevastopol's bay, preserving their front, 23/06/1942 as the bombardment and German attacks increase. German troops drive a wedge into Sevastopol's defenses. The Russians are running out of men, space and time. Surviving fighter aircraft are sent to the Caucasus, 25/06/1942conceding the skies to the Luftwaffe. Soon the Russian AA guns are out of ammunition and the defenders face Stukas with rifles and machine guns. Artillery shells are running low too. German troops capture Kupyansk over the river Oskel, for use as a launch pad for their summer offensive. At Rastenberg, Adolf Hitler decorates SS General Eicke, Commanding Officer of the SS Totenkopf Division, with the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross, for his Divisions bravery in holding out in the Demyansk pocket the 26/06/1942 previous winter. Eleven of Eicke's officers and men also receive the Knight's Cross. After the ceremony, Hitler and Eicke chat and Eicke tells the Fuhrer that his Division is pretty well worn out, short of vehicles and wishes it to be transferred to France. Instead, Hitler gives Eicke home leave. Low clouds cover the skies over the Ukraine, providing a suitably ominous overture to Operation 'Blau', the German summer offensive. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock ("The Preacher of Death") hurls three armies and 11 Panzer divisions East in a massive assault whose objective is nothing short of the Caucasus mountains and oilfields. In classic blitzkrieg style, the Germans fan out across open steppe and grassland, crushing the 40th Army, folding the 13th Army northward and 28/06/1942disintegrating the reeling 21st and 28th Armies. Russian troop command crumbles under the drive. Russian logistics, exhausted by the Moscow counteroffensive, cannot keep up with the demand. A German sergeant tells Propaganda Kompanie men "It's quite different from last year, it's more like Poland. The Russians aren't nearly so thick on the ground. They fire their guns like madmen, but they don't hurt us!". That evening, in Sevastopol, German troops cross North Bay under a smoke screen and seize the southern shore, capturing Inkerman in the process. The drive on the Caucasus roars on as German columns kick up dust clouds that can be seen 40 miles away and leave behind burning villages and town. "It is the formation of the Roman Legions, now brought up to date in the 20th century to tame 29/06/1942 the Mongol-Slav horde," exults German propaganda. In Sevastopol, German troops attack from their bridgehead, while more forces blast in across the Fedyukhin Heights, forcing the Russians back. As the Panzer's roll eastward in Russia, they haul in hordes of Russian POW's. With five German armies (two panzer), two Romanian, one Italian (including a number of mountain divisions) and one Hungarian Army in the van, all tolled 89 divisions on the offensive. While the Panzer's are fully motorised, the bulk of the remaining forces depend on horses for transport and supply. As the advance lengthens, so do 30/06/1942 the supply lines, and shortages soon begin to appear at the sharp end. The Russian garrison at Sevastopol begins to evacuate itself by night. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, telegraphs his troops, "In line with the prestige and dignity of the German Army, every German soldier must maintain distance and such an attitude with regard to Russian POW's as takes
account of the bitterness and inhuman brutality of the Russians in battle." Prestige and dignity will be maintained, Keitel continues, as follows "Fleeing prisoners of war are to be shot without preliminary warning to stop. All resistance of POW's, even passive, must be entirely eliminated immediately by the use of arms." Russian POW's are placed into camps where the dead lie undisturbed for weeks on end. German guards periodically enter the camps to get rid of bodies with flamethrowers. A number of Red Army formations are encircled as Hoth's 4th Panzer Army and 02/07/1942von Weich's 2nd Army link up near Starry Oskol. However, most those trapped manage to filter through German lines and escape across the river Don. Sevastopol, the Crimean capital, finally falls to Germans, along with 97,000 Soviet 03/07/1942 prisoners. The German and Romanian forces lost 24,000 men. The Germans claim to have pushed the Russians back across the Don along a broad 04/07/1942 front. Advanced units of 4th Panzer Army reach the Don north and south of Voronezh, 05/07/1942 which causes the Russians to begin its evacuation. 4th Panzer Army enters Voronezh, 150 miles to the east of Kursk. Army Group A begins its offensive in to the Donets Basin. The STAVKA (Red Army High 07/07/1942 Command) creates the Voronezh Front under General Rokossovsky and is to cover the widening gap between the Bryansk and South-West Fronts. The 4th Panzer Army at Voronezh begins an offensive southeast along the west bank of the Don, with the aim of meeting up with 6th Army which is advancing East toward the Don from Kharkov. The objective is to establish bridgeheads across the 08/07/1942 river in the Kalach area and then continue on to Stalingrad. However, heavy rain and lack of fuel slowed the advance, allowing the Russians time to withdraw their armies intact. Army Group A's, 1st Panzer Army crosses the Donet's river. Germans admit substantial Russian forces are east of the Don. Panzer units of 4th Panzer Army and 6th Army of Army Group B join up just North of Kalach on the 10/07/1942 Don, while 17th Army and 1st Panzer Army of Army Group A continue their advance toward Rostov. Troops of Army Group North complete the reduction of the Volkhov pocket, taking 30,000 Soviet prisoners, including General Vlasov, CO of the Second Guards Army 12/07/1942and later to become C-in-C of the anti-Bolshevik Russian Liberation Army. The STAVKA establishes the Stalingrad Front under Marshal Timoshenko, from the remnants of the South-West front. Hitler switches forces from Army Group B's drive against Stalingrad, to Army Group A in the Donets Basin, as he was convinced that strong Russian forces were 13/07/1942 still west of the river Don and was determined to trap them in the Rostov area. This move reduced Army Group B to that of flank protection for Army Group A. The advance by Army Group A towards Rostov continues against minimal Soviet 14/07/1942 resistance. The Germans take Boguchar and Millerovo, less than 200 miles from Stalingrad. 15/07/1942 However, they have only captured 80,000 Russian's since the 28th June. Hitler changes his mind and orders Army Group B to resume its offensive towards 18/07/1942 Stalingrad. However, as almost all the German Army had be transferred to Army
Group A, the advance was left to Paulus's 6th Army which had been reinforced by a panzer and an infantry Corps. The remaining panzers with Army Group A were ordered to thrust south over the lower Don on a broad front. 20/07/1942The Russians recapture the bridgehead at Voronezh on the Don. Hitler, dissatisfied by what he viewed as von Bocks tardiness since the beginning of the summer offensive, dismisses him from command of Army Group B, dissolves his command HQ and gives command of Army Group B to von Weichs. Hitler also issues Directive No.45 for Operation 'Brunswick', the capture of the Caucasus. Army Group A, once having destroyed the enemy in the Rostov area, was to secure the entire eastern coastline of the Black Sea, simultaneously capturing Maikop and 23/07/1942 Grozny and the advance to Baku. Army Group B would continue east to seize Stalingrad and the advance down the Volga to Astrakhan. This meant that the two would advance on diverging axes and a large gap would develop between them. This was aggravated by the return of Hoth's 4th Panzer Army to Army Group B. Marshal Timoshenko is removed from command of the Stalingrad Front and replaced by General Gordov. Rostov-on-Don is captured by the 1st Panzer Army, thus clearing the way for the advance of Army Group A toward the Caucasus and Kuban region. Large numbers 24/07/1942 of Russian troops are liquidated in and around Rostov after German troops have secured the city. Army Group A brakes out of its bridgeheads on the lower Don, along with the 4th Panzer Army which holds the eastern most of these. Army Group A drives south, whilst 4th Panzer Army attacks east and then north-east to link up with the rest of Army Group B as its advances towards Stalingrad. The South Front under General 25/07/1942Malinovsky is being quickly shattered and the remnants are absorbed in to the North Caucasus Front, which is commanded by Marshal Budenny. Despite the lack of supplies are intense heat, the Germans make rapid progress. Further north, the 6th Army attempts to bounce its way across the river Don, but is initially repulsed and so waits for the 4th Panzer Army to arrive. German troops take Bataysk, and 6th Army launches an attack to destroy the soviet 27/07/1942 bridgehead west at Kalach. The effect of the fall of Rostov spreads panic and terror in the Soviet Union, 28/07/1942 prompting harsh counter-measures by the Soviet High Command. German troops take Proletarskaya and establish a bridgehead over the Manych River 29/07/1942 in the Caucasus region. The Red Army launches a counter-offensive at Rzhev, which leads to the temporary encirclement of six German divisions, although these are successfully supplied by 30/07/1942massive air drops from the Luftwaffe. Army Group A consolidates its bridgehead over the Manych River, while Army Group B struggles to reduce the Soviet bridgehead at Kalach in the Don Estuary west of Stalingrad. 31/07/1942The German advance into the Northern Caucasus continues. Army Group A continues to fan out into the Caucasus region, while advance units 01/08/1942reach the Kuban River. Army Group B continues its fight to cut off the Soviet defenders near Kalach in the Don bend near Stalingrad. 04/08/1942Advance units of 4th Panzer Army cross the Aksay river in their drive toward
Stalingrad. 1st Panzer Army captures Voroshilovsk, over 200 miles to the south east of Rostov. The 4th Panzer Army moving northeast runs straight into the Soviet 64th and 57th 05/08/1942 Armies. Stalin creates the new Southwest Front out of a part of the forces assigned to Stalingrad Front. 06/08/1942German 1st Panzer Army crosses the Kuban river at Armavir. Units of the 6th Army cross the Don river at Kalach during their advance toward 07/08/1942 Stalingrad. The 1st Panzer Army captures the Maikop oilfields, which were left burning furiously by the Red Army, so little refined fuel was found. German 17th Army 09/08/1942 which was advancing behind the 1st Panzer Army reaches Krasnodar, on the river Kuban. With the support of von Richthofen's 4th Air Fleet, which had been transferred from 10/08/1942Army Group A, the 6th Army crosses the Don and reaches the outskirts of Stalingrad. In their advance south toward the Grozny oilfields, units of Army Group A capture Elista near the Caspian Sea. Churchill arrives in Moscow for talks with Sralin. 12/08/1942 During 4 days of often acrimonious talks, Stalin was eventually forced to accept that there would be no 'second front' during 1942. 14/08/1942German forces cross the upper Kuban river at Krasnodar in the Caucasus. The first foreign newspaper since the Revolution appears in Russia. Units of Army 15/08/1942 Group A reach the foothills of the Caucasus. General Paulus's 6th Army begins an attack to take Stalingrad itself, although he had 19/08/1942 still not been joined by Hoth's 4th Panzer Army. The Russians counter-attack to the north of Stalingrad, but elsewhere German troops reach the Volga. The German 48th Panzer Corps, attacks northeast from 20/08/1942Abganerovo, but can not break clear of the Russian defences in the hills of Tundutovo. On their northern flank, 4th Corps is also facing resolute Russian resistance. The advance of 17th Army toward the Black Sea port of Suchumi west of the 22/08/1942 Caucasus bogs down. Hitlers orders that Leningrad should finally be captured after a siege which has last a year. The Luftwaffe begins a 48 hours long air raid on Stalingrad, that involves over 4,000 sorties into the city. The city erupts into a sea of flames along its 40 km length as oil storage tanks pour their flaming contents into the Volga. Thousands of civilians perish in the flames. The 6th Army punches a hole in Soviet 62nd Army's defense's as the 14th Panzer Corps crosses the Don River at Vertyachiy and reaches the Volga at Rynok, north of Stalingrad. An 8 km wide gap is torn between 23/08/1942Vertyachiy and Peskovatka that allows the 6th Army to reach Volga. Hoths 4th Panzer Army is held up by stiff Red Army resistance south of Stalingrad at Tinguta. The Germans make further progress on the Kuban peninsula on the Black Sea. A platoon of 1st Gebirgsjger Division hoists the Swastika flag on the top of Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in the Caucasus. This marks the 'high water' mark in the German attempts to secure the Black Sea coastline. Matters for Army Group A were not helped by the increased priority given to Army Group B in its fight for Stalingrad.
The Russians launch a new offensive in Leningrad area. Stalin orders that the city of 24/08/1942Stalingrad is to be held at all costs and sends Marshal Zhukov to supervise its defence. The 4th Panzer Army breaks off attacks south of Stalingrad. Communist Party 25/08/1942 Committee of Stalingrad proclaims a state of siege. The Russians announce that their offensive along the Moscow front has pushed the 26/08/1942 Germans back 15-20 miles in a fortnight. German successes continue in Caucasus. The Red Army launches counterattacks from the Leningrad pocket against 27/08/1942Schluesselburg and the Volkhov front. The Red Army's offensive on the Moscow front continues. Zhukov is appointed Stalins First Deputy Commissar for defense. 28/08/1942Germans break through South west of Stalingrad but are held to the north. With the Punishment Battalions as rear guards, the Soviet 62nd and parts of 64th 30/08/1942Army escapes encirclement by the 48th Panzer Corps and withdraw across the Chervlennaya river. The Germans claim to have reached the Black Sea in the Caucasus, while units of 01/09/1942 the 1st Panzer Army form a bridgehead across the Terek river at Mozdok. The defenders of Leningrad launch an attack in a vain attempt to meet the relief forces. The pincers of the 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army finally meet up to the west of Stalingrad at Pitomnik. The Germans now attempted to break into Stalingrad 03/09/1942 from the west, but were unable to do so because of limited Red Army counterattacks against his flanks, which diverted a significant proportion of his forces. Luftflotte 4 continues its round-the-clock air attacks against Stalingrad. The 4th Gebirgsjger division of the 17th Army captures the Black Sea naval base 06/09/1942of Novorossiysk, while six Axis divisions cross the Straits of Kerch to Taman. Heavy house-to-house fighting continues in the centre of Stalingrad. 07/09/1942The 6th Army begins a four-mile advance through Stalingrad to the Volga. Hitler sacks Field Marshal List and takes personal command of Army Group A in 09/09/1942the Caucasus, which having been foiled by the Red Army in the western Caucasus, was now meeting increased resistance in its drive towards Astrakhan and Baku. The Red Army forces attacking from besieged Leningrad fail to break the German 10/09/1942 lines. 13/09/19426th Army begins its final effort to take Stalingrad. Counter-attacks by the Soviet 62nd Army in Stalingrad fails as the 6th Army renews its attack against Stalingrad. The Soviet 62nd Army is hemmed into a narrow strip of land no more than 10 miles at its widest and 4 miles as its narrowest. However, a 14/09/1942shortage of troops meant that the 6th Army could only attack on very narrow frontages. Couple this to the fact that the 6th Army was fighting in built-up areas, meant that progress was slow and losses high. Even so, the 51st Corps advanced toward the inner city and the Central Station. Fierce fighting between German and Soviet forces erupts for possession of 15/09/1942 Mamayev Kurgan, the strategic hill overlooking Stalingrad. 16/09/1942Stalingrad railway station changes hands several times. 17/09/1942Bitter street fighting in the north west suburbs of Stalingrad. The Russians launch an offensive on the Voronezh front, 250 miles North west of 18/09/1942 Stalingrad.
Paulus declares that the 6th Army need substantial reinforcements if it is to continues its assault in Stalingrad. Paulus and von Weichs were also very concerned 20/09/1942about their flank defence which consisted of Italian, Hungarian and Romanian troops. However, Hitler was determined to capture Stalingrad before reorganising the flanks. The 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army split the Soviet 62nd Army in two and capture 22/09/1942nearly the entire southern part of the city, including the huge grain elevator which was successfully defended by 40 Soviet marines for over a week. Soviet counterattacks to dislodge German advance units near the Volga landing 23/09/1942 stage are unsuccessful. Units of Army Group A launch an attack against the Black Sea port of Tuapse. The 24/09/1942German Chief of Staff, General Halder is sacked by Hitler and is replaced by General Zeitzler. 26/09/1942The Final German offensive begins at Stalingrad. The 6th Army succeed in capturing most of the strategic Mamayev Kurgan hill and 27/09/1942 penetrates the heavily defended Red October and Barricades housing estates. German pressure in Stalingrad is again stepped up the 6th Army struggles 29/09/1942 desperately to clear Stalingrad. The Russians cross the Volga to the North west of Moscow and recapture 25 30/09/1942 villages. The 6th Army continues to push the decimated Soviet 62nd Army back toward the 03/10/1942 Volga, but with heavy losses to both sides. The fourth German offensive begins in Stalingrad as the 14th Panzer Corps launches 04/10/1942 an attack in force to capture the Tractor Factory in the northern part of the city. The 3rd Panzer Corps captures Malgobek at the bend of the Terek river in the 06/10/1942 Caucasus. The Red Army ends its system of dual leadership by abolishing the position of the 09/10/1942Communist political commissar in favor of a single military commander in its various units. 13/10/1942The Russians regain some ground in Stalingrad, but at heavy cost. In the northern part of Stalingrad, units of the 6th Army advance in bitter fighting 14/10/1942and surround the heavily defended Tractor Factory, following a series of devastating attacks (over 3,000 sorties) by bombers of Luftflotte 4. The advance by Army Group A toward the Black Sea port of Tuapse is halted due to 18/10/1942 difficult terrain and stubborn Soviet resistance. Against fierce Soviet resistance, the 6th Army capture most of the Red October and 22/10/1942 Barricades factories in the northern part of the city. Germans capture two more streets in Stalingrad with severe losses. The last German 25/10/1942 offensive in the Caucasus begins. 27/10/1942The Soviet 37th Army is defeated in Caucasus. The Germans capture Nalchik in the Caucasus, only 50 miles from the Grozny oil 29/10/1942 fields. 01/11/1942In their advance toward Ordshonikidse in the Caucasus, units of 3rd Panzer Corps
capture Alagir on the upper Terek river. Bitter street fighting continues in Stalingrad with neither side making much progress. Due to increasing supply problems and the onset of winter, Army Group 02/11/1942A's advance in to the Caucasus ends with the 13th Panzer Division of 3rd Panzer Corps being stopped 5 miles short of Ordshonikidze, the southeastern-most point in Russia to be reached by the Wehrmacht. In an interview with American journalists, Stalin describes US military aid as of 03/11/1942 little effect. Halted before Ordshonikidse in the Caucasus, the 13th Panzer Division is fighting to prevent itself being cut off by superior Soviet forces attacking its flanks and rear. In a speech to the Congress of Soviet Deputies, Stalin warns the United States and 06/11/1942Britain that 'the absence of a second front against Fascist Germany may end badly for all freedom loving countries, including the Allies themselves'. He declares that 'the aim of the coalition is to save mankind from reversion to savagery and mediaeval brutality'. 6th Army launches its last major attack to capture Stalingrad and succeeds in reaching the Volga near the Red October factory on a frontage of 600 yards. The 11/11/194213th Panzer-Division of 3rd Panzer Corps begins to disengage its units halted before Ordshonikidse to avoid being cut off by the heavy Soviet attacks against its communications. The Red Army opens its winter offensive with a pincer movement round Stalingrad with the aim of encircling and destroying the German forces fighting in Stalingrad. The initial attacks by the Soviet 5th Tank Army from the north and the 51st Army 19/11/1942 from the south are directed against the exposed rear flanks of 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army held by the Romanian 3rd and 4th Army's which are overrun and scattered. Russian gains in Caucasus are also announced. Northeast and southwest of Stalingrad, the attacking Soviet armies are making rapid progress in the direction of Kalach on the Don, the chosen meeting point of the two 20/11/1942pincers. The 6th and 4th Panzer Army's hurriedly dispatch mobile units to bolster the unprepared and crumbling Romanian defenses west and south of the Don. Hitler relinquishes his command of Army Group A to Kleist. The situation for the 6th Army is deteriorating fast, not least owing to the fact that 21/11/1942Army HQ is being relocated which leads to serious disruptions in communications with the troops in and outside the city. The Soviet 4th Mechanised Corps from the south and the 4th Tank Corps from the north, join hands at Kalach on the Don, thus establishing the complete encirclement 22/11/1942 of the 300,000 men of 6th and 4th Panzer Army's. The Russians report gains of up to 50 mites south of Stalingrad. The Russians claim 24,000 prisoners have been taken since the start of their counter 23/11/1942 offensive. 26/11/1942The Russians throw Germans rearguards back across the Don. 27/11/1942Army Group Don under Manstein is formed to relieve Stalingrad. Several German divisions ordered to be transferred from Western Europe begin 03/12/1942arriving in the area of Army Group Don southwest of Stalingrad in preparation of 'Operation Winter Tempest', the relief of the encircled 6th Army.
Manstein launches his counter attack with a hastily assembled force of 13 divisions, 12/12/1942including three Panzer divisions with about 230 tanks to try and relieve Sixth Army at Stalingrad. 14/12/1942A three day tank battle begins South of Stalingrad. The Red Army begins another offensive in the direction of Rostov-on-Don to cut off 16/12/1942the German forces in the Caucasus. The Italian 8th Army's precarious position on the Don threatens Stalingrad relief attempt. 19/12/1942Mansteins tanks are only 30 miles South of Stalingrad. 21/12/1942Hitler refuses to let Paulus break out. Having advanced as far as the Myshkova river 30 miles southwest of Stalingrad, the 23/12/1942three Panzer divisions of the relief force have exhausted their power and begin to withdraw towards their starting line at Kotelnikovo. Following the suspension of 'Operation Winter Tempest', the relief of Stalingrad, the 24/12/1942Red Army begins an offensive against Army Group Don toward Kotelnikovo, breaking through the lines of 4th Romanian Army. Heavy fighting continues all around the perimeter of Stalingrad, while the decimated 25/12/1942and starving troops of 6th Army receive their last rations of horse meat, the 12,000 horses in the pocket having now all been slaughtered. The Russians continue their advance on the southern front and claim 56,000 26/12/1942 prisoners taken in middle Don region. Hitler agrees to allow the retreat by Army Groups A and Don to a line 150 miles 27/12/1942 west of Stalingrad. In the face of the continuing Soviet offensive toward Rostov-on-Don, Army Group 28/12/1942 A is ordered to withdraw its forces from the Caucasus. Eastern Europe! The 1st Panzer Army in the Caucasus begin withdrawing from the Terek front to 01/01/1943avoid being cut off by Soviet forces attacking from the northeast toward Rostov-onDon. 03/01/1943Army Group A begins a general withdrawal from the Caucasus. General Rokossovsky, C-in-C of Don Front, issues a surrender ultimatum to the 6th Army, guaranteeing "their lives and safety and after the end of the war their return 08/01/1943 to Germany". He also promises that "...medical aid will be given to all wounded, sick and frost-bitten...". Paulus rejects this demand for surrender. After a 55-minute bombardment by thousands of guns and rocket-launchers and employing seven armies, the Red Army begins Operation Ring, the final 10/01/1943 annihilation of the tattered remnants of 6th Army defending themselves desperately against all odds in the ruins of Stalingrad. The Red Army begins an offensive to restore the land communications with the encircled city of Leningrad. The Germans abandon a 300 miles salient in Caucasus. 12/01/1943 and withdraw towards the Kuban Bridgehead. The Red Army gains several more streets in the bloody battle for Stalingrad. 15/01/1943The Red Army captures Velikiye Luki in the Valday Hills. The Russians break through the German stranglehold on Leningrad to relieve the 18/01/1943city from the East. In the Caucasus, the Russian advance continues. Cherkessk is captured by the Red Army, who are now less than 250 miles south east of Rostov.
Russians claim further victories during a 75-mile advance towards Kharkov on the 19/01/1943Voronezh front, with the Russians claiming 52,000 axis prisoners on this front alone. 20/01/1943Russian progress continues in the Caucasus. The Russians claim the capture of the Caucasian railway town of Voroshilovskiy 21/01/1943and say that 500,000 Germans have been killed and 200,000 captured in the last two months of fighting. 23/01/1943The last German airfield in the Stalingrad pocket falls. Russians take Starobelskiy, near the Donets River in the eastern Ukraine, more than 250 miles to the West of Stalingrad. Hitler orders no surrender in Stalingrad. The 24/01/1943 offensive by the Soviet Trans-Caucasian Front toward the Kuban bridgehead is stopped at Novorossiysk and Krasnodar. The Red Army succeeds in splitting the remnants of 6th Army into a northern and a southern pocket. German forces evacuate Armavir and Voronezh. Stalins Order of 25/01/1943 the day says that the Red Army has routed 102 German divisions in the last two months. 26/01/1943The Stalingrad pocket is split in two. Voronezh is captured. The exhausted troops of 6th Army's southern pocket, having expended their last 31/01/1943ammunition, surrender to the Red Army. The Russians capture Field Marshal Paulus and 16 generals. 01/02/1943German troops evacuate Demyansk. The remnants of 6th Army under General Strecker in the northern pocket cease fighting and surrender to the Red Army. In all, over 96,000 survivors of the once 02/02/1943300,000-strong Army are captured, of which, only about 5,000 will live to return to Germany after the war. At Moscow, the victory over the Germans is celebrated with a salute of several hundred guns. 04/02/1943Red Army troops achieve a landing near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. 06/02/1943Russians cut off Army Group A by reaching Yeysk on the Sea of Rostov. 08/02/1943The Russians take Kursk and continue their advance. 09/02/1943The Red Army captures Belgorod. Rostov is captured by Russians. German troops evacuate Krasnodar and reach the 12/02/1943 defensive positions in the Kuban bridgehead. 16/02/1943The Russians take Kharkov and Voroshilovo after nine days of heavy street fighting. The 25th Anniversary of the creation of the Red Army is celebrated in all allied 21/02/1943 countries. Army Group Centre begins a counterattack in the area between the Dnieper and 22/02/1943 Donets. The Russians announce that new offensive to the South of Leningrad and led by 01/03/1943Timoshenko, 'has made considerable gains'. German troops begin the evacuation of the Rzhev area. 03/03/1943Russians take Rzhev, over 100 miles to the west of Moscow. 12/03/1943German troops evacuate Vyazma. 14/03/1943The Germans armoured forces recapture Kharkov.
22/03/1943German troops recapture Belgorod. German radio announces that 4,150 Polish officers that were deported by the 12/04/1943 Russian authorities in 1940 have been found in mass graves near Smolensk. Stalin's son Jacob dies at a POW camp. The Russian 14th Army repulses a German 14/04/1943 attack to the Southeast of Leningrad. 17/04/1943Germans find buried Polish officers at Katyn Wood. The German 17th Army begins its attacks to eliminate the Russian beachhead at 18/04/1943 Novorossiysk, but fails and gives up on the 23rd April. A series of minor attacks by the Red Army near Novorossiysk, drives the Germans 29/04/1943 back slowly. The Russians report the smashing of a German counter attack in the Kuban, to the 03/05/1943 South of Rostov. Hitler decides to postpone Operation 'Citadel' in order that more Tiger and Panther tanks can be deployed in the offensive. This is against the advice of a number of 04/05/1943 leading Generals who fear that the Russian defenses will become too strong if the offensive is delayed any further. Stalin announces the dissolution of the Komintern, the Communist International 15/05/1943 working for world revolution. The Red Army begins an offensive against the German forces isolated in the Kuban 26/05/1943 bridgehead between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The Red Air Force attacks German rear communications and airfields at Smolensk, 01/06/1943 Orel and Bryansk. 02/06/1943The Red Air Force bombs Kiev and Roslavl, while the Luftwaffe bombs Kursk. 04/06/1943Luftwaffe bombers attack the massive Russian tank factory's at Gorki. A German report shows that 100,000 cases of typhus were reported on the Russian 14/06/1943 front during 1942, with a fatality rate of 15%. Hitler addresses the generals taking part in the imminent operation 'Citadel' at 01/07/1943 Kursk. The opening of operation 'Citadel', the massive German offensive to encircle and 03/07/1943destroy the Soviet forces in the Orel-Belgorod salient near Kursk. is delayed by one day because of heavy Soviet air attacks against the German deployment areas. The Germans launch operation 'Citadel', their last major offensive on Russian Front on a 200-mile front, with the 9th Army attacking from the North and 4th Panzer Army attacking from the South. The Germans have deployed 37 divisions totaling 900,000 men, which include 11 Panzer divisions with 2,500 tanks and assault guns, 05/07/1943 10,000 guns and Nebelwerfers, as well as 1,800 aircraft. Against this, the Red Army has 1,300,000 troops in deeply echeloned defensive positions, protected by 8,000 land mines per square mile, 3,300 tanks, 20,000 guns and 2,500 aircraft. Taken together, the opposing forces in this operation constitute the largest concentration of
military power ever assembled in history. In the northern sector, the Germans advance 6 miles, while in the southern sector they manage 25 miles against stubborn Soviet resistance which inflicts heavy casualties. The battle of Kursk continues with unabated ferocity, with the northern pincer of 9th 06/07/1943Army is struggling to make any significant progress, the southern pincer of 4th Panzer Army advances some 12 miles. The German forces engaged at Kursk are still unable to achieve a major breakthrough in the face of stiffening Soviet resistance, which is reinforced by the 07/07/1943 arrival of strong tank and infantry reserves. Lt. Hartmann of II/JG 52, downs 7 Soviet aircraft near Kursk, bringing his total since the start of the offensive to 22. As the battle of Kursk reaches its climax, the exhausted German forces are unable to make any further gains while losing vast numbers of men, tanks and planes. Soviet 08/07/1943 claims for the day are 304 tanks and 161 aircraft, while the Germans claim 400 tanks and 193 aircraft. The Russians say that the German attack has been held and claim that 2,000 tanks 09/07/1943 have been destroyed in four days. The attacking German forces at Kursk have been depleted by heavy losses in men and armour and have nearly spent their momentum, even though the 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf in the southern sector have succeeded in 11/07/1943 capturing the pivotal town of Prokhorovka. To prevent further attrition, especially of the vital armoured forces, Field Marshals von Kluge and von Manstein urge Hitler to call off the operation, but Hitler refuses. The greatest tank battle in history takes place near Prokhorovka, as the Soviet Central, Bryansk and West Fronts begin a massive counter- offensive in the area of Orel, Bryansk and Kursk. At Krasnograd near Moscow, a group of captured German 12/07/1943 officers, including Field Marshal Paulus and General von Seydlitz, and exiled German communists form the 'National Committee for a Free Germany' that calls for the overthrow of Hitler and the cessation of hostilities against the Soviet Union. Despite the maximum efforts by the German forces to break through the Soviet defenses at Kursk, no further gains can be made, so Hitler orders the suspension of 13/07/1943Operation Citadel' and orders the transfer of various divisions to the West. The outcome of this battle represents a tremendous victory for the Red Army and ends hopes of any major German offensive operations on the Eastern front in the future. Joining in the counter-offensive by the Central, Bryansk and Western Fronts, the 14/07/1943Soviet Voronezh Front launches attacks against the 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf in the southern sector of the Kursk salient. 23/07/1943Soviet forces continue their advance into the Orel salient. A number of Waffen SS divisions are ordered to be transferred from Russia to Italy, 26/07/1943 but only the 1st SS Panzer Division is actually redeployed. Army Group A launches counter attacks to improve its positions along the Mius 29/07/1943 River. Army Group A losses the initiative in its attack to secure its positions along the 30/07/1943 Mius River. Hitler orders the immediate evacuation of the Orel salient. Lydia Litvak, the top 01/08/1943 scoring Russian female fighter pilot of the war (12 kills), is shot down and killed.
Hitler orders that German armies are to hold fast in Russia, but Manstein ignores him and uses a flexible defense in the Kharkov sector. The Russian gains around 02/08/1943 Orel continue, but German forces repel massive Soviet attacks at Izyum and the Mius river line. The Red Army launches an offensive from Belgorod area toward Poltava after the 03/08/1943failure of Operation Citadel. The Soviet Voronezh and Steppe Fronts penetrate into Army Group South's left flank forcing the Germans are to retreat. The Red Army retakes Orel, as German 9th Army withdraws towards Bryansk, to 04/08/1943 avoid encirclement. 05/08/1943The Russians take Belgorod and now threaten Kharkov. Hitler orders the construction of a fortified defensive line (Panther Line) along the 12/08/1943 Dnieper river. 16/08/1943The Red Army launches an offensive against the Mius line toward Stalino. 19/08/1943Russian troops breach the German defense line on the Mius river. 22/08/1943The Germans evacuate Kharkov. The Soviet Steppe Front, occupies Kharkov, while the 5th Guards Tank Army beats 23/08/1943 off the consequent German counter-attack. 25/08/1943The Russians continue their advance to the West of Kharkov. 30/08/1943Taganrog on the Sea of Azov is evacuated by the German. 31/08/1943Hitler allows Manstein to make limited withdrawals in Ukraine. A special order of the day from Stalin announces the Russian victories on Voronezh, 02/09/1943 Bryansk, Donets and Sea of Azov fronts. 06/09/1943The Red Army succeeds in separating Army Group Centre from Army Group South. The German 17th Army begins the evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead across the 07/09/1943Strait of Kerch to the Crimea. Himmler and Goring order an evacuation of their rear area forces from the eastern Ukraine. Soviet marines supported by naval units of the Red Fleet recapture the Black Sea 10/09/1943 port of Novorossiysk. German officers captured by the Red Army since the start of the war, form an anti11/09/1943 Hitler association, called the "Bund Deutscher Offiziere". 14/09/1943The Germans begin to evacuate Bryansk, some 200 miles Southwest of Moscow. The Black Sea port of Novorossiysk is captured by the Russians after a week of 16/09/1943 amphibious and land operations. 17/09/1943Stalin announces the capture of Bryansk. 20/09/1943Army Group South begins its withdrawal to the Melitopol-Zaporozhe line. The Red Army forces a crossing of the Dnieper at Dnepropetrovsk, thereby breaking 21/09/1943 into the German Panther line. 23/09/1943The Red Army captures Poltava. The Russians capture Smolensk and Roslavl, over 200 miles to the West of 25/09/1943 Moscow. The Germans begin a General withdrawal of all forces in the Ukraine to positions on 27/09/1943the west bank of the Dnieper river. Russians take the last German held port on the Black Sea at Temyruk. 30/09/1943The Russians make Dnieper River crossings on a 300-mile front.
Two Russian armies take Nevel on the boundary between Army Groups North and 06/10/1943 Centre. The Russians now control the Kuban peninsula on the Black Sea, after the 09/10/1943 successful evacuation of all German and Romanian troops into the Crimea. With the war's tide turning, the Franco government orders the Spanish 250th 'Blue' Division home. A few thousand volunteers, however, refuse to abandon the struggle 10/10/1943 against Communism and enlist in a so-called "Blue Legion" that is attached to the German 121st Infantry Division. 13/10/1943The Russians reach Melitopol in southern Ukraine. German forces evacuate the Zaporozhe bridgehead on the eastern bank of the 14/10/1943 Dnieper river. Vatutin launches a 4-day breakout attempt from the Bukrin bridgehead south of 16/10/1943Kiev. Koniev launches an offensive to cut off the 1st Panzer Army on Dnieper River. 20/10/1943The Russian attacks from Bukrin bridgehead are bloodily repulsed. Russians take Melitopol after 10-days of fighting; Dnepropetrovsk falls to 23/10/1943 Malinovsky, while a tank army reaches Krivoi Rog. The Red Army achieves a breakthrough on the Dnieper river and captures 24/10/1943 Melitopol. Field Marshal Von Kluge is invalided from command of Army Group Centre as 27/10/1943 result of a car crash. The Red Army achieves a landing across the Strait of Kerch from the Taman 01/11/1943 peninsula and also severs all German land links with the Crimea. 03/11/1943A massive Russian offensive from Dnieper bridgehead North of Kiev erupts. A Russian breakout to the North of Kiev is achieved with their tank army's driving 04/11/1943 throughout the night. 06/11/1943The Russians take Kiev and split the 4th Panzer Army into three. 10/11/1943The Red Army achieves a breakthrough near Gomel in Byelorussia. The Russians take Zhitomir in Ukraine. The Kiev bridgehead is now 95 miles deep 12/11/1943 and 150 miles wide. 17/11/1943The Russian 60th Army takes Korosten, 100 miles West of Kiev. 18/11/1943A German counter offensive recaptures Zhitomir. The Red Army achieves a breakthrough near Kremenchug in the Ukraine and 20/11/1943advances toward Kirovograd. Hitler does not allow Army Group North to withdraw to Panther line. Russian POW losses for war now total over five million. 26/11/1943German forces of Army Group Centre evacuate Gomel in Byelorussia. Russian forces isolate the Germans in Crimea and control the northern half of the 01/12/1943 Dnieper bend. Units of the German 11th Army begin an offensive to eliminate the Soviet 04/12/1943 bridgehead at Kerch in the eastern Crimea. 12/12/1943A Czech-Soviet treaty of friendship is signed in Moscow. 13/12/1943A war criminals trial at Kharkov accuses four Germans of murdering thousands of
Russians in specially equipped carbon-monoxide murder vans. Army Group Centre becomes engaged in a series of heavy defensive battles in the area of Vitebsk. German strength on Eastern Front is now only 2,086,000, with 188,000 allied and 14/12/1943 satellite troops. German casualties for 1943 were 900,000. The war crimes trial at Kharkov of the four captured Germans opens with all plead 15/12/1943the defendants pleading guilty. One of the defendants says that more than 30,000 Russians were exterminated at Kiev. 18/12/1943The Kharkov four are sentenced to death. 50,000 people turn out to watch the hanging of the four Germans in Kharkov city 19/12/1943 square. 21/12/1943Russian forces smash the German bridgehead over Dnieper River at Kherson. The Russians commence a third winter offensive, with Vatutins 63 divisions in the 24/12/1943 Ukraine and capture Berdichev. The Russians report 30-60 mile advances from the Kiev salient along a 180-mile 30/12/1943 front. 31/12/1943Russians retake Zhitomir, 80 miles East of Kiev. Eastern Europe! Konievs 2nd Ukrainian Front extends the Russian general offensive in temperatures 05/01/1944 of -20C. The Red Army crosses the 1939 Polish frontier after a 170-mile advance in just two 06/01/1944 weeks. 08/01/1944Kirovograd falls to Russians. The Russians capture Lyudvipol, 2-3 miles across the Polish border. The Russians propose new Polish border further west on the so-called Curzon Line. German 10/01/1944 forces in Dnieper bend are attacked by the Russians for the next five days, but and early thaw aids the German defense. 15/01/1944The Russians launch another new offensive around Leningrad. German forces of Army Group Centre repel repeated Red Army attacks in the area 18/01/1944 of Vitebsk. Germans forces are surrounded in Novgorod, 100 miles to the South of Leningrad, 19/01/1944 but manage to break out. 20/01/1944The Red Army recaptures Novgorod. Leningraders are told that the blockade has been lifted after 900 days. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front launches an offensive against Luzk and Rovno. Hitler lectures all his eastern front army commanders on National Socialism as the Russians cut off 27/01/1944 60,000 men in Korsun Pocket, 100 miles to the southeast of Kiev. Army Group North's commander, Von Kchler orders the eighteenth army to pull back to the river Luga. The Red Army succeeds in encircling several German divisions in the area of 28/01/1944 Cherkassy. 30/01/1944The Russians attack towards Nikopol on the southern Dnieper. The Polish underground executes Major Fritz Kurschera, the chief of the Gestapo in 01/02/1944 Poland.
The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Luzk and Rovno. Stalin agrees to USAAF using 02/02/1944 Russian bases. 04/02/1944The Germans start their offensive to relieve the Korsun pocket. The Russians capture of Nikopol. The surrounded German forces in the Korsun 08/02/1944 pocket are invited to surrender by the Russians. The Russians begin to lay down a tremendous artillery barrage against the Korsun 10/02/1944 pocket, in an attempt to force its surrender. 11/02/1944German relief forces are now just 10 mile from the Korsun pocket. 12/02/1944The Red Army recaptures Luga. Hitler permits Field Marshal Models troops to withdraw to Panther Line and also 15/02/1944 allows the Korsun pocket defenders to break out towards the relieving forces. German troops encircled in the Cherkassy pocket achieve a breakout, but at a heavy 17/02/1944cost in men and equipment. The Russians claim the annihilation of the trapped German divisions at Korsun. They also begin to storm Krivoi Rog. The Red Army recaptures Staraya Russa, as Army Group North falls back to the line 18/02/1944 Narva-Pleskau-Oposhka. 22/02/1944Malinovsky completes the capture of the mining area around Krivoi Rog. 01/03/1944Both German and Russian forces in the Baltic region go on the defensive. Under pressure from the Western Allies to withdraw all remaining Spanish troops from the Eastern front, the Franco government orders members of the so-called Blue Legion, attached to the German 121st Infantry Division, to return home and 03/03/1944 outlaws service by Spanish citizens with the Axis forces. Nevertheless, a handful of fanatically anti-Communist Spaniards defy orders and volunteer for service with the Waffen SS, some of them fighting suicidally to the end in the ruins of Berlin. Zhukov renews his attacks against the forces of Manstein's Army Group South in 04/03/1944 the Ukraine. 05/03/1944Koniev's 2nd Ukrainian Front launches an attack towards Uman. 10/03/1944Uman is taken as the Russians drive towards the Bug and Dnieper rivers. 11/03/1944Zhukov is stopped on River Bug after a 60-mile advance. 13/03/1944The Russians announce the capture of Kherson in the southern Ukraine. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front breaks through German defenses and reaches the 15/03/1944 Bug river, the starting point in 1941 for Operation 'Barbarossa'. In order to ensure Hungary's continued support as an axis partner, Hitler orders its 19/03/1944occupation. Eleven German divisions cross the border from Austria into Hungary, encountering minimal resistance. The Russians recapture Vinnitsa in the Ukraine, the site of Hitler's Headquarters 20/03/1944 during in 1943. A Russian tank army crosses the Dnieper near Czech border. Malinovsky makes 24/03/1944 crossings of the Bug near the Black Sea. Manstein persuades Hitler to allow the First Panzer Army to break out to the west of 25/03/1944 Lvov, not south. Konievs armies reach the River Pruth on a 50-miles front. The Russians recapture 26/03/1944 Kamenets-Podolsk. in the Ukraine. 28/03/1944The Russians recapture Nikolaev on the Black Sea and enter Romanian territory. 30/03/1944Kleist and Manstein are sacked by Hitler and replaced by Schorner and Model.
The Russians announce their entry into Romania and threaten to shoot one third of all German POWs if the 18 divisions of the trapped 1st Panzer Army do not 02/04/1944 surrender. The Russian army crosses the river Prut, East of Cernovcy and liberates the little city Gerca. Army Group Centre, under General Busch launches a counterattack which succeeds 04/04/1944in reaching German units surrounded at Kovel in the Pripet swamps since the 19th March. The Russians reach the Slovakian border. The also continue their advance into 08/04/1944Romania. The final Russian offensive to destroy the German 17th Army in Crimea begins. The remains of the 1st Panzer Army regain the German lines after a 150-mile forced 09/04/1944march. The Red Army breaks through the German lines at Kerch in the eastern Crimea. The Russians enter Odessa on Black Sea as German forces withdraw from the city 10/04/1944 to the west bank of the Dniester river. Russian troops capture Kerch in the Crimea. While units of the 4th Ukrainian Front 11/04/1944 liberate Dsjankoi. Hitler authorises a withdrawal of 230,000 German and Romanian troops to the 12/04/1944fortress of Sevastopol. However, this is four days too late and the delay results in many unnecessary losses. 13/04/1944Simferopol, Feodosiya and Eupatoria in the Crimea fall to Red Army. 15/04/1944The Red Army recaptures Tarnopol in the southern Ukraine. 16/04/1944Yalta in the Crimea is captured by the Russian. 18/04/1944The Russians take Balaclava. 05/05/1944The Russians launch their attack the fortress city of Sevastopol in the Crimea. The Russians capture Sevastopol as Hitler finally changes his mind and orders 09/05/1944 evacuation of the city. The remains of German Seventeenth Army in Crimea are destroyed, with the 12/05/1944 Russians taking 36,000 Axis troops prisoner. The Russians repel a heavy German counter attack North of Jassy, in the southern 31/05/1944Ukraine. Stalin gives the go-ahead to Operation 'Bagration' (the Russian summer offensive) which is to destroy Army Group Centre in Byelorussia. The Russian summer offensive, operation 'Bagration' begins against Army Group Centre in Byelorussia with assaults by the Soviet 1st Baltic, 3rd Belorussian 2nd and 1st Belorussian Fronts against Army Group Centre on a 450 mile front between Polotsk and Bobruysk. Soviet forces amount to 124 divisions, 1,200,000 men, 5,200 22/06/1944 tanks, 30,000 guns and 6,000 aircraft. Against this, the German can field just 63 divisions, including 900 tanks and 10,000 guns. The Luftwaffe launches a surprise night raid (60 aircraft) on the US 8th Air Force's shuttle base at Poltava in the Ukraine, destroying 44 B-17s and 500,000 gallons of fuel. 24/06/1944The Russians report major advances against Army Group Centre. Hitler orders all
but one of the five German divisions of the 53rd Korps that are encircled at Vitebsk to fight their way out. 26/06/1944The Russians take Vitebsk. The Red Army recaptures Orsha on the Dnieper and destroys the trapped German 27/06/194453rd Korps near Vitebsk. Further gains are reported by the Russians at Mogilev to the South of Vitebsk. The Russians take Mogilev and cross the Berezina river surrounding most of 28/06/1944 German Ninth Army. 70,000 troops of Army Group Centre that are encircled near Bobruisk surrender to 29/06/1944the Red Army. The Russians report that 16,000 Germans have been killed and 18,000 captured near Minsk. The Fifth Guards Tank Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front takes Borisov, less that 01/07/1944 50 miles North East of Minsk. 02/07/1944The Russians cut the railways to the West of Minsk. Minsk, the capital of Byelorussia is captured by the Russians, trapping 100,000 03/07/1944 Germans in a pocket to the East. The Soviet 1st Baltic Front begins an offensive toward Riga, capturing Polotsk and 04/07/1944 threatening to isolate Army Group North during its fighting retreat from Estonia. 06/07/1944The Soviet 1st Belorussian Front recaptures Kovel to the southeast of Brest-Litovsk. The Russians capture Baranovichi, 80 miles South West of Minsk. Lieutenant General Mller, the commander of German 12th Corps surrenders with 57,000 men. 08/07/1944 Street fighting is reported as the Russians enter Vilna. Army Group Centre's losses have now reached 300,000 men (28 divisions) in less than three weeks. A major Russian offensive begins towards Rezekne, to the East of Riga in order to cut off Army Group North in Baltic States. The 2nd Belorussian Front attacks 09/07/1944 northwest from Vitebsk, the 3rd Belorussian Front attacks West from Psovsk and the Leningrad Front attacks southwest toward Narva. 11/07/1944The Red Army captures the remnants (35,000) of the encircled 4th Army. The Russians announce the capture of Vilna and continue their advance into eastern 13/07/1944 Galicia. A new Russian offensive begins in the northern Ukraine opens with massive support 14/07/1944 from the Red Air Force and gains up to 10 miles and recaptures Pinsk. Two Soviet armies from Crimea join the Baltic front so that it can continue its 15/07/1944 offensive. Russian tank penetrations are only 25 miles from Lvov. The Brody pocket begins to form in the northern Ukraine, trapping 40,000 German 16/07/1944 troops. The Germans say they will hold Baltic States at all costs, as the Russian advance 17/07/1944 approaches the Latvian border. The First Belorussian front attacks, with six armies and 1,600 aircraft from Kovel 18/07/1944 across the Bug towards Lublin. 19/07/1944The Russians claim to have crossed into Latvia. An assassination attempt is made on Hitler at his headquarters in Rastenburg, East 20/07/1944 Prussia. 21/07/1944Some of the German defenders of the Brody Pocket reach German lines. 22/07/1944The Russian advance into Baltic States continues with the capture of Panevezys in
Lithuania. The Brody Pocket is eliminated by the Russian, who take 17,000 prisoners. The Russians take Pskov, 150 miles to the South West of Leningrad on Estonian 23/07/1944 border. Heavy street fighting is reported from Lublin in Poland. The River San is crossed by the Soviets to the northwest of Lvov. The Germans start 24/07/1944 evacuating Lvov. Narva is evacuated by the Germans, who take up position along the Tannenberg position to the West. Soviet forces cut the road between Dvinsk and Riga in Latvia. 25/07/1944 The Second Tank Army reaches the Vistula, 40 miles West of Lublin. Lvov is surrounded and Soviet forces converge on Brest-Litovsk. 26/07/1944Narva is finally captured by the Red Army. The Russians reach the Estonian border. The Russians take Lvov, Dunaburg and Bialystok and secure a major bridgehead 27/07/1944 over the Magnuszew River. Further gains are also made in Baltic States. Brest-Litovsk, on the Polish frontier is taken by the Russian. More crossings over 28/07/1944 the Vistula are also made. The Red Army reaches to the Baltic coast to the West of Riga, thereby cutting Army 29/07/1944 Group North off in Estonia and Eastern Latvia. The Russians take Kaunas and cut all roads from Germany to Baltic States. BorKomorowski leads the Warsaw Uprising by the 38,000 strong Polish underground 01/08/1944 Army. They receive no support from Soviet forces who are already on the eastern bank of the Vistula opposite the city. 02/08/1944The First Polish Army gains a Vistula bridgehead, 40 miles to the south of Warsaw. Soviet spearheads in the area to the east of Warsaw, are destroyed by German 03/08/1944 counter attacks. The 19th Panzer Division crosses Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw, as the fighting 04/08/1944ceases in the suburb of Praga. The Red Army forces a bridgehead across the Vistula at Baranov. The Polish Home Army goes onto the defensive in Warsaw, as 60 per cent of city 05/08/1944now in its control. The 4th Ukrainian Front is inserted in the Russian line in southern Poland and northern Hungary. 06/08/1944The Russians seize the Polish oil centre of Drohobyez. The Russians advance into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, near the 07/08/1944 Slovak, Hungarian, Russian borders. The Russians renew their offensive towards the Estonian border at Pskov, breaking 11/08/1944through the Mavlenburg Line. The Germans assault the old town area of Warsaw from three sides. The Russians begin an offensive from their Vistula bridgeheads, 100 miles to the 14/08/1944 South of Warsaw. 17/08/1944The Russians reach the East Prussian/Lithuanian border. 18/08/1944The Red Army recaptures Sandomir in Galicia. The Russians launch an offensive in to Romania with 900,000 men (96 divisions), 20/08/19441,400 tanks and 1,700 aircraft. Advances up to 12 miles are reported as the Russian plan to surround 23 German divisions (360,000 men) takes shape. The German Sixth Army is separated from the Romanian 3rd Army on Black Sea 21/08/1944 coast. Colonel General Friessner orders all German units to withdraw as the
Romanians fail to fight and change sides. The Germans, with naval support, open a coastal corridor 10 to 12 miles wide to Army Group North, but Hitler refuses to order the evacuation of Baltic States. 22/08/1944The Red Army captures Jassy on the Prut river in the southern Ukraine. King Michael I of Romania dismisses Marshall Antonescu, his head of state and 23/08/1944 brings his country over to the Soviet side. Russian 3rd Baltic Front reaches Tartu in Estonia. Romania declares war on 24/08/1944 Germany. Russian 3rd Baltic Front reaches Tartu in Estonia. Romania declares war on 25/08/1944 Germany. 27/08/1944Russians take Galati in eastern Romania. The Russians capture the Romanian oilfields at Ploesti and enter Hungarian 29/08/1944occupied Transylvania. An uprising begins in Slovakia against the pro-German government of Dr. Tiso. The Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front captures Bucharest, the capital of Romania and 31/08/1944 begins to round up members of the 'Fascist' Antonescu government. 05/09/1944A German-Hungarian counterattack in the area of Klausenburg in Romania fails. The Russians occupy Turnu-Severin on the Danube in Romania and advance to the 06/09/1944 Yugoslav border. They also reach the eastern Carpathians. 07/09/1944Romania declares war on Hungary. A German-Hungarian counter-offensive grinds toward Arad and Temesvar in 12/09/1944 Hungary. The Russians reach the Polish-Czechoslovak border. The Romanians sign an 13/09/1944 Armistice with the Russians. Russian troops reach the Vistula river in the Praga suburb of Warsaw, as planes drop supplies to the Polish Home Army which is trapped inside the city. Three Russian 14/09/1944Baltic fronts launch an offensive with 900,000 men, 3,000 tanks and 2,600 aircraft against Army Group North which is forced to fall back to defensive positions around Riga. 15/09/1944The Red Army achieves a breakthrough at Narva. 17/09/1944The Red Army achieves a breakthrough at Narva. 22/09/1944The Russians occupy Tallinn and Reval in Estonia. 23/09/1944Russian and Romanian troops enter Hungary at Arad. 24/09/1944The Russian offensive in Baltic States ceases. 27/09/19442,000 Poles of the Home Army surrender in Mokotow district of Warsaw. 28/09/1944The Red Army begin an offensive towards the Yugoslav border from Romania. A secret Hungarian delegation arrives in Moscow to sign an armistice with the 01/10/1944 Russians. Warsaw falls to the Germans after 63-day siege, with the Polish Home Army 02/10/1944surrendering only after all its food and ammunition had run out. The Germans recognise their valor and treat the survivors not as partisans, but as regular POWs. The First Baltic Front begins an offensive South of Riga to cut off Army Group 05/10/1944 North in Lithuania.
A Russian offensive by 64 divisions, 750 tanks and 1,100 aircraft commences near 06/10/1944 Arad in Hungary, with the aim of destroying Army Group South. The Russians reach the Baltic at Memel and cut off Army Group North (26 10/10/1944divisions) in the Kurland for the rest of the war. The rebellion against the Tiso government in Slovakia is put down by the German Army. The Red Army captures Klausenburg in Romania as Hungary and the Soviet Union 11/10/1944 begin negotiations for a ceasefire. 12/10/1944The Germans manage to hold line of the Niemen to cover East Prussia. Russian troops capture Riga, the capital of Latvia as Army Group North withdraws 13/10/1944 in to the Kurland pocket. The Hungarian chief of state, Admiral Horthy, shortly after announcing Hungary's withdrawal from the war against the Russia, is taken prisoner by a commando unit 15/10/1944 led by SS major Otto Skorzeny. A new government under Ferenc Szalasi vows to continue the alliance with Germany. The Red Army enters German territory near Goldap in East Prussia. Thousands of 16/10/1944 German civilians flee the area in panic. 17/10/1944German forces successfully repulse heavy Soviet attacks near Debrecen. 18/10/1944German forces thrusts into Slovakia. Hitler orders the total destruction of Warsaw. The German 4th Army withdraws 19/10/1944 from the Tilsit area. The Red Army continues its drive west and captures several towns near the Russian22/10/1944 German border. 23/10/1944The 3rd Panzer Korps begin a six day counter attack around Debrecen. 25/10/1944The Red Army completes its capture of Transylvania in northwestern Romania. The Red Army's advance into the Goldap area of East Prussia is brought to a 28/10/1944 standstill by the tenacious resistance of 4th Army. The Debrecen counter attacks end with the Germans claiming that they have 30/10/1944inflicted 25,000 casualties and destroyed 600 tanks. However, this doesn't hinder the Red Army and they begin a major offensive in to Hungary. 02/11/1944The Red Army enters the southeastern suburbs of Budapest. 05/11/1944The German 4th Army recapture the town of Goldap in East Prussia. 26/11/1944The Russians advance in Slovakia. The Red Army breaks through the German-Hungarian defensive lines and captures 27/11/1944 Mohacs. 29/11/1944Russian troops cross Danube into southwest Hungary, making large gains. Malinovsky attacks with two armies from North East of Budapest and makes a 6005/12/1944 mile advance in eight days. 08/12/1944The Red Army begins an offensive aimed at encircling Budapest. 09/12/1944The Russians reach the Danube north of Budapest. 23/12/1944The Russian breakthrough to the South West of Budapest is now 60-mile wide. The Russians capture Gran, this cutting all communications with Budapest and 27/12/1944 trapping five German and Hungarian divisions.
Eastern Europe! Koniev's 1st Ukrainian Front launches a major winter offensive from its bridgehead 12/01/1945 across the Vistula at Baranov in southern Poland. Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front begins an offensive toward Pillkallen in East 13/01/1945 Prussia, against which their is stiff resistance from the 3rd Panzer Army. Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front continues its attacks South of Warsaw from two Vistula bridgeheads, one of which holds 400,000 men and 1,700 tanks. 14/01/1945 Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front begins its offensive from its Narev bridgehead against Elbing in East Prussia. During its drive toward the Oder river, the Red Army captures Kielce in western 15/01/1945 Poland. Russians forces cross the Warthe and advance 100-miles on a 160-mile front forcing the Germans to evacuate Warsaw, which falls that same day. The German defenders 17/01/1945 encircled at Budapest withdraw to Buda on the western bank of the Danube. The Red Army captures Czenstochova. German troops evacuate Kracow. A German offensive begins from Lake Balaton, 18/01/1945 with the aim of lifting the Red Army's siege of Budapest. The Russians cross 1939 Poland-Silesia frontier taking Kracow. East Prussia is also 19/01/1945 entered from south by Russian troops. Red Army forces capture Lodz. Tannenburg is taken by Red Army, but only after the Germans blow up the 21/01/1945 memorial. 22/01/1945The Red Army captures Insterburg and Allenstein in East Prussia. The 5th Guards Tank Army enters Elbing on Baltic and Koniev reaches the river Oder in Silesia. The Kriegsmarine begins the evacuation by sea of hundreds of 23/01/1945 thousands of civilian refugees from East Prussia and the Danzig area, the Red Army having cut all land communications with the rest of Germany. German forces begin evacuating Slovakia. The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Oppeln 24/01/1945 and Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia. Zhukov cuts off the Fortress city of Posen which holds 66,000 Germans and 25/01/1945 continues his 50-mile a day advance. Himmler is put in command of Army Group Vistula by Hitler. The Russians isolate three German armies in East Prussia. The Red Army captures Kattowitz in Upper 26/01/1945Silesia. Auschwitz concentration camp is captured by the Russians, but they find fewer than 3,000 survivors as the SS has moved most of the remaining prisoners to camps inside Germany. Russians troops capture Memel on Baltic Coast after the German evacuation, which 27/01/1945now leaves the whole of Lithuania in Russian hands. German forces begin evacuating the vital coal mining and industrial region of Upper Silesia. On the twelfth anniversary of his coming to power, Hitler, calls for fanatical resistance by soldiers and civilians and predicts that "...in this struggle for survival it 30/01/1945 will not be inner Asia that will conquer, but the people that has defended Europe for centuries against the onslaughts from the East, the German nation..." Two of Zhukovs armies establish a bridgehead on the Oder, to the North of Kstrin 31/01/1945 and less than 40 miles from Berlin.
Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front surround the fortress town of Kstrin. Since the 01/02/194520th January, the Kriegsmarine has evacuated 140,000 civilian refugees and 18,000 wounded soldiers by sea from East Prussia. 02/02/1945The 1st Belorussian Front reaches the Oder to the South of Frankfurt. 03/02/1945The Russians capture Landsberg, 80 miles Northeast of Berlin. A summit conference between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt opens at Yalta in 04/02/1945Crimea, to discuss plans for the treatment of postwar Germany, its division into zones of occupation, reparations and the future Polish western border. 05/02/1945Red Army troops approach Elbing and Marienburg in East Prussia. The 1st Belorussian Front makes further advances to reach the Oder between 06/02/1945 Kstrin and Frankfurt. Russian attacks north of Knigsberg are blocked with the help of naval gunfire by 07/02/1945 the cruisers Scheer and Ltzow. 08/02/1945Koniev breaks out of his Oder bridgehead north of Breslau, with six armies. 09/02/1945The Red Army encircles Elbing and Posen. The 2nd Belorussian Fronts attack towards Neustett is halted by desperate German counter-attacks. The 1st Ukrainian front reaches the Neisse encircling Glogau. 10/02/1945Liegnitz is captured by the 1st Ukrainian Front. The remaining defenders of Budapest, some 16,000 men, try to break out from Budapest, although most are killed or captured. The Yalta Conference ends. The Red Army the encirclement of the fortress city of 11/02/1945 Kstrin on the Oder. Simultaneous announcements in Moscow, London and Washington about the Yalta agreement. Agreement is reached about the allied occupation of Germany, the founding of the United Nations, the "resettlement" of the inhabitants of the eastern 12/02/1945 German territories to be ceded to Poland and the entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan. Thus far, the Kriegsmarine has evacuated 374,000 German refugees by sea from East and West Prussia. Budapest is reported as fully captured by the Russians. The Red Army captures 13/02/1945 Schneideml in Pomerania. The 1st Ukrainian Front encircles Breslau which has been declared a fortress under 14/02/1945 the command of Gauleiter Hanke. Russian troops are now covering the approaches to Danzig. The Red Army captures Sagan in Silesia. The German 11th SS Army begins a counterattack 'Operation Sonnenwende' with three Korps (39th Panzer, 3rd SS Panzer and the 10th SS 15/02/1945 Korps). However, only the 3rd SS Panzer Korps (11th SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Nordland" and the 27th SS Grenadier Division "Langemarck") are ready and begin their attack South towards Arnswalde, about 30-35 kms southeast of Stargard. The remaining Korps of the 11th SS Army launch their attacks in support of 16/02/1945 'Operation Sonnenwende'. The Red Army encircles Graudenz on the Vistula. Troops of the 11th SS Army are 18/02/1945 brought to a stand still by stiffening Soviet resistance to 'Operation Sonnenwende'. German forces re-establish communications between Knigsberg and the port of Pillau, thus again enabling tens of thousands of German refugees to be evacuated to 19/02/1945 the west by ships of the Kriegsmarine. 'Operation Sonnenwende' is finally ended in the face of ever strengthening Red Army resistance. The operation was a complete
military failure, although did show that the German Army could still organise and mount limited counter-attacks. Red Army attacks against the lines of Army Group Courland fail in the face of 20/02/1945 stubborn German resistance. 21/02/1945The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Guben. 23/02/1945The Russians capture the fortress of Posen after a month-long siege. A German counter attack wipes out the Russian Hron bridgehead over the Danube 24/02/1945 to the northwest of Budapest. 26/02/1945Army Group Courland repulses heavy Red Army attacks in the area of Prekuln. Under Russian pressure, the Romanian King, Michael I is forced to appoint a 27/02/1945 Communist government. The 2nd Belorussian Front captures Neustettin. The Red Army suspends all further 28/02/1945 offensive operations against the lines of Army Group Courland. 01/03/1945Units of Army Group Centre recapture Lauban in lower Silesia. The First Belorussian Front breaks through at Stargard and drives towards Stettin 04/03/1945 and also establishes a new bridgehead across the Oder to the South of Frankfurt. The German 2nd Army is cut off in Pomerania as the Russian 19th Army reaches 05/03/1945the Baltic. The fortress city of Graudenz on the Vistula surrenders to troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front. The 2nd Panzer and 6th SS Panzer Armies launch a major counter-attack from Lake 06/03/1945 Balaton towards Budapest. 08/03/1945The Red Army penetrates into the southern suburbs of Breslau. The 2nd Belorussian Front captures Zoppot, during its attack towards Danzig. The 10/03/1945Kriegsmarine evacuates 25,000 civilian refugees from the besieged Baltic fortress of Kolberg in Pomerania. The Red Army advances towards Gotenhafen, a vital port of embarkation for tens of 11/03/1945 thousands of refugees from East Prussia. The 2nd Belorussian Front launches an offensive against the Braunsberg pocket to 13/03/1945 the South of Knigsberg. German counterattacks to recapture the oilfields near Lake Balaton come to an end. 14/03/1945The Red Army cuts all communications between Knigsberg and the German forces fighting in the Braunsberg pocket. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front begins an offensive in the Ratibor area of Upper 15/03/1945 Silesia. Two fresh Soviet armies of the 3rd Ukrainian Front counter attack the German 16/03/1945 offensive towards Budapest. Kolberg falls to the Polish 1st Army, of the 2nd Belorussian Front, although the 18/03/1945 Germans manage to evacuate 80,000 refugees and wounded first. German troops of Army Group Weichsel evacuate their bridgehead across the Oder 20/03/1945 at Stettin. The Russians capture Braunsberg, 40 miles South of Knigsberg. 21/03/1945The Russians capture Stuhlweissenburg in Hungary. 23/03/1945The Russians reach the outskirts of Danzig and Gotenhafen. 24/03/1945The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Neisse in Upper Silesia. The Russians take Papa and Devecser, both German strong points covering the 26/03/1945 approaches to the Austrian border. The Reichsfhrer-SS is replaced by General
Heinrici as Commander in Chief of Army Group Weichsel. Bitter street fighting in Danzig as the Russians force their way into the city's 27/03/1945defenses. A German counterattack from the Frankfurt bridgehead toward Kstrin bogs down after only a few miles. The 1st Belorussian Front captures Gotenhafen (Gdynia) north of Danzig, along 28/03/1945with 9,000 prisoners, after a long struggle. Hitler replaces General Guderian with General Krebs as chief of OKH. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front finally capture the fortress town of Kstrin 29/03/1945against desperate German resistance. The Russians seize the oilfields South of Komorn in Hungary, the last source of petroleum for the German war effort. Russians troops finally capture Danzig, along with 45 U-boats and 10,000 prisoners. Breslau and Glogau are surrounded, 180 miles South East of Berlin. Russian troops 30/03/1945 cross the Austrian border to the North of Koszeg. German troops of Army Group Weichsel evacuate their last remaining bridgehead at Wollin to the North of Stettin. The Russians enters German territory near Sopron in Hungary. The Russian capture 31/03/1945 Ratibor in Upper Silesia. The 3rd Ukrainian Front capture Sopron in Hungary, a vital road junction between 01/04/1945Budapest and Vienna and also reaches Wiener Neustadt as it continues its advance toward Vienna. The fighting in Breslau continues. The 3rd Ukrainian Front and Bulgarian forces take Nagykanizsa, thereby gaining control of the main Hungarian oil production region. 2nd Ukrainian front under 02/04/1945 Malinovsky conquers the industrial area of Mosonmagyarovar and reaches the Austrian border between Dounau and the Neusiedler lake. The Austrian resistance leader Major Szokoll and Russian military authorities confer about co-operation on the Russian offensive against Vienna. The 2nd Ukrainian 03/04/1945front advances close to Vienna. The Russians breaches the German defensive lines between Wiener Neustadt and Neusiedler lake. Hard fighting continues as the Red Army advances towards Bratislava. The Russian 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian front complete the liberation of Hungary. 04/04/1945Troops of the 2nd Ukrainian front capture Bratislava. The Germans forces counterattack in Moravska-Ostrava and Nitra. The 3rd Ukrainian Front reaches the railway North West of Vienna, cutting rail link 05/04/1945 with Linz. Preceded by a tremendous artillery and air bombardment, the 3rd Belorussian Front with Four armies, 137,000 men, 530 tanks and 2,400 aircraft begin their final assault 06/04/1945 against Knigsberg, which is held by 35,000 Germans troops. The Battle for Vienna begins. Army Group Centre under General Schrner continues with its attacks against the 07/04/1945 2nd and 4th Ukrainian front. The 2nd Ukrainian front continues its advance into northern Czechoslovakia and establishes a bridgehead across the rivers Morava and Donau (East and Northeast of 08/04/1945 Vienna). Heavy fighting in the centre of Vienna. The Red Air Force drops 1,500 tons of bombs on Knigsberg. Russians secure Knigsberg, after the commander of "fortress Knigsberg" General 09/04/1945 Lasch surrenders.
With the battle of Vienna ongoing, the German 6th SS Panzer Army succeeds in defeating fierce Russian attacks into the districts of Wiener Neustadt and to the west 10/04/1945of Baden. The besieged Germans in Breslau continue to repel the repeated Russian attacks. A German war communiqu now declares that the resistance in Knigsberg has ceased, but that no surrender has occurred. The Russians now reaches the centre of Vienna, capturing the parliament and town 11/04/1945 hall buildings. A German war communiqu confesses that Knigsberg did surrender and announces 12/04/1945 the death penalty for the fortresses commander, General Lasch. 13/04/1945Troops of the Russian 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian front complete the capture of Vienna. The Germans announce that Army Group Weichsel under General Henrici, is being 14/04/1945 heavily engaged by the Russians at Frankfurt an der Oder. The 3rd Ukrainian front occupies Radkesburg during its offensive against the 15/04/1945industrial area of Mhrisch-Ostrau in Moravia. The 2nd Ukrainian front attacks towards Brno in Czechoslovakia. Hitler issues the last Order of the Day to the Eastern Front, saying He who gives 16/04/1945orders to retreat . . . is to be shot on the spot as the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front start the final offensive on Berlin from along the Oder-Neisse line. The battle for Berlin escalates a breakthrough is made by the 1st Ukrainian front. However, the 1st Belorussian Fronts offensive against Berlin is stalled by tenacious German resistance on the Seelow Heights, 2 miles West of the Oder, with great 17/04/1945 losses of troops and tanks for the Russians. The situation for the German 6th SS Panzer Army in Austria is now critical at St.Polten. The Russians occupies Wilhelmsburg. Between Stettin and Schwedt the 2nd Belorussian front breaks through the Oder defenses, pressuring Army Group Weichsel even more. The 1st Ukrainian Front 18/04/1945captures Forst on the Neisse river. North of Frankfurt, while the 1st Belorussian Front continues its attack to take the Seelow Heights, gradually wearing down the vastly outnumbered German defenders. The 1st Belorussian Front finally breaks through the German defenses on the 19/04/1945Seelow heights, despite heavy losses in men and tanks (over 400 in two days) and races towards Berlin. Russian artillery begins to shell Berlin. The Germans desperately counterattack both North and South of Frankfurt am der Oder. A Furious battle takes place at Sternbeck 20/04/1945 and Protzel. In Czechoslovakia the Russian pressure increases at Moravska-Ostrava and Brno. The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front captures Bautzen and Cottbus 70 miles southeast of 21/04/1945 Berlin. German troops still hold out in the port of Pillau. Hitler decides to stay in Berlin to the end. The 1st Belorussian Front penetrates into 22/04/1945 the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin. Russian and U.S. troops meet at Torgau on Elbe, 60 miles West of Berlin. Russian units of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts meet at Kietzen west of Berlin, 25/04/1945meaning that eight Russian armies have now surrounded Berlin in a vice like grip. The suburbs Tegel and Reinickendorf fall into Russian hands. A relief attack by the III Panzer Korps from the area of Eberswalde 50 miles northeast of Berlin fails. 26/04/1945The 2nd Belorussian front captures Stettin on the river Oder, while the 3rd
Belorussian Front captures the Baltic port of Pillau, 20 miles West of Knigsberg. General Wenck embarks on the last German offensive to relieve Berlin, but only manages to reach Ferch on the 27th April, before the offensive grinds to a halt. The remnants of 9th Army are cut off and surrounded in the Halbe pocket 30 miles southwest of Frankfurt am der Oder. The 2nd Ukrainian Front captures Brno, in Czechoslovakia. The Russians take Wittemberge on Elbe. Russian troops reach the Alexanderplatz in Berlin and Spandau is taken. The 2nd Belorussian front advances in Pomerania seizes Prenzlau and Angermunde, 70 miles northwest of Berlin. The German 9th 27/04/1945Army tries to reach Berlin from the southeast and even counterattacks at Zossen. The German 20th Army does the same Southeast of Belzig. The German High command confesses that the last German forces in Pillau, East Prussia have surrendered. Russian forces are fighting in the Wilhelmstrasse and reach the Anhalt Station 28/04/1945 which is just half a mile of the Fhrerbunker. During the night Hitler marries Eva Braun, his mistress, writes a will and appoints Admiral Donitz as his successor. The 2nd Belorussian front advances fast in the 29/04/1945Stralsund direction and seizes Anklam. In Berlin furious fighting takes place around the Reichstag, Chancellery and along Potsdamer Strasse. In Cottbus, South of Berlin, German troops are still holding the Russians back. With the Red Army only a few hundred yards away, Hitler commits suicide with Eva Braun in the Reich Chancellery bunker at 1530hrs and their bodies immediately incinerated with gasoline by SS bodyguards. A Sergeant of the Russian Army plant the Red Flag on top of the Reichstag building at 2.30 pm. As the final Russian 30/04/1945assault on Tiergarten begins, Goebbels and Bormann send General Krebs, Chief of the General Staff to the headquarters of Marshal Zhukov with a permit to make an armistice, but Zhukov refuses and demands an unconditional surrender. Troops of the 4th Ukrainian front capture Moravska Ostrava. Fighting continues in Breslau, as the German garrison refuses to surrender. Grossadmiral Dnitz, following the death of Hitler, assumes his duties as the new German head of state. He orders the utmost resistance in the East where tens of 01/05/1945 thousands of German civilians are still trying to escape from the stampeding Red Army. General Weidling, the commander of Berlins Garrison meets with General Chuikov and accepts his terms of unconditional surrender of Berlin. The garrison in Berlin surrenders to 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Armies at 3pm local time. During 02/05/1945 the 2 week battle for the German Capital, the Russians suffer more than 300,000 casualties and while it is hard to estimate German casualties, the figure of 480,000 German prisoners says a lot. 03/05/1945The Russians make contact with the U.S. 9th Army in the Wismar area. A civilian uprising begins in Prague and is aided by defecting units of the anti05/05/1945 Bolshevist Vlasov Army. Breslau surrenders after an 82-day siege, during which the Russians inflicted 29,000 06/05/1945 civilian and military casualties and took more than 40,000 prisoners. 07/05/1945The German Chief-of-Staff, General Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender to the
Russians and western allies at 2.41am. Operations are to cease 1 minute after 12pm GMT on the 8th of May 1945. In deference to the Russians, the surrender ceremony to the western allies at Rheims of the previous day is repeated before Marshall Zhukov and other Soviet generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin. After radio appeals early in the day for protection against heavy German shelling, the Prague resistance reaches an agreement with the 08/05/1945Germans for the capitulation of the city, as the U.S. 4th Armoured Division from the West and Konievs troops from the East approach. The last convoys of German refugees from Eastern Germany arrive in western Baltic ports, ending the largest rescue operation by sea in history. Since the 25th January, a total of 420,000 civilians and wounded soldiers have been evacuated. 09/05/1945Stalin announces the end of war. German forces of Army Group Kurland surrender. Russians troops are now in control of Prague after five days of fierce street fighting 10/05/1945between German troops and Czech Partisans comes to an end, during which 5,000 civilians have been killed. The Red Army launches a final assault against the remnants of Army Group Centre, 11/05/1945 which is still holding out in Moravia. General Vlasov, commander of the anti-Bolshevist Russian Liberation Army is 12/05/1945handed over to the Russians by the Americans and will be executed for treason in August, 1946. The last pockets of German resistance in Czechoslovakia are crushed by the Red 13/05/1945 Army. The exchange of Russian POW's for U.S. and British POW's begins at pre-arranged 24/05/1945 points in Germany. Moscow Radio announces the award of the highest Russian honour, the 'Order of 05/06/1945 Victory', to Montgomery and Eisenhower. A Great Victory Parade in Moscows Red Square, sees Zhukov takes the salute in 24/06/1945 Stalins presence. The U.S. 2nd Armoured Division from Halle enter Berlin in accordance with the 01/07/1945 four-power agreement over the division of Germany into zones. The British 7th Armoured Division, The Desert Rats enters Berlin to establish the 04/07/1945 British sector. The USSR, U.K. and U.S. agree on the administration of greater Berlin and decide 10/07/1945 that France is to be included. 17/07/1945The Three-Power Summit Conference opens at Potsdam. 30/07/1945British, U.S. and French troops enter Vienna.
Foreign Commissar Molotov announces that Russia will soon have the atomic 06/11/1945 bomb. Scandinavia Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within Scandinavia between the years 1939 and 1945. The countries encompassed within the timeline are Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland.
"Like so many of our people, we have now had a personal experience of German barbarity which only strengthens the resolution of all of us to fight through to final victory." King George VI September 1940
Finnish Bristol Bulldog Mk.IVa
Marshal Semen Timoshenko
Marshal Carl Mannerheim
Finland had 17 Bristol Bulldog Mk.IVa which were powered by Mercury radial engines, and in spite of their obsolescence, scored a number of victories in the Winter War.
Scandinavia! Norway's King Haakon VI proclaims the neutrality of his country. Finland declares 01/09/1939 strict neutrality. Denmark issues a declaration of neutrality. Sweden issues a declaration of neutrality. German Ministers at Stockholm, Sweden, 02/09/1939and Oslo, Norway, give a declaration that Germany would respect the integrity of Sweden and Norway. 11/10/1939The Soviet Union and Finland begin negotiations concerning the establishment of
Soviet air bases on Finnish soil. The Soviet Union also requires Finland to cede territory around lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, plus the Petsamo area in northern Finland. In return the Soviet Union offers to give Finland a chunk of desolate land in central Karelia. The Finns reject the Soviet demands fearing that to accept will only encourage further Soviet demands. 12/11/1939Negotiations between Russia and Finland over territorial dispute reach deadlock. After breaking off diplomatic relations, the Soviet Union attacks Finland by land and air without declaring war. During the Red Air Forces first raid on the Helsinki, 30/11/1939 only 91 civilian's are killed due the capitals excellent air defence system. Stalin alleges provocation. The Soviet Union create a puppet Finnish government in Moscow under the leadership of a Finnish communist, Otto Kuusinen, who immediately accedes to the 01/12/1939 Soviets territorial demands. A Finnish coastal guns at Russar engage the Russian cruiser Kirov and its screen of destroyers. The Kirov and one destroyer damaged. 02/12/1939Russian troops capture Petsamo in the extreme north of the Finland. Finnish troops withdraw in good order towards the Mannerheim line defensive 03/12/1939 position. 05/12/1939Heavy fighting in Karelia, Finland. Soviet attacks against the Mannerheim line are beaten back by the Finns with heavy 06/12/1939 Red Army casualties. Norway, Denmark and Sweden declare their neutrality. The Soviet Ninth Army launches an offensive in central Karelia. Britain and France agree to send troops and 07/12/1939 material to help Finland fight against the Soviet Union. However, there is virtually no way to get these forces to Finland and so the promises mean little. Finnish have some success against Russian troops at Tolvajrvi, inflicting heavy 12/12/1939 casualties. Two Russian 'G'-class destroyers approach Ut fortress. The fortress opens fire 14/12/1939 sinking one of the destroyers. 15/12/1939The Russians launch heavy attacks against Finnish forces at Taipale. 17/12/1939Russian forces launch heavy attacks at Summa. The Finnish 40th Infantry Regiment of the Lapland Group, forces the Russian 273rd 18/12/1939 Infantry Regiment of the 9th Army to retreat at Pelkosenniemi. 19/12/1939The Russians lose 20 tanks out of 100 as they continue to attack at Summa. The Russians cease their attacks at Summa, leaving Finnish forces in control of the 20/12/1939 whole Mannerheim defensive line, except the Oinala Bulge. A fresh Russian division is thrown into the attacks at Taipale. The Russian airforce 25/12/1939 bombs 11 towns and villages. The Finnish 9th Division attacks towards Suomussalmi, recapturing the village and 27/12/1939 forcing the Russian 163rd Division to retreat in panic. 29/12/1939Finnish forces launch a successful counter attack to the North of Lake Ladoga. Finnish troops at Suomussalmi, completely destroy the Russian 163rd Infantry 30/12/1939 Division.
Scandinavia! 01/01/1940The Finns change the numbers of 3 divisions in order to deceive the Red Army. The Finnish 9th Division begins an offensive on the Raate road, which leads to the 05/01/1940almost complete destruction of Russian 44th division in 2 days. The Red Airforce makes its first air attack on the Finnish GHQ town of St. Michel causing 29 dead. Finnish pilot Lt. Sarvanto, flying a Fokker, shoots down six out of seven Russian SB-2 bombers in just 5 minutes. The Russian 44th Division's commander General 06/01/1940 Vinogradov, authorizes the remainder of his troops to try escape back to Russian lines. General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of all Soviet forces in Finland and 07/01/1940 begins to build up his forces for a decisive offensive. 08/01/1940Finnish troops capture 1,000 Russian soldiers near Suomussalmi. The Russian 8th Army launches an attack against the Finnish forces of Group 21/01/1940Talvela, without success. The Finnish 9th Division is transferred from Suomussalmi to Kuhmo. 27/01/1940Hitler personally takes over planning for the invasion of Norway, 'Plan Weser'. The Soviet Union reopens negotiations with Finland through Sweden and indicates that it may withdraw its support for Otto Kuusinen's puppet government should the 29/01/1940 Finns come to terms. The Finnish 9th Division launches an attack with the aim of destroying the Russian 54th Division in Kuhmo. General Timoshenko launches his big offensive across the iced up straits of Viipuri 01/02/1940 Bay, although Finnish aircraft raids disrupt these attacks. 02/02/1940Big Russian offensive continues on the Karelia front. British and French governments agree to land an expeditionary force in northern 05/02/1940Norway without regard for Norway's neutrality in order to aide Finland, although in eventuality way never carried out. The Finnish 9th Division finally manages to encircle the Russian 54th Division in 06/02/1940 Kuhmo. Soviet troops finally breach the Mannerheim line, forcing the Finns to withdraw to a 11/02/1940 secondary defense line. 13/02/1940Russian troops capture forts on Karelia Isthmus. 17/02/1940Norway protests to Britain over violation of neutrality. Finnish forces defeat and disperse the Soviet 18th Division northeast of Lake 19/02/1940 Ladoga. 20/02/1940General von Falkenhorst is appointed to command the German invasion of Norway. Sweden announces that she will not permit British or French troops to cross through her territory on their way to Finland. The Soviet Union announces its final conditions for peace. Finland must hand over the Karelia Isthmus and the shores of 23/02/1940Lake Ladoga. It must also grant a 30 year lease on the Hang Peninsula and sign a mutual assistance treaty, guaranteeing the security of the Gulf of Finland against external threats. In return for all this, the Russians will withdraw from the Petsamo area. 28/02/1940Russian forces overrun the second line of Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus.
01/03/1940The Soviet Unions peace ultimatum to Finland expires. The Russian launch a massive offensive and bring Viipuri under direct attack. This 03/03/1940brings home to the Finns the fact that they cannot resist for must longer against the overwhelming force that the Russians are now deploying. Heavy fighting is reported at the outskirts to Viipuri, as the Red Army continues its attempt to capture the city. This prompts the Finns to seek an immediate armistice, 08/03/1940 which the Russians refuse. Therefore the Finnish delegation in Moscow is instructed to sue for peace. A peace treaty is concluded between Finland and Russia, that formally ends the "Winter War". The terms of this treaty are harsh for Finland, who are forced to cede the entire Karelia Isthmus, and the city of Viipuri, which is renamed Vyborg. The also lose parts of eastern Karelia, Lake Ladoga, the Rybachiy Peninsula and the 12/03/1940Petsamo area. The also have to grant the Russian a 30 year lease of the Hang Peninsula. However, the ever 'generous' Russians drop their recognition of the Kuusinen puppet government in Moscow. The British finalise their plans for the invasion of Norway. Landings are to be made at Narvik and Trondheim in order to secure the rail line to Sweden and the large iron-ore fields. Hostilities between the Soviet Union and Finland cease. The Finns have lost 25,000 13/03/1940killed and 45,000 wounded, while the Russians have lost an estimated 200,000 killed and an unknown number of wounded. 18/03/1940Russia assures Sweden of its safety after Finland's surrender. Hitler gives orders that the invasion of Denmark and Norway is to begin on the 9th 02/04/1940 April 1940. Norway and Sweden are both informed of the allied intention to mine Norwegian 05/04/1940 waters. German troops invade Denmark and Norway simultaneously. There is very little opposition by the surprised Danes, with Copenhagen being captured within 12 hours. The Germans make sea-borne landings in Norway at Oslo, Kristiansand, 09/04/1940 Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. An airborne landing is also made against the airfield at Stavanger. Norwegian defenders move inland. Major Quisling sets up National Government in Oslo. Denmark surrenders to the Germans. Bitter fighting as Germans advance north from 10/04/1940 Oslo. King Haakon VII of Norway appeals to all Norwegians to fight. The first British 11/04/1940troop's sets sail for Norway, although they have been mistakenly embarked without much of their heavy equipment. Norway announces German control of Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen and 12/04/1940 Trondheim in the south, Narvik in the north. British troops land at Harstad in the Lofoten Islands, opposite Narvik. Quisling 15/04/1940 government resigns in Oslo and a 'Administrative Council takes control. British and French troops make landings at Namsos. Further British troops are 16/04/1940 landed in the Faeroe Islands. Germans advance further north of Oslo. More British troops are landed at 18/04/1940 Aandalesnes in Norway with the plan of co-operating with the British and French
troops already at Namsos to surround and then retake Trondheim. However, the Norwegian commander, General Ruge persuaded the Aandalesnes force, to move south in order to give support to his troops still holding out at Lillehammer. 20/04/1940Danish Army is demobilised. French reinforcements arrive at Aandalesnes. British troops forced to withdraw 24/04/1940north of Trondheim after sharp fighting. Norwegian troops attack the Germans south of Narvik, but are beaten back. 25/04/1940Allied forces withdraw from Lillehammer in central Norway. The British stun the French and Norwegians by deciding to evacuate southern 26/04/1940 Norway. 28/04/1940Allied reinforcements arrive in Aandalesnes, Norway. King Haakon VII and his government are evacuated from Molde and taken to 29/04/1940 Tromso in northern Norway, from where they can continue the fight. Germans announce they have established communication between Trondheim and 30/04/1940 Oslo. 01/05/1940Norwegians surrender in Lillehammer. Germans troops reach Aandalesnes. Allied forces are evacuated from Namsos. 02/05/1940 Chamberlain announces British forces are to withdraw from southern Norway. Allies troops remain only in northern Norway in order to stop the supply of iron ore 03/05/1940 to Germany. 05/05/1940Germans advance north to Trondheim. The isolated German troops at Narvik are now close to exhaustion and will be 21/05/1940 unable to hold out for very much longer. French mountain troops capture the port of Narvik, forcing the German defenders 28/05/1940(Gebirgsjger units and crews of sunk destroyers) into the surrounding hills and towards the safety of the Swedish border and internment. British forces evacuate the Bodo area of Norway, 120 miles to the southwest of 01/06/1940 Narvik. 03/06/1940British and French forces start to evacuate from Narvik in northern Norway. 07/06/1940King Haakon VII and the Norwegian government leave Troms for England. The evacuation of British and French troops (24,000 men) from Narvik and Harstad 08/06/1940is completed. A Norwegian delegation negotiates with the Germans for a peace treaty. The remaining troops of the Norwegian Army (6th Division) surrender, after 10/06/1940 Norway surrenders unconditionally. Sweden receives a reply from Britain regarding expectations in Norway, indicating that Britain might have to make peace with Germany. The Swedish government 18/06/1940 agrees to allow German troops to pass from Trelleborg, Sweden, to Oslo, Norway, via Swedish railways. Germany asks the USA and other neutrals to withdraw its diplomatic missions from 01/07/1940 Norway.
The Swedish government agrees to transport German war material across Sweden to 08/07/1940 Norway.
Reich-Commissioner in Norway deposes King Haakon and the Administrative Council, declaring the government illegal. All political parties are dissolved except 25/09/1940 for Quislings pro-Nazi party, the Nasjonal Samling, which is installed as the government of Norway. Scandinavia! Recruiting of Norwegians for the 'Nordland' Regiment of the 5th SS Motorised 12/01/1941 Division 'Wiking' begins. The new recruits of the Nordland Regiment give their oath to SS Reichsfhrer 31/01/1941 Himmler in Oslo. The Bishops of Norway start the Churchs struggle against the occupying German 06/02/1941 forces. On the northern Norwegian coast, British light naval units and commandos carry out 04/03/1941a raid on the Lofoten islands near Narvik, destroying the port and oil storage facilities. A clampdown is made in Norway against degenerate literature, with large-scale 28/04/1941 book burnings being held. 22/05/1941Himmler establishes Norwegian SS on German lines. 17/06/1941Finland begins a secret mobilisation of its forces. The Red Air force launches an a number of air attacks against Finland's airfields, in 25/06/1941the hope of destroying German aircraft which were believed to be stationed in Finland. 26/06/1941Finland declares war on the Soviet Union. The German 20th Mountain Army launches Operation 'Silver Fox', an offensive to 29/06/1941capture the Soviet port of Murmansk, while the Finnish Karelian Army activates its offensive towards Leningrad. Under the pretext of defending the western hemisphere against Axis incursions, the 07/07/1941 U.S. 1st Marine Brigade is landed in Iceland to relieve the British garrison that has
been there since the previous year. The Finnish Karelian Army begins an offensive toward Lake Ladoga to the 10/07/1941 Northeast of Leningrad. 28/07/1941Finland ends diplomatic relations with Great Britain. 31/07/1941Joseph Terboven declares a state of emergency in Norway. 02/08/1941All radios in Norway are confiscated. Anglo-Canadian and Norwegian commandos land on Spitzbergen, 370 miles north 26/08/1941of Norway, to deny the coal mines to the Germans. They destroy installations and mining equipment and evacuate the Norwegian population. Russians evacuate Karelian Isthmus to Leningrad. The Finnish troops capture 29/08/1941 Vyborg and are now only 30 miles North of Leningrad. 04/09/1941Finns refuse to advance on Leningrad. The offensive of the German 20th Mountain Army in northern Finland to capture 07/09/1941 the vital Lend-Lease port of Murmansk, Russia, comes to a halt. 07/10/1941Finland rejects a British demand to cease fighting the Soviet Union. Finnish forces capture the Baltic naval base of Hang that Finland was compelled to 04/11/1941 lease to the Soviets in 1940. 06/11/1941Finnish advance halted on the Northern Front. Soviet troops evacuate the last territory in Karelia, taken from Finland in the 193902/12/1941 1940 war. A combined services commando raid on German occupied islands off Norway 27/12/1941 results in 200 Germans killed and 16,000 tons of shipping destroyed.
01/02/1942 Quisling forms a puppet government in Norway. 20/03/1942 About 1,000 schoolteachers are arrested in Norway. 04/06/1942 Hitler flies to Finland to meet with the Finnish head of state, Marshal Mannerheim. 12/08/1942 Himmler is made responsible for order in Denmark and Norway. 18/10/1942 An advance party of four Norwegian Special Operations Executive (SOE) Commandos are dropped by parachute to reconnoitre the area around the German heavy water (atomic weapons development) plant at Telemark, Norway. 19/11/1942 Two RAF Horsa gliders carrying 34 British Royal Engineer Commandos, crashes in Norway en route to their mission of destroying the German heavy water plant at Telemark. The survivors are captured by the Germans, questioned, tortured and shot, although they were all in uniform. 16/02/1943 Norwegian SOE Commandos are parachuted into the mountains 40 miles north of the the German heavy water plant at Telemark. They met up with the reconnaissance
party, that had arrived the previous October. 28/02/1943 Nine Norwegian commandos successfully climb down the steep gorge on one side of the German heavy water plant at Telemark and work their way up a 500 foot, almost sheer rock face to reach the plant on the other side of the gorge. Undetected, they gain entrance and successfully set and detonate their explosives, ruining the plant. All the commandos escaped safely, without taking or inflicting any casualties. 03/05/1943 The U.S. commander in Europe, Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews is killed in air crash in Iceland. 14/05/1943 SS day is celebrated in Oslo. 31/05/1943 The Danish resistance blows up an engine shed at Toender as sabotage mounts, despite Danish Kings appeal for a halt. 24/07/1943 A battle-damaged USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress crash-lands in Sweden. Its tenman crew becomes the first of nearly 1,000 American and other Allied airmen to be granted refuge in neutral Sweden during World War 2. 15/08/1943 The Swedish government forbids all German traffic and transport from crossing over it's territory. 28/08/1943 The Danish government refuse a German ultimatum, as the sabotage campaign reaches a crescendo. 29/08/1943 Martial law is declared in Denmark and the Danish Royal Family are isolated by the Germans. 30/08/1943 The Danish Prime Minister, Scavenius refuses to serve under the Germans. 12/09/1943 Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Dekanozov arrives in Stockholm on an ill-defined mission. Tipped off that the Russians were open to discussing possible peace terms with the Third Reich, German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop pleads with Hitler that he be allowed to dispatch an envoy to at least hear what terms Stalin might be willing to offer. Hitler, however, refuses the request and Dekanozov departs for Moscow after waiting four days. 16/11/1943 The RAF bomb the heavy water plant at Telemark, which the Germans are attempting to repair. 19/02/1944 Danish saboteurs attack the rail lines round Aarhus. 20/02/1944 A ferry boat, carrying the remaining 'Heavy Water' production from Telemark in Norway, back to Germany for safety is sabotaged and sunk on Lake Tinnsjo. 12/04/1944 Finland rejects the heavy Russian demands for the ending of the war. 22/04/1944 The Russians say their talks with Finns are over. 02/06/1944 Secret negotiations between the Romanian government of Marshal Antonescu and representatives of the Soviet Union begin in Stockholm, Sweden. 09/06/1944 The Russians launch a heavy assault on the Finnish forces in the Karelian Isthmus to the North of Leningrad, in an attempt to force them out of war. 15/06/1944 The second Finnish defensive zone is smashed by Russians. 20/06/1944 The Red Army captures Viipuri on the Soviet-Finnish border. 21/06/1944 A further Russians assault against the Finns opens in eastern Karelia. The Red Army begins an offensive between lakes Ladoga and Onega on the northern front. 23/06/1944 Generaloberst Dietl, C-in-C of 20th Gebirgs Army on the Arctic front in northern Finland, is killed in an air crash. 22/06/1944 The communist organised sabotage group BOPA, attacks the Danish arms factory "Riffelsyndikatet" ("the Rifle Syndicate") in Copenhagen. 26/06/1944 In response to recent communist sabotage, the Germans introduce a curfew in the Copenhagen area, making it illegal to be out in the streets between 8pm in the evening and 5am in the morning. As a result, the citizens of Copenhagen begin a massive general strike. Hundreds of thousands of Danes take part. 04/07/1944 The general strike in Copenhagen ends with the Germans withdrawing the curfew to avoid further popular risings in Denmark. 01/08/1944 The Finnish President Risto Ryti resigns, with his place is taken by Marshal Karl Gustav Mannerheim. 25/08/1944 Finland enters secret negotiations with the Russians to agree a cease-fire. 04/09/1944 The Russian and Finnish governments agree on and implement a cease-fire. The Germans have to leave Finland by the 15th September. 25/09/1944 Vidkun Quislings Ministers urge the Germans to end the occupation of Norway. 01/10/1944 The Finnish Army makes an assault
landing against German held Tornio, in Gulf of Bothnia. 07/10/1944 The 20th Gebirgsjger Army retreats towards northern Norway in the face of strong Soviet attacks. 15/10/1944 Russians secure Petsamo region of southern Finland. Germans troops fall back towards northern Norway in the face of strong Russian attacks. 18/10/1944 Russian troops cross the Norwegian frontier. 25/10/1944 Russians troops take the German base of Kirkenes in Norway. 28/10/1944 Orders are given by the Germans and Quisling regime to evacuate the entire population of Finnmark east of Lyngen, and all houses and installations are to be destroyed. More than 10,000 houses are burnt, and 40-45,000 people are forced southwards. About 25,000 manage to hide, or escape during the operation. 03/11/1944 The 20th Gebirgsjger Army evacuates the mineral rich Petsamo region of northern Finland.
Scandinavia! 02/01/1945Danish saboteurs wreck a V2 factory in Copenhagen. The ban on dancing is lifted in Finland, where it had been illegal to dance during 06/01/1945 wartime. The German 7th Gebirgsdivision retreats from it's positions in Ltseno. Only a very 10/01/1945 small portion of Finland is still in German hands. General Heinrichs is appointed to the post of the commander of Finnish defense 12/01/1945 forces. 13/01/1945The Jrstad Bridge is blown up by the Norwegian resistance, killing 70 Germans. Generalmajor Karl Marthinsen, the head of the State Police is assassinated in his car 08/02/1945at Blindernveien, Oslo by the resistance movement, Milorg. The Germans execute 29 Norwegians in retaliation.
25/04/1945The last Germans troops withdraw into Norway from Finland. 30/04/1945Allied Norwegian forces capture Finnmark. 05/05/1945German forces in Denmark surrender. 07/05/1945General Bhne announces the unconditional surrender of German troops in Norway. Crown Prince Olav, some members of the exiled government and the head of the 13/05/1945 allied mission, Gen. Sir Andrew Thorne arrive in Oslo. 14/05/1945The Norwegian resistance movement (Milorg) is officially disbanded. King Haakon VII returns to Norway, on the fifth anniversary of his leaving the 07/06/1945 country. Norway declares war on Japan. More than 800 Norwegians are in Japanese POW 06/07/1945 camps.
10/09/1945Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian Nazi leader, is sentenced to death in Oslo. 25/09/1945The last Russian soldier leaves Norwegian territory near Storskog at 8.55pm. 24/10/1945Vidkun Quisling is executed in Norway by firing squad. European Air War Timeline! This timeline covers all air combat between the Western Allies and Axis air forces throughout Europe between the years 1939 and 1945.
"My Luftwaffe is invincible...And so now we turn to England. How long will this one last - two, three weeks?" Hermann Goring June 1940
German JU-87B Stuka
Air Marshal Arthur Harris
General Leutnant Adolf Galland
In 1940, the Junkers JU-87B Stuka was the Luftwaffe's most important tactical attack aircraft.
European Air War! An RAF Blenheim bomber of 139 Squadron conducts the RAF's first operational sortie of the war when it flew over to Germany to check shipping in the Schillig 03/09/1939Roads. With a frozen radio, it was unable to transmit any information back to base and by the time it landed it was too late to mount an attack that day. Later that night, Whitley bombers conduct an number of leaflet dropping sorties over Germany. The RAF attacks German shipping at Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven and Schillig 04/09/1939Roads, with negligible results (7 out of 30 Wellington bombers are shot down by German fighters and Anti-Aircraft).
08/10/1939RAF reconnaissance planes shoots down a German flying boat over the North Sea. 16/10/1939German bombers attack Forth and Rosyth bridges. 06/11/1939First big air battle on Western Front. German bombers attacked British territory for the first time, with a bombing raid on 13/11/1939 the Shetland Islands. No serious damage was done. 23/11/1939RAF shoots down seven German aircraft over France. The RAF launch another daylight raid against German shipping in the Schillig Roads, but lose 12 out of 24 bombers. This was the culmination of a series of RAF 18/12/1939 daylight raids which had cost an increasing number of aircraft. This eventually caused the RAF to switch to night raids to reduce casualties. 26/12/1939The first squadron of Australian airmen arrives in Britain.
16/03/1940 The Luftwaffe attacks the British Fleets anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This raid causes the death of a British civilian, the first of the war. 19/03/1940 The RAF retaliates against the Luftwaffes bombing of Scapa Flow, by attacking the German seaplane base at Hornum on the island of Sylt with 50 bombers. Later photo reconnaissance reveals little damage to the target. 28/03/1940 Dutch fighters shoots down a British bomber near Rotterdam by mistake, killing one flier. 05/04/1940 RAF launch attacks against ships at Wilhelmshaven. 11/04/1940 RAF raid Stavanger airfield on Norways west coast. 30/04/1940 RAF attack Oslo airfield. 01/05/1940 German mine-carrying bomber crashes on Clacton, Essex; two civilians and four Germans killed, 156 people injured. 14/05/1940 60 Luftwaffe He-111 bombers not having received the countermanding order attack besieged Rotterdam, devastating the centre of the city. British and French aircraft are unsuccessful in destroying the German-built bridges across the Meuse and 50 bombers are shot down by AA fire. 15/05/1940 RAF Bomber Command (Peirse) begins a strategic air offensive against targets inside Germany by attacking industrial installations in the Ruhr, but with minimal effect. 17/05/1940 Biggest RAF attack on Germany to date as the oil tanks at Bremen and Hamburg are blown up. British claim 1,000 German aircraft lost in a single week. 21/05/1940 Luftwaffe bomb Channel ports and the RAF attack Rotterdam's refineries. 22/05/1940 British cipher experts at Bletchley Park break the Luftwaffe Enigma code. 24/05/1940 The first British civilian bomb casualties are reported. 01/06/1940 Luftwaffe raids industrial centres in the Rhone Valley from Lyons to Marseilles 03/06/1940 300 German planes bomb Paris inflicting around 900 casualties. 04/06/1940 French planes attack Munich and Frankfurt as reprisals for Paris bombing. 05/06/1940 Hauptmann. Mlders, leader of III/JG 53 and Germany's top air ace (25 kills) is shot down near Compiegne and taken prisoner. 06/06/1940 Air raids along many parts of East Coast of England. 07/06/1940 French bomb Berlin. 11/06/1940 Paris prepares for siege as the Luftwaffe pounds the city. The RAF attacks Turin and Genoa with 36 Whitley bombers. 13/06/1940 Italian bombers attack the French naval base at Toulon. 18/06/1940 German planes raid Thames Estuary and East Coast. 19/06/1940 More than 100 German bombers make raids over Britain. 20/06/1940 The RAF bomb Rouen airfield. 25/06/1940 First early morning air-raid alarm is heard in London. 28/06/1940 German aircraft bomb Jersey. 05/07/1940 The RAF carries out night raids on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. 09/07/1940 RAF begins night bombing of Germany. 10/07/1940 Preliminary phase of Battle of Britain begins with German air attacks on Channel convoys with the aim of tempting the RAF in to battle. The Luftwaffe launches its first large scale attack on
Britain as 70 aircraft attack the dock facilities at Swansea and the Royal Ordnance Factory at Pembrey in Wales. 11/07/1940 Lord Beaverbrook, Minister for Aircraft Production, says the sky is the limit for plane purchases from US, with spending running at 2.5 million per day on aircraft. 12/07/1940 The Luftwaffe carries out raids on Aberdeen in Scotland and Cardiff in Wales. 20/07/1940 British claim 40 Luftwaffe planes down in a week; British civilian casualty figures for last month announced: 336 killed, 476 seriously injured. 25/07/1940 British claim 25 German planes downed in a day, the highest total so far. 29/07/1940 80 German planes attack Dover harbour; British claim 17 down; Air Ministry accuses Germans of using Red Cross planes for reconnaissance. Britain says 248 German planes shot down since the 18th June. 30/07/1940 The Luftwaffe ceases major raids over Britain as it builds up strength for it forth coming onslaught. 01/08/1940 RAF bomb the Krupp works at Essen. 06/08/1940 Goering sets the 10th August 1940 as 'Eagle day', the start of the Luftwaffe major offensive against the RAF and its Airfields. 08/08/1940 The Luftwaffe renews its attacks against Channel convoys and its escorts, with heavy air battles occurring over the Channel. The Germans lose 31 aircraft against the RAF's 16. The Home Secretary announces July civilian air raid casualty figures as 258 killed and 320 seriously injured. 10/08/1940 Due to poor weather conditions, the Luftwaffe delays 'Eagle Day' until the 13th. 11/08/1940 The Battle of Britain begins in earnest with 400 German planes attacking channel convoys and the coastal areas of Britain including Dover, Weymouth and Portland. The British claim 65 Luftwaffe planes down for the loss of 26 RAF fighters. It actuality, only 35 Luftwaffe planes were shot down, while the RAF had lost 29. 12/08/1940 The Luftwaffe attacks Portsmouth, Isle of Wight and all along Kent and Sussex coast. They also attack forward RAF airfields and radar stations in preparation for 'Eagle Day'. British claims are high as they report 62 Luftwaffe planes shot down against the RAF's 13, while in reality it was just 26 Luftwaffe and 22 RAF planes lost. The Dortmund-Ems canal blocked by low flying British bomber, the pilot is later awarded VC. 13/08/1940 Eagle Day, the first day of the maximum offensive by the Luftwaffe to destroy RAF airfields and gain air supremacy over England in preparation of Operation Sea Lion. The Luftwaffe launches 1,485 sorties, but because of confusion and delays, the main attacks were not mounted until the afternoon. Some airfields were attacked, but not the primary fighter bases. Luftwaffe losses were heavy with 39 aircraft being lost (mainly Ju-87 Stuka's), while the RAF lost just 15 aircraft. Twelve RAF Blenheim bombers attack Hemsteds airfield in Holland. Only one plane returns. 14/08/1940 Air activity less pronounced, but Germans attack Southampton and Hastings; reported losses Germans 31, RAF 7. 15/08/1940 Although 'Eagle Day' was the 13th August, due to poor results, Goering decides that the 15th August with instead be known as 'Eagle Day'. The Luftwaffe launches its greatest attacks so far against the RAF's airfields, involving more than 1,000 German planes and 1,786 sorties. The Luftwaffe lost 76 aircraft, although these were mainly from Luftflotte 5 which made diversionary attacks from Norway, while the RAF lost 35 fighters and its airfields suffered heavy damage. Twenty German JU88 aircraft from Denmark attack Driffield, Yorkshire, destroying ten Whitley aircraft on the ground. 16/08/1940 The Luftwaffe again raid southern England. 18/08/1940 Further heavy raids by Luftwaffe on southeast England and southern London. Major damage is done to RAF airfields and fighter commands control system. British claim 144 Germans shot down, later revised to 67 with RAF losses of 33 planes lost but eight pilots safe. 19/08/1940 Bad weather and a reorganisation of fighter strength by the Luftwaffe causes a lull in operations. 20/08/1940 Churchill reviews the progress of air war in Commons and says Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many, to so few. The Luftwaffe withdraws the Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber from strategic operations against England after losing 20 per cent of their Stuka force to the RAF. 24/08/1940 The Luftwaffe begins a new phase in its offensive by sending over a higher proportion of fighters to bombers, in an effort to keep losses down. The unofficial start of the Blitz on London begins with a lost formation of German bombers mistakenly dropping their bombs over the capital, damaging St. Giles and Cripplegate. 25/08/1940 Luftwaffe attacks continue against the RAF's airfields in southeast England. The first night-attack by RAF on Berlins industrial targets is made by 43 aircraft from RAF Bomber Command
in retaliation for the accidental attack on London the night before. 26/08/1940 The Irish government protests to Berlin over bombs dropped in County Wexford, which killed three girls. London is attacked by the Luftwaffe for six hours. 27/08/1940 Raids continue on London, Midlands, Southwest England and Wales. 29/08/1940 Germany apologises to Eire for Wexford bombing. Intense dogfights over London and Home Counties. Britain refuses German proposal to use 64 Red Cross ships to rescue airmen from the English Channel. 31/08/1940 British claim 293 German aircraft shot down in the past week for loss of 113 British planes. 02/09/1940 Air attacks continue on London. 04/09/1940 Hitler threatens that British cities will be bombed night after night in reprisal for the bombing of Berlin. 05/09/1940 An irate Hitler orders a new offensive by the Luftwaffe against Britain with no regard for the civilian population. London is set as the primary target, after the RAF makes several night raids on Berlin, causing many civilian casualties. Air raids continue over Southeast England with a hospital in Kent being hit, killing 23 patients and two nurses. August civilian casualty figures announced at 1,075 killed and 1.261 seriously injured. 06/09/1940 The Luftwaffe bring to a close the third phase of their air offensive, having lost 308 aircraft in the last 2 weeks. However, the RAF have suffered 273 fighter losses and suffered extensive damage to their airfields and ground control systems. The official start of the London Blitz is initiated by the Germans, as they intentionally bomb the capital. 07/09/1940 Eastern and Southern England Commands are on full invasion alert, when at 16.56 London's air-raid sirens announce the arrival of 375 German bombers and supporting fighters. They come up the Thames to London from the sea and set the London docks ablaze. The day-light raiders are gone by 18.00, but the fires are still burning when the night raiders arrive to inflict more damage at 20.10 during which 306 are killed and 1,337 seriously injured. The British make extravagant claims that 347 German aircraft have been lost in past week against just 128 British. 08/09/1940 RAF Bomber Command attacks concentrate on disrupting the German invasion effort. The Luftwaffe attacks London between dusk-to-dawn. 20 people are killed as an aerial torpedo hits an East End block of flats. Total casualties are estimated at 286 killed and 1,400 seriously injured. 09/09/1940 350 German planes attack London causing fires near St. Pauls and the Guildhall; heavy casualties in bombed East End school housing homeless Blitz victims. 10/09/1940 Another heavy night attack (10/11) on London, 18 killed; Buckingham Palace damaged. 11/09/1940 Afternoon attacks on London: 110 killed and 260 injured; Dover suffers worst attack of war. 12/09/1940 Co-ordination of searchlights and AA guns improves protection of London from air attack. Germans claim that RAF are dropping Colorado beetles over German potato crops. 13/09/1940 Buckingham Palace again bombed; Royal Chapel wrecked. 15/09/1940 The climax of the Luftwaffe's daylight raids against the London docks is reached with the Luftwaffe's biggest raid on London so far. The British originally claim 185 Germans aircraft shot down, but later revise this to 56 German and 26 RAF planes lost. 16/09/1940 Piccadilly, Park Lane, Bond St are hit in night raids. 17/09/1940 Churchill announces in the Commons that in first half of September 2,000 civilians have been killed and 8,000 seriously injured in air raids; the figure for service casualties, for the same period was 250. 19/09/1940 Heavy night raids continue on London; Brighton also suffers badly. RAF continues attacks on invasion fleet in French and Belgian Channel ports. 23/09/1940 129 RAF bombers attack industrial targets in Berlin this night, but are mostly ineffectual. 24/09/1940 18th successive night raid on London. Southampton and Brighton also attacked. 27/09/1940 Heavy daytime attacks on Britain. British claim 133 German planes shot down, later revised to 52, with the RAF losing 28. 28/09/1940 26th night attack in succession on London. 30/09/1940 The Luftwaffe launches its last major daylight raid against England, with the main targets being London and the Westland aircraft factory in Yeovil. The Luftwaffe loses 43 aircraft to the RAF's 16 and are now fully convinced that they must switch to night attacks to avoid crippling losses. British civilian casualties for the month September announced: 6,954 dead, 10,615 injured. 07/10/1940 Beaverbrook announces gifts received for aircraft purchases now total 6,098,826. 08/10/1940 Churchill makes statement to Commons claiming that bombing casualties are falling. The RAF attacks Berlin. 10/10/1940 The Luftwaffe raids Scarborough in North Yorkshire, during which two
Parachute Mines are dropped. 12/10/1940 Night raids on London continue. 15/10/1940 Bomb holes roof of Balham tube station: 64 killed. 23/10/1940 The RAF continue its attacks on Berlin. 26/10/1940 London has longest air raid to date as a Catholic orphanage is among the buildings hit. British claim 41 German planes shot down in the past week against 21 British. The total German losses over Britain since the war began are put at a staggering 2,762 against Britains 780. 29/10/1940 RAF bomb Berlin for 25th time. 30/10/1940 RAF Bomber Command is given its first directive sanctioning area-bombing. 31/10/1940 The Battle of Britain is now considered as over by the British Air Ministry. RAF bomb Naples for the first time. British civilian casualty figures announced for October: 6,334 killed and 8,695 seriously injured. 07/11/1940 The Royal Air Force attacks the Krupp munition works in Essen. 08/11/1940 RAF bomb Munich shortly after Hitler appears there. 11/11/1940 Italian aircraft attack Thames Estuary with little success: first and last Italian air attack on Britain. 14/11/1940 The Luftwaffe launches 449 bombers in a heavy night attack against the major manufacturing city of Coventry, dropping around 400 tons of bombs causing severe damage to industrial and civilian installations. The city centre is badly damaged, with 21 factories being destroyed and the cathedral wrecked but for its spire. The raid kills or injures 1,419 people and makes thousands homeless. A new word is created in both the English and German languages, 'Coventrate' and 'Coventrieren', meaning the physical and psychological destruction of a city. 15/11/1940 67 RAF Wellington, Whitley, and Hampden bombers attack Hamburg, doing extensive damage to the city and shipyards, with no loss of aircraft. 16/11/1940 131 RAF Bomber Command aircraft make raids on four Hamburg targets. 19/11/1940 The Luftwaffe launches a major raid against Birmingham, inflicting heavy damage in places. 23/11/1940 Southampton is hit badly by the Luftwaffe. 24/11/1940 The Luftwaffe bomb Bristol. 30/11/1940 British civilian casualty figures for November: 4,588 killed, 6,202 injured. 12/12/1940 Sheffield is heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. 16/12/1940 134 RAF bombers attack Mannheim in revenge for German attacks against British cities. This is the RAF's largest attack on a single target thus far in the war. 115 German civilian's were killed or injured and 1,266 made homeless. It is also the first reprisal raid, approved by the War Cabinet, for German attacks on British towns. 17/12/1940 Fifty British Bomber Command Whitley and Hampden bombers attack German seaplane bases on Sylt. 20/12/1940 The Luftwaffe continues its attacks against British cities, this time hitting Liverpool. 21/12/1940 The RAF attacks Berlin, inflicting only minor damage. 29/12/1940 The Luftwaffe launches a major incendiary raid against London, destroying or badly damaging a number of historic buildings. 31/12/1940 British civilian casualties figures for the month: 3,793 killed, 5,244 injured.
European Air War! 96,000 people now sleeping in the Underground and Tube stations, 40,000 less than 08/01/1941 in October. 13/01/1941The Luftwaffe launches a heavy attack against Plymouth. 20/01/1941Compulsory fire watching duty introduced in Great Britain. 31/01/1941Januarys civilian casualty figures are 1,500 killed and 2,012 injured. The RAF attacks the oil storage tanks at Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The raid sees 10/02/1941 the operational debut of the RAF's first 4-engine heavy bomber, the Stirling. 11/02/1941Hanover is bombed by the RAF. The 2-engine Manchester bomber, is used for the first time during an RAF raid 24/02/1941 against Brest.
28/02/1941British monthly civilian casualty figures tally at 789 killed and 1068 injured. 02/03/1941The RAF launches a heavy raid against Cologne. The RAF attacks Le Havre and at the same time gives the new 4-engine Halifax 10/03/1941bomber it debut, although one of the six Halifax's involved is shot down on its return flight by an RAF night fighter. The Luftwaffe carries out a heavy raid against Clydebank, near Glasgow. 35,000 of 13/03/1941 the towns population of 47,000 are made homeless. 24/03/1941Berlin suffers its first raid of the year by the RAF. 31/03/1941British civilian casualties for March are 4,259 killed and 5,557 injured.
The Luftwaffe launches an air attack against the Greek port of Piraeus from bases in 06/04/1941Bulgaria. During the raid, the British ammunition ship Clan Fraser is hit and explodes in a massive fireball, wrecking the harbour and port facilities. 08/04/1941After a temporary lull, the Luftwaffe launches a heavy attack against Coventry. 09/04/1941The RAF attack Kiel in an attempt to knock out the port facilities. 11/04/1941Bristol is bombed by the Luftwaffe. 15/04/1941The Luftwaffe keeps up its air offensive by attacking Belfast. 16/04/1941The Luftwaffe launches a heavy raid against London. 19/04/1941London receives another heavy pounding by the Luftwaffe. 30/04/1941British air raid casualty figures in April are 6,065 killed, 6,926 injured. 01/05/1941The Luftwaffe begins a series of 8 consecutive night raids against Liverpool. The Luftwaffe launches the first of two consecutive night raids against the British 07/05/1941 port of Hull. The Luftwaffe launches a massive night raid (507 bombers) against London which causes many fires and cripples the rail system in the city. Liverpool has its 7th 09/05/1941 consecutive night air raid. Belfast, Clydeside and Humberside also suffer in a heavy week of raids. The RAF attacks Bremen and Hamburg, but with little effect. The Luftwaffe launches a massive attack against London, the heaviest so far received by the capital. One third of all streets within Greater London are rendered 10/05/1941impassible and 155,000 family's are left without gas, water and electricity. Westminster Abbey, House of Commons, Tower of London and the Royal Mint are all hit. A record 1,436 people are killed and 1,792 are seriously injured. 11/05/1941The RAF launches a heavy raid against Hamburg. 15/05/1941RAF night raids on Hanover, Berlin and Cuxhaven. With a raid by 111 German aircraft on Birmingham, the Night Blitz campaign against England comes to an end. Most Luftwaffe bomber formations in France and 16/05/1941 Belgium are being transferred to airfields in eastern Germany and occupied Poland. The RAF launch a night raid on Cologne. 18/05/1941British air raids on Germany continue. German bombers attack Dublin by mistake. The Eire government protests, Germans 31/05/1941later offer compensation. British civilian casualties for May announced as 5,394 killed and 5,181 injured.
01/06/1941The Luftwaffe carries out a night raid (110 bombers) on Manchester. Goring tells the Luftwaffe There is no unconquerable island. The Ruhr industrial 02/06/1941 area bombed by RAF. 08/06/1941RAF launch biggest bombing raid yet on Germany with 360 aircraft. Fire Service Council established in Britain, with 1,400 local brigades being merged 09/06/1941 in to 32 regional ones. The RAF raids the Ruhr, Rhineland and German ports in the first of 20 consecutive 12/06/1941 night raids. The Luftwaffe carries out a raid on the British naval base at Chatham, but with little 13/06/1941 success. 14/06/1941The RAF begins fighter sweeps over Northern France. RAF starts daylight air offensive over Northern France, English Channel and 01/07/1941 Occupied Europe. 02/07/1941The RAF carries out night raids on Bremen and Cologne. 05/07/1941The RAF carries out night raids on Mnster and Bielefeld. 27/07/1941London is severely bombed by the Luftwaffe, in its first air raid for 10 weeks. 31/07/1941During July, 501 British civilians died in air raids. 20/08/1941Adolf Hitler authorises the development of the V-2 missile. RAF daylight raids on Occupied Europe miss only 19 days in August and 02/09/1941 September. Newcastle bombed, but only the second serious raid on Britain in a month with 30/09/1941 Septembers casualties listed as 217 killed. British air raid casualties in October remain low at 262 killed. RAF raid occupied 31/10/1941Europe on all but six days with Hamburg and Cologne bombed three times. Dover the only serious British casualty. 07/11/1941The RAF bombs Berlin with 169 aircraft, but 21 are lost. Hitler issues Directive No.38 which tasks Kesselring as C-in-C South, with gaining air superiority over the area between southern Italy and Libya in order to deny British supplies to Malta and Libya. To assist with this, he was given Fleigerkorps 02/12/1941 II, which was transferred from Russia. This, together with the existing air units of Fleigerkorps X were to form Luftflotte 2 and give the axis a significant numerical superiority over the RAF.
European Air War! Colonel-General Ernst Udet, head of Luftwaffe aircraft production and 10/01/1942development, commits suicide because of his failure to provide adequate replacements and new improved aircraft models to the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe, with 400 aircraft available, begins a series of raids against London 21/01/1942 and ports in southern England. Bomber Command is issued with Directive No.22, which ends the recent period of aircraft conservation by the RAF, although attacks are still not to be pressed in the face of bad weather or 'extreme hazard'. The reason for this change is that the new 14/02/1942Lancaster bomber, was just entering service and that Bomber Command was now equipped with a new navigation device called GEE, which it was hoped would make locating targets easier. However, it only had a range of 400 miles and could be jammed. Air Marshal A. T. (Bomber) Harris is appointed C-in-C of Bomber Command. 23/02/1942Harris already had a reputation of being a determined and forceful character and was totally convinced that the bombing of Germany could bring her to her knees and be decisive in winning the war. RAF Bomber Command, under its new C-in-C, Air Vice Marshal Harris, attacks the Renault plant in the Paris suburb of Billancourt. Of the 235 RAF planes that took off, only 1 failed to return. The new navigation device, GEE wasn't used, although the target was marked with flares for the first time and serious damage done to 03/03/1942 production facilities, although many French workers were killed. However, this successful raid was a much needed morale boost for the bomber crews. On this same night, the Lancaster bomber makes its operational debut, laying mines of the French port of Brest. The RAF use GEE for the first time for target marking during a raid on Essen. The technique was known as 'Shaker' and consisted of aircraft marking the target with 08/03/1942 flares, allowing aircraft further behind to see the target more clearly. However the results of the raid were disappointing. The RAF returns to bomb Essen once more, but again are unable to inflict much 09/03/1942damage due to the constant industrial haze over the city and the lack of landmarks, which made the city notoriously difficult to find. Under the new tactical doctrine of area saturation bombing, introduced by Air Vice Marshal Harris, the RAF launches a heavy incendiary attack (234 bombers) against Lbeck on the Baltic that devastates 265 acres of the old city. The RAF lost 13 28/03/1942 aircraft and from one of these the Germans were able to obtain their first specimen of the GEE equipment. In retaliation for the raid on Lbeck, Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to bomb historic British towns and cities. An official inquiry into British bombing policy is setup under Mr. Justice Singleton. 16/04/1942 This was the result of a debate between Churchill's two top scientific advisors, Lord
Cherwell and Sir Henry Tizard. Cherwell, supported by the Air Ministry, drew up a list of 58 German cities and towns whose destruction would knock Germany out of the war. Tizard argued that less emphasis should be put on the bombing of Germany and more on using the aircraft in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RAF makes a daylight raid against Augsburg in southern Germany with 14 Lancaster bombers. The raid is pressed home with great gallantry, with squadron 17/04/1942 leader J.D. Nettleton being awarded the VC. However, 7 aircraft are lost, which convinces Air Marshal Harris that daylight raids by heavy bombers were too costly. 23/04/1942The RAF raids Rostok with 142 aircraft. The Luftwaffe raids Exeter in the first of Hitler's retaliatory raids, which were soon 24/04/1942to become known as the 'Baedeker' raids after the famous guidebook series of that name. A second raid employing 91 aircraft is made against Rostok. 25/04/1942The Luftwaffe attack Bath as the 'Baedeker' raids continue. The RAF again attacks Rostok, this time with 128 aircraft. The Luftwaffe again raid 26/04/1942 Bath. The RAF use 107 aircraft in another raid against Rostok. Norwich is attacked by the 27/04/1942 Luftwaffe. 12/05/1942The first contingent of the US Eighth Army Air Force arrives in Britain. Air Marshal Harris is given permission by Churchill for a raid on Germany by 1000 bombers. This was in spite of the fact that the RAF's operational strength at this time was only 500 aircraft. However, it was believed that by enlisting RAF Coastal 17/05/1942Command and the RAF's training squadron's, then the magical 1000 bombers could be found. Harris believed that the only way to get a commitment for strong bomber force, was to demonstrate what could be done with one. He planned to launch operation 'Millenium', before the end of the month. 18/05/1942The RAF launches a major attack against Mannheim. Mr. Justice Singleton's report is published. This concluded that GEE was disappointing, but that more accurate bombing might result when a new aid, H2S, 20/05/1942 being developed, came in to service. provided that greater accuracy could be achieved, then bombing could prove a 'turning-point', but only after sustained effort. Air Marshal Harris issues his orders for operation 'Millenium'. The target is to be 23/05/1942Hamburg, with Cologne as an alternate. The raid was to take place on the night of the 28th/29th May, or the first suitable night thereafter. RAF Coastal Command refuses permission for their aircraft to take part in operation 'Millenium', which means that a shortfall of 250 aircraft is expected. However, by 25/05/1942 scraping up all the resources within Bomber Command, he manages to find the required 1000 bombers. Bad weather over Hamburg, means the alternate target, Cologne is selected by Bomber Command for the first 1,000 night-bomber raid of the war. 1,046 heavy bombers take off with 850 claiming to have attacked the target with 1,455 tons of explosive. The raid lasted about 75 minutes, a new departure from the past when 31/05/1942 aircraft were given much more latitude as to when they attacked the target. The raid destroys 600 acres of built-up area, kills 486 civilians and makes 59,000 people homeless. Of the participating aircraft, 40 failed to return and a further 19 crashed for one reason or another.
01/06/1942Himmler is put in charge of the German ARP system. The RAF' launches it's second 1,000 bomber raid (although only 956 took off) and hits Essen, but due to the haze over the city, the results were minimal and the RAF 02/06/1942 lost 31 aircraft. Nevertheless, Churchill was highly impressed and sanctioned further raids on this scale. A German bomb, undiscovered for 13 months explodes. 19 people are killed, more 06/06/1942 than 50 injured and 300 families made homeless. Air Marshal Harris is recognised for his achievements with the recent 1,000 bomber 14/06/1942 raids with a knight-hood. 21/06/1942The Luftwaffe carries out a night raid against Southampton. 24/06/1942The Luftwaffe launches the first in a series of night raids against Birmingham. The RAF launches its third 1,000-bomber raid, with 1,006 aircraft against Bremen. This time Coastal Command provided 102 Hudson bombers, after Churchill's insistence that they take part. As with the previous 1,000 bomber raids, a full moon 25/06/1942 had been selected to aid in finding the target. The raid caused heavy damage to the Focke-Wulf plant and devastated 27 acres of the inner city. The RAF lost 49 aircraft, a high proportion of them being manned by trainee crews. For the first time, 6 Douglas A-20/Boston bombers of the USAAF's 15th Bombardment Squadron were combined with 6 Douglas A-20/Boston bombers from 04/07/1942 the RAF's 226 Squadron for raids on German airfields in Holland. 2 USSAF and 1 RAF aircraft failed to return. 31/07/1942Heavy RAF night raid on Dsseldorf. The first all-American bombing raid in Europe is conducted against Rouen by 17/08/1942 Eighth USAAF. A massive RAF raid against Nuremberg is launched, killing 4,000 civilians and 28/08/1942 destroying over 10,000 houses. 11/09/1942Heavy RAF raid on Dsseldorf. 18/09/1942The RAFs Pathfinder Force flies its first mission, which is against Flensburg. 21/09/1942RAF raids are conducted against Munich and the Saar valley. 25/09/1942RAF Mosquitoes make a successful low level daylight raid on Gestapo HQ in Oslo. 11/10/1942The first night raid on Britain by Luftwaffe for 15 days. 23/10/1942The RAF launches bombing raids against the Italian cities of Genoa and Turin. Prime minister Churchill warns the Italian government that RAF bombing of Italian 29/11/1942 cities will continue until Italy abandons the war. 30/11/1942An Italian radio broadcast, reports of large-scale evacuations of Turin, Genoa and
Milan. 04/12/1942The U.S. 5th Air Force launches its first raid against the Italian port of Naples. The navigation and bombing radar aid 'Oboe' is used operationally for the first time 20/12/1942 by Bomber Command. European Air War! Daylight raid by the Luftwaffe hits a school in London, killing 44 children and one 20/01/1943 teacher. The USAAF makes its first raid on Germany with a force of B-17s and B-24s 27/01/1943 hitting Emden and Wilhelmshaven in daylight. The Nazi party's 10th Anniversary celebrations are disrupted by the RAF's first low29/01/1943 level daylight Mosquito air attack on Berlin. 31/01/1943RAF Bomber Command makes first operational use of H2S radar.
173 Londoners are killed in panic crush at Bethnal Green tube station when a new 03/03/1943 AA weapon noise is heard for the first time. Bomber Command report the first effective attack on Essen due primarily to the 05/03/1943 use of a new navigational aid Oboe. The Battle of the Ruhr begins.
14/05/1943The U.S. 8th Air Force attacks Kiel with 125 aircraft. Wing Commander Guy Gibson leads the Dambusters night attack by 19 aircraft against the Ruhr dams, during which bouncing bombs breach the Mohne and Eder 16/05/1943Dams causing severe flooding and loss of civilian life in the Ruhr valley below them, but doing little damage to the industrial installations. Gibson is later awarded the Victoria Cross. 17/05/1943The Luftwaffe carries out a night raid involving 89 aircraft against Cardiff in Wales. The heaviest RAF raid of war to date is made against Dortmund, during which 2,000 23/05/1943 tons of explosives are dropped. Bomber Harris congratulates RAF Bomber Command for passing the 100,000 ton 24/05/1943 mark in raids against Germany. 28/05/1943The U.S. 15th Air Force attacks Italian oil refineries at Livorno. The RAF launches a major raid (719 bombers) against Wuppertal, dropping 1,900 29/05/1943tons of bombs and killing 2,450 civilians and claim that half of Wuppertal has been wiped off the map. 30/05/194320 children killed when bomb hits Torquay church. 31/05/1943The U.S. 15th Air Force bombs German and Italian airfields at Foggia, destroying
many aircraft on the ground. 01/06/1943The allied 2nd Tactical Air Force is formed in UK. A co-ordinated air offensive is begun, with the US 8th Air Force, flying precision 10/06/1943bombing missions by day and RAF Bomber Command, flying area saturation missions by night, against major German cities. The US 8th Air Force raids the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven (200 B-17s), 11/06/1943 while the RAF attacks Mnster and Dsseldorf. The RAF launches a heavy raid on Bochum in the Ruhr. The Luftwaffe carries out a 12/06/1943 night attack against Plymouth. Night fighter ace Wing Commander John Cunningham, brings down his 16th victim 13/06/1943 over southern England. 19/06/1943RAF carries out a raid on the Schneider armaments works at Le Creusot. The RAF institutes shuttle bombing runs, with planes leaving England, bombing 20/06/1943Germany, reloading in North Africa, bombing Italy and the returning to England begin, with 60 RAF bombers attacking the radar works at Friedrichshafen. 21/06/1943The RAF launches a heavy raid on Krefeld in the Ruhr, but lose 44 aircraft. 24/06/1943The RAF conducts a heavy raid on Elberfeld in the Ruhr. 28/06/1943Cologne Cathedral is badly damaged in a raid. The British publish aircraft losses incurred to date, with Axis losses of 18,031 30/06/1943 aircraft and RAF losses of 9,906 aircraft. 02/07/1943U.S. Fifteenth Air Force, raids three airfields in southern Italy. The RAF carries out a heavy night raid on Cologne, causing considerable damage 03/07/1943 and killing hundreds of civilians. At least 12 die as a German hit and run bomber hits East Grinstead cinema during an 09/07/1943 afternoon performance. 18/07/1943The Germans say Cologne is in a state of chaos after allied raids. USAAF planes bomb Rome for the first time, with Basilica at San Lorenzo 19/07/1943 wrecked. Operation 'Gomorrah' takes place when 746 RAF bombers drop 2,300 tons of bombs on Hamburg in 48 minutes, during which only 12 aircraft are lost. This tonnage is as 24/07/1943much as Germans dropped in the five heaviest raids on London. Fires are visible for 200 miles. This is the first operational use of Window, (radar-jamming foil strips dropped by aircraft). German radio says that Hamburg is still burning (8am), leaving 100,000 homeless. 25/07/1943The USAAF bomb the city again in daylight. The allies blitz Essen with 2,000 tons of bombs being dropped. The second mass raid on Hamburg by 722 RAF bombers results in nine square miles 28/07/1943 of city being set alight. The mass evacuation of a million civilians from Hamburg is ordered after the recent 29/07/1943 heavy bombings. 30/07/1943Hamburg is bombed for a third time.
The USAAF loses 54 B24s out of 178 in a disastrous raid (the longest yet 01/08/1943attempted) on the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania while inflicting only superficial damage. The ninth attack on Hamburg in eight days. More bombs have now been dropped on 02/08/1943Hamburg than on London during the whole of the Blitz. Estimated 50.000 killed, equal to Britains entire civilian losses by bombing in the war so far. 06/08/1943A partial evacuation of Berlin is announced in order to avoid another Hamburg. The Heaviest RAF attack so far on northern Italy, with more than 1,000 tons 12/08/1943 dropped on Milan in under 30 minutes. 15/08/1943Portsmouth has heaviest raid for two years when its bombed by 91 German planes. 597 RAF bombers attack Peenemunde on the Baltic coast, the birthplace of the V weapons. 376 B-17's and B-24's of the US 8th Air Force carry out double raids 17/08/1943 against the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt and the Messerschmitt fighter works at Regensburg, losing 80 aircraft in the process. 570 RAF bombers attack the V-1 and V-2 missile development facility at 18/08/1943 Peenemunde, to catastrophic effect. 19/08/1943Luftwaffe Chief of Staff, Colonel General Jesehonnek shoots himself. The heaviest raid to date on Berlin, when 727 RAF bombers drop more than 1,700 23/08/1943 tons of bombs on the City. A blanket of smoke covers Berlin to a height of 20,000ft. The first estimates put 24/08/1943 German dead at 5,860 after last nights raid. 140 Allied fighters and 136 bombers strafe and bomb the airfield at Foggia, as part 25/08/1943of the preparations for the invasion of the Italian mainland. Many axis aircraft are destroyed in these raids. An air battle between 44 USAAF P-38s and 75 Luftwaffe fighters commences above Italy. The the P-38s were escorting a large formation of B-26s on their way to 30/08/1943bomb marshalling yards at Aversa. The Americans lose 13 aircraft and shoot down 9 Axis aircraft, thus allowing the B-26s to make an unmolested bombing run to their target, where they cause extreme damage without loss. The RAF again pound Berlin (over 600 bombers) with more than 1,000 tons 31/08/1943 dropped, killing about 5,000 civilian's. 07/09/1943The RAF bomb V1 (flying bomb) launch sites on the North French coastline. The Dambuster squadron makes a disastrous first use of 12,000lb Tall Boy bombs 16/09/1943 with a raid on the Dortmund-Ems canal. British Air Ministry says that Hamburg now lies in absolute ruins and is probably 19/09/1943 the most complete blotting out of a city that ever happened. 02/10/1943The RAF launches a very heavy air raid on Munich, which lasts 25 minutes. The RAF bombs Stuttgart making use of the Airborne 'Cigar' jamming device, 07/10/1943 killing 1,700 and making 18,000 homeless. The US 8th Air Force delivers a heavy attack against the ball bearing plants at 14/10/1943Schweinfurt. However, of the original force of 291 B-17's, 198 are either shot down or damaged beyond repair, while the Luftwaffe has lost only about 40 fighter planes. 22/10/1943Operation 'Corona' (the jamming of German night-fighter communications) begins
during an RAF raid on Kassel. The RAF launches a heavy night raid against Stuttgart, while the US 8th Air Force, 26/10/1943 in its greatest effort to date, delivers a devastating daylight attack on Bremen. The USAAF launch a 400-bomber daylight raid on Wilhelmshaven with 600-fighter 03/11/1943escort. At night the RAF drop over 2,000 tons of bombs on Dsseldorf in 27 minutes. The RAF begin the battle of Berlin with 700 tons dropped. Other areas also 18/11/1943 pounded in the biggest RAF operation so far. The RAF give Berlin the worst pounding so far, with more than 2,300 tons of bombs 22/11/1943 dropped in less than 30 minutes for the loss of just 26 planes. Berlin hit again by the RAF, making it the worst bombed city in Germany with 23/11/1943 12,000 tons dropped on it this year alone. Berlin reported as a sea of flames this morning with casualty estimates put at 24/11/1943 between 8-10,000 killed. The largest USAAF raid so far on Bremen. A fifth consecutive night raid on Berlin 26/11/1943 by RAF. Allied bombers resume the 'battle of Berlin' dropping 1,500 tons, but losing 41 02/12/1943aircraft. A Luftwaffe raid against the Allied naval base at Bari in Italy, hits an ammunition ship which explodes, sinking 17 other ships. The RAF conduct a heavy attack against Leipzig killing 1,500 and making 40,000 03/12/1943 homeless. Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz becomes the chief of U.S. strategic air forces in 08/12/1943 Europe. 11/12/1943A heavy USAAF raid on Emden kills 1,000 and makes 12,000 homeless. A further blitz of Berlin brings the allied total to 18,500 tons of explosive dropped 16/12/1943 on the city. The heaviest raid of war on Frankfurt with more than 2,000 tons dropped by RAF. 20/12/1943 Mosquito raiders follow half an hour later to hamper the fire fighters efforts. The Eighth 2,000-ton air raid is flown against Berlin by the RAF on the third 29/12/1943 anniversary of the fire bombing of London. European Air War! Hitlers Chancellery is reported 75 per cent destroyed with many trapped in the shelters below after a direct hit during an RAF raid on Berlin. Wing Commander 02/01/1944 John Cunningham makes it 19-all with Wing Commander J. R. Braham in nightfighter air-ace's league. The allies announce that jet-propelled aircraft will soon to be in production. The Air 06/01/1944Ministry says that Bomber Command dropped 157,000 tons of bombs on Germany in 1943, while the Luftwaffe dropped only 2,400 tons on Britain. 660 heavy bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force carry out attacks against industrial 11/01/1944 targets at Braunschweig, Magdeburg and Ascherleben. 20/01/1944The RAF makes its heaviest raid on Berlin, with 700 bombers dropping more than
2,300 tons during the 11th raid of the Battle of Berlin. The largest Luftwaffe raid on Britain for some time, with 90 planes being spotted 21/01/1944over Southeast England during the Little Blitz. The RAF sends 648 bombers to Magdeburg, but loses 55 for just 4 Luftwaffe fighters. Night-fighter ace, Major Prinz zu SaynWittgenstein who claimed 83 victories is 25/01/1944 killed. 27/01/1944The thirteenth heavy raid on Berlin, inflicts an estimated 6,000 dead. The Luftwaffe bombs London, while 800 USAAF bombers drop 1,800 tons of 29/01/1944bombs on Frankfurt am Main and Ludwigshafen. The RAF hit Berlin for the 14th time. The RAF uses a massive 12,000b bomb Tall-Boy, in a raid on the Gnme-et08/02/1944 Rhne works in Limoges. The heaviest raid ever on Berlin is conducted, during which 2,500 tons of bombs are 15/02/1944 dropped. The British Air Minister says that bomber losses for 1943 were, 2,369 U.K. and 997 16/02/1944 U.S. planes down. The Germans conduct their heaviest night raid on London since 1941 as the 18/02/1944 Luftwaffe intensifies the Little Blitz. The RAF saturates Leipzig, dropping 2,300 tons of bombs, but lose 78 of 823 19/02/1944 bombers. Big Week starts with the largest ever daylight raid of war by the USAAF on 20/02/1944Germany as 970 bombers carry out attacks against Hamburg, Leipzig and Braunschweig. The RAF pound Stuttgart with 2,000-tons of bombs. Big Week continues with a co-ordinated RAF and USAAF attacks on the 24/02/1944 Schweinfurt ball-bearing factory. Bad weather ends Big Week, during which 26 German aircraft production related 26/02/1944 factories are hit putting German monthly production down by 20%. Wing Commander John Cunningham, now on 20 kills, gets the 2nd bar to his 01/03/1944 DSO, the first pilot to receive this triple honour. The USAAF launch, but then cancel the first daylight heavy bomber raid on Berlin. 04/03/1944 However 29 aircraft fail to receive the counter-order and bomb the capital. Bomber Command begins a large-scale offensive over northern France in 06/03/1944preparation for D-Day. The USAAF send 730 bombers and 796 fighters to Berlin, during which 69 bombers and 11 escorts are shot down. 08/03/1944The US 8th Air Force carries out another heavy attack against Berlin. The Swedes announce an investigation of the mysterious object which crashed out 12/03/1944 of the sky (a flying torpedo V1) from a German research station, 40 miles away. The heaviest RAF raid of war is made against Stuttgart, with 3,000 tons dropped 15/03/1944 from 863 bombers, for the loss of only 36 planes. The Luftwaffe attacks London with 90 medium bombers (He-111s and Ju-88s), while the RAF bombs Berlin with 810 heavy Lancaster bombers. The RAF lose 72 24/03/1944 bombers in this, the 16th and heaviest raid of war on Berlin. The Battle of Berlin is now over.
The RAF suffers its heaviest losses in single raid when 96 bombers (600 aircrew) 30/03/1944 out of 795 are shot down during a raid on Nuremberg. RAF losses after 35 major attacks on German cities since the 18th November 1943 31/03/1944 are 1,047 aircraft destroyed and 1,682 damaged. The USAAF accidentally bombs Schaffhausen in Switzerland. The Swiss protest 01/04/1944 strongly. The Americans offer reparations. The RAF and USAAF conduct the first of 24 round-the-clock raids on the Ploiesti 05/04/1944 oil refineries in Romania. 10/04/1944The RAF drop a record 3,600 tons over northern France. 11/04/1944An RAF Mosquito raid, hits the Gestapo HQ in the Hague. Bomber Command uses a J bomb (30lb liquid incendiary) for first time in a raid 22/04/1944 on Brunswick. 04/05/1944The RAF carries out a night raid against Budapest. 07/05/1944The US 8th Air Force launches a 1,500-bomber raid against Berlin. Allied air forces begin a campaign of large scale raids against German airfields and 09/05/1944 rail communications in France in preparation for D-Day. 800 bombers of the US 8th Air Force carry out attacks against the synthetic fuel 12/05/1944 plants at Leuna-Merseburg, Ltzkendorf, Zeitz and Brx. A record 5,000 bombers raid 12 railway targets and nine airfields in northern France 20/05/1944 and Belgium. 28/05/1944The US 8th Air Force attacks synthetic fuel-producing plants at Leuna-Meseburg. Using its maximum range, the US 8th Air Force attacks aircraft production plants at 29/05/1944 Marienburg and Posen in eastern Germany. The first shuttle raid, operation 'Frantic' is made by 130 B-17s of the US 15th Air 02/06/1944Force based at Tripoli. The raid attacks rail yards at Debrecen in Hungary and then flies on to Soviet airfields at Poltava in the Ukraine. The RAF carries out heavy night raids against German coastal batteries and 04/06/1944 fortifications in Normandy. 09/06/1944The RAF fly from French airfields for first time since 1940. The first V1 flying bomb is launched against Britain during Operation 13/06/1944'Rumpelkammer' and hits Swanscombe in Kent at 0418, causing shock and near panick among the civilian population. 15/06/1944The RAF launches heavy attacks (600 bombers) against Le Havre and Boulogne. The real flying bomb offensive on Britain begins as 95 V1's cross the coast before 16/06/19446am and a total of 244 reaching England that day. The German press calls it the beginning of the day of vengeance. The Air Ministry release the first official details of the V1's (range 150 miles, speed 19/06/1944 300-350 mph, 2,000lb bomb) as AA gunners start calling them Doodlebugs. The US 8th Air Force carries out raids on Berlin and the synthetic fuel plants at 21/06/1944 Leuna-Merseburg, which then continue on to Russia. 22/06/1944Allied planes drop 1,100 tons of bombs on Cherbourg.
Churchill makes a statement about the Doodlebugs and say that 2,754 have been 06/07/1944 launched, causing 2,752 dead and 8,000 injured so far. 50 heavy RAF bombers carry out a saturation raid (2,300 tons) on the German 07/07/1944defenses in and around Caen. 1,129 USAAF bombers attack aircraft factories and oil plants in the Leipzig area. A Junkers 88, equipped with secret SN-2 radar, lands by mistake on an RAF airfield 13/07/1944 in Suffolk. 18/07/19444,500 Allied aircraft pound the German positions with 7,000 tons of bombs. 2,500 USAAF aircraft drop 4,150 tons of bombs on German and American positions 25/07/1944 near St. Lo, which kill 601 Americans. The last of a series of RAF bombing raids on Stuttgart that kill 900 and leave 29/07/1944 100,000 homeless takes place. Churchill makes a statement to the House of Commons and says after seven weeks 02/08/1944of non-stop V1 attacks, 5,340 having being launched, that 4,735 have been killed, 14,000 injured and 17,000 houses completely destroyed. An RAF Gloster Meteor pilot T. D. Dean becomes the first pilot to destroy a V-1 04/08/1944 flying bomb, when he tips the pilotless craft's wing, sending it off course. The German Rahmel aircraft factory near Gdynia in Poland, is attacked by allied 06/08/1944 bombers. 07/08/1944Allied air patrols over Paris prevent Axis fighters from reaching Mortain. 3,462 tons of bombs are dropped on the German lines South of Caen by 1,020 RAF 08/08/1944 planes. 18/08/1944Allied air forces fly 3,057 sorties against the Falaise pocket. A Liberator bomber crashes in a storm on a school near Preston in England, killing 23/08/1944 38 children and 22 adults. The RAF pounds the Ruhr oil refineries, their first large-scale daylight action over Germany. More than 1,000 U.S. B-17s and B-24s attack airdromes at Anklam, Grossenbrode, Neubrandenburg and Parow, Luftwaffe experimental facilities at 27/08/1944 Peenemunde and Rechlin, aircraft components factories at Lubeck, Rostock, Schwerin, and Wismar, an oil-industry target at Politz and several targets of opportunity in Germany. 18 heavy bombers are lost. 02/09/1944The launching of V1's from France ceases. Victory in the Battle of London is proclaimed after 80 days of V1 bombardment 06/09/1944 with over 8,000 flying-bombs launched, with approximately 2,300 reaching London. 08/09/1944The first V2 rockets hit London and Paris from mobile bases in Holland. The Germans start a new flying bomb campaign, launching them from aircraft over 15/09/1944 Holland. The Germans start a new flying bomb campaign, launching them from aircraft over 16/09/1944 Holland. An RAF precision bombing raid using 12,000lb bombs, breach the crucial 23/09/1944 Dortmund-Ems Canal.
It is announced that the first British jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor was 27/09/1944 successfully used in action on the 4th August. 11/10/1944The RAF complete the flooding of Walcheren with a 102-bomber raid near Veet. 15/10/1944The largest number of sorties on single night is made by the RAF, with 1,576 in all. 5,689 tons of bombs, a record for one day are dropped by the RAF on the German 16/11/1944 frontline to the East of Aachen. The US 8th Air Force launches heavy attacks against Hamburg and the synthetic 21/11/1944 fuel producing plants of Leuna at Merseburg. 22/11/1944The RAF make a second breach in the Dortmund-Ems Canal. European Air War! Fierce air battles over western front, with 188 out of 800 Luftwaffe planes reported 01/01/1945 shot down during their last major attack of the war. The US 8th Air Force, with 937 bombers and 613 fighters, carries out the heaviest 03/02/1945attack to date against Berlin which levels large areas of the city and kills more than 25,000 civilians. RAF balloon command to be disbanded as the air raid threat lessens. 278 V1's have 05/02/1945 been claimed by balloons. UK civilian war casualties up to September 1944 are reported as 57,468 killed and 08/02/1945 89,178 injured. The RAF launches a heavy attack (over 800 bombers in two separate waves, which is followed the next day by 400 bombers of the US 8th Air Force) against Dresden. 14/02/1945 The Raids are estimated to have killed in a fire-bombing holocaust, 35,000 to 135,000 people and becomes the most destructive raid of the war in Europe. 20/02/1945The RAF launch the first of 36 consecutive night raids on Berlin. The US 8th Air Force launches another heavy attack (over 1,000 bombers) against 21/02/1945 Nrnberg. The allies launch Operation 'Clarion', which consisted of 10,000 air attacks on 22/02/1945 communications in central Germany. 25/02/1945400 RAF bombers carry out attacks against Dortmund and Rheine. The US 8th Air Force launches another heavy attack against Berlin which devastates 27/02/1945 the center of the city. The RAF launches a heavy attack (300 bombers) against Mannheim, causing a 02/03/1945 devastating firestorm. 100 Luftwaffe night-fighters attack 27 RAF airfields, in what is the last night 03/03/1945 intrusion raid of the war. 22 RAF aircraft were destroyed for 6 German. 06/03/1945The US 8th Air Force launches a heavy attack against Chemnitz in Saxony. 11/03/1945An RAF Bomber Command record for the largest tonnage dropped on a single
target in single day is achieved at Essen when 4,661 tons are dropped. RAF Bomber Command sets another new record for single target, when 4,851 tons 12/03/1945 are dropped on Dortmund. Following a 600-bomber raid by the US 8th Air Force, the RAF with 800 bombers attacks Swinemnde North of Stettin, a major port of disembarkation for German 13/03/1945 refugees from eastern Germany, causing heavy damage to the docks and killing hundreds of civilians. RAF Bomber Command make its first use of the 22,000lb Grand Slam bomb, wrecking the Bielefeld viaduct. The US 15th Air Force, taking off from Italian 14/03/1945 airfields, launches a heavy raid (500 bombers) against Regensburg, while the RAF attacks Wuppertal with 400 aircraft. The US 8th Air Force launches a massive attack (675 bombers) against the HQ 16/03/1945 complex of the OKH at Zossen 20 miles south of Berlin, but with minimal effect. The US 8th Air Force carries out another heavy attack (200 bombers and 700 19/03/1945 fighters) against Berlin. 21/03/1945The US 8th Air Force launches a major attack (650 bombers) against Hamburg. The RAF launches a devastating raid (300 bombers) against Hildesheim near 23/03/1945 Hannover, a small city of little military and industrial importance. The 1,115th and last V2 to reach England lands in Kynaston Road, Orpington, Kent, 27/03/1945 England. The US 8th Air Force launches its heaviest raid to date (700 bombers) against Kiel 04/04/1945 on the Baltic. 05/04/1945The US 8th Air Force carries out another heavy attack (450 bombers) against Kiel. The RAF attack Kiel, while the US 8th Air Force launches its heaviest raid to date 10/04/1945 (1,232 bombers) against Berlin. The British Home Secretary says that 60,585 British civilians have died and 86,175 20/04/1945 have been seriously injured in air attacks since outbreak of war. Total V2-weapon casualties in Britain are announced as 2,754 killed and 6,523 27/04/1945 seriously injured. 29/04/1945The RAF begin Operation 'Manna', supply drops into Holland. 02/05/1945RAF Bomber Command, launch its last major action of war against Kiel.
15/09/1945The fifth anniversary of the Battle of Britain, sees 300 RAF aircraft fly over
London. The Holocaust Timeline! This timeline covers the tragedy of millions of Jew's, Gypsies, mentally handicapped and political undesirables who suffered or met their end in the Concentration Camp's of Nazi Germany between the years 1939 and 1945.
Today I will once more be a prophet: if the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevising of the earth and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!'. Adolf Hitler Speech to the Reichstag 30th January 1939
Jewish Armband
'JFO' Commander Mordecai Anielewicz The Holocaust!
SS Brigadier General Jurgen Stroop
Jews in Germany are forbidden to be outdoors after 8 p.m. in winter and 9 p.m. in 01/09/1939 summer. The Germans start construction of Stutthof concentration camp in which 65,000 02/09/1939 Polish Christians will ultimately perish. At Bedzin, 200 Jews are burned alive in a synagogue by the Germans who charge 08/09/1939 Poles with the crime, and then execute 30 of them in a public square. Heydrich issues instructions to SS Einsatzgruppen (special action squads) in Poland 21/09/1939regarding treatment of Jews, stating they are to be gathered into ghettos near railroads for the future "final goal." He also orders a census and the establishment of
Jewish administrative councils within the ghettos to implement Nazi policies and decrees. 23/09/1939German Jews are forbidden to own wireless (radio) sets. Nazis and Soviets divide up Poland. Over two million Jews reside in Nazi controlled 29/09/1939 areas, leaving 1.3 million in the Soviet area. 30/09/1939Reinhard Heydrich becomes the leader of new Reich Main Security Office (RSHA). 06/10/1939Proclamation by Hitler on the isolation of Jews. 12/10/1939Evacuation of Jews from Vienna. 18/10/1939The first Jewish ghetto is established in Lublin. 26/10/1939Forced labor decree issued for Polish Jews aged 14 to 60. 02/11/1939The first transport of Polish women arrives at Ravensbruck concentration camp. 23/11/1939Yellow stars required to be worn by Polish Jews over age 10. The Holocaust! Nazis choose the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland near Krakow as site of 25/01/1940 new concentration camp. 12/02/1940First deportation of German Jews into occupied Poland.
Himmler signs the order that initiates construction of Auschwitz concentration camp 27/04/1940 in Poland. The Lodz Ghetto in occupied Poland is sealed off from the outside world with 30/04/1940 230,000 Jews locked inside. 01/05/1940Rudolf Hss is chosen to be kommandant of Auschwitz. The Germans open Auschwitz concentration camp, officially to provide 100,000 15/06/1940 labour force for I.G Farben factory. 17/07/1940The first anti-Jewish measures are taken in Vichy France. Romania introduces anti-Jewish measures restricting education and employment, 08/08/1940 then later begins "Romanianization" of Jewish businesses. 28/08/1940Vichy French radio announces that laws protecting Jews in France have been
dropped.
03/10/1940Vichy France passes its own version of the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws. 09/10/1940Dutch decree, bans Jews and half-Jews from public employment. Deportation of 29,000 German Jews from Baden, the Saar, and Alsace-Lorraine into 22/10/1940 Vichy France. 15/11/1940The Warsaw Ghetto, containing over 400,000 Jews, is sealed off.
22/02/1941 430 Jewish hostages are deported from Amsterdam after a Dutch Nazi is killed by Jews. 01/03/1941 Himmler makes his first visit to Auschwitz, during which he orders Kommandant Hss to begin massive expansion, including a new compound to be built at nearby Birkenau that can hold 100,000 prisoners. 07/03/1941 German Jews ordered into forced labour. 26/03/1941 The German Army High Command gives approval to RSHA and Heydrich on the tasks of SS murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) in occupied Poland. 29/03/1941 A 'Commissariat' for Jewish Affairs is set up in Vichy France. 14/05/1941 3,600 Jews arrested in Paris. 02/06/1941 Vichy publishes antiSemitic legislation based on German laws. Jews banned from public office. 29/06/1941 Romanian troops conduct a pogrom against Jews in the town of Jassy, killing 10,000. 21/07/1941 In occupied Poland near Lublin, Majdanek concentration camp becomes operational. 26/07/1941 3,800 Jews killed during a pogrom by Lithuanians in Kovno. 31/07/1941 Gring instructs Heydrich to prepare for Final Solution. 26/08/1941 The Hungarian Army rounds up 18,000 Jews at Kamenets-Podolsk. 01/09/1941 German Jews ordered to wear yellow stars. 03/09/1941 Gas chambers at Auschwitz in Poland are used for first time, using Zyklon B, which was basically Hydrogen Cyanide. 06/09/1941 The Vilna Ghetto is established containing 40,000 Jews. 17/09/1941 Beginning of general deportation of German Jews. 27/09/1941 23,000 Jews killed at Kamenets-Podolsk, in the Ukraine. 29/09/1941 The SS Einsatzgruppen operating in the Ukraine massacres between 50,000 and 96,000 Ukranians (of which 33,771 are Jews), at Babi Yar, a ravine about 30 miles outside of Kiev. 23/10/1941 Nazis forbid emigration of Jews from the Reich. 19/11/1941 The Times newspaper's report on Occupied Europe estimates that 82,000 Poles have been shot or hanged since Poland's occupation by the Germans. 24/11/1941 Theresienstadt Ghetto is established near Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Nazis will use it as a model ghetto for propaganda purposes. 30/11/1941 Near Riga, a mass shooting of Latvian and German Jews. 08/12/1941 In occupied Poland, near Lodz, Chelmno extermination camp becomes operational. Jews taken there are placed in mobile gas vans and driven to a burial place while carbon monoxide from the engine exhaust is fed into the sealed rear compartment, killing them. The first gassing victims include 5,000 Gypsies who had been deported from the Reich to Lodz. 12/12/1941 The ship "Struma" leaves Romania for Palestine carrying 769 Jews but is later denied permission by British authorities to allow the passengers to disembark. In Feb. 1942, it sails back into the Black Sea where it is intercepted by a Soviet submarine and sunk as an "enemy target." 16/12/1941 During a cabinet meeting, Hans Frank, Gauleiter of Poland,
states - "Gentlemen, I must ask you to rid yourselves of all feeling of pity. We must annihilate the Jews wherever we find them and wherever it is possible in order to maintain the structure of the Reich as a whole..."
The Holocaust! In the Wannsee suburb of Berlin, the formal adoption of the 'Final Solution to the Jewish Problem' takes place. In practice this meant that all Jews in occupied Europe 20/01/1942 were to be transported to the east. The able bodied were worked until they died, while the remainder were put to death. Hitler, speaking at the Berlin Sports Palace, reaffirms his prewar prophecy 30/01/1942concerning the Jews; once again telling an audience that "the result of this war will be the complete annihilation of the Jews." 31/01/1942SS Einsatzgruppe A reports a tally of 229,052 Jews killed.
17/03/1942The deportation of Jews from Lublin to Belzec begins. 24/03/1942The start of deportation of Slovak Jews to Auschwitz. 27/03/1942The start of deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz. 28/03/1942Fritz Sauckel named Chief of Manpower to expedite recruitment of slave labour. 30/03/1942First trainloads of Jews from Paris arrive at Auschwitz. 20/04/1942German Jews are banned from using public transportation. 07/05/1942Dutch Jews are forced to wear the yellow 'Star of David' badge. The German open up a new death camp just outside Minsk, near the village of Maly Trostenets. Russian POW's and Jews have been forced to build the barracks for 600 slave labourers and their German and Ukrainian guards. Tens of thousands of 10/05/1942Austrian, German, and Czech Jews are shipped there and driven towards the village in mobile gas chambers. When the vans reach the camp, all inside them are dead. At the camp, the slave labourers bury the bodies in deep pits. Maly Trostenets remains a tight German secret. The New York Times reports on an inside page that Nazis have machine-gunned 18/05/1942over 100,000 Jews in the Baltic states, 100,000 in Poland and twice as many in western Russia. 01/06/1942Jews in Belgium, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania ordered to wear yellow stars. 05/06/1942SS report 97,000 persons have been "processed" in mobile gas vans. 07/06/1942All Jews over six are forced to wear the 'Star of David' in Occupied France. Eichmann meets with representatives from France, Belgium and Holland to 11/06/1942 coordinate deportation plans for Jews.
Dr. Heinisch, the German administrator in the Przemysl area, issues a public instruction. "Every Ukrainian or Pole who attempts by any means whatsoever to impede the campaign for the deportation of Jews, will be shot. Every Ukrainian or 27/06/1942Pole found in a Jewish quarter looting Jewish homes will be shot. Every Ukrainian or Pole attempting to conceal a Jew will be shot." In the next month, 24,000 Jews from western Galicia, Heinisch's district, pass through Przemysl. All are taken to Belzec and killed. At Auschwitz, a second gas chamber, Bunker II (the white farmhouse), is made 30/06/1942 operational at Birkenau due to the number of Jews arriving. The New York Times reports via the London Daily Telegraph that over 1,000,000 02/07/1942 Jews have already been killed by Nazis. Jews from Berlin sent to Theresienstadt. 07/07/1942Himmler grants permission for sterilization experiments at Auschwitz. 14/07/1942Beginning of deportation of Dutch Jews to Auschwitz. 12,887 Jews of Paris are rounded up and sent to Drancy Internment Camp located 16/07/1942 outside the city. Himmler visits Auschwitz-Birkenau for two days, inspecting all ongoing construction and expansion, then observes the extermination process from start to 17/07/1942 finish as two trainloads of Jews arrive from Holland. Kommandant Hss is then promoted. Construction includes four large gas chamber/crematories. Himmler orders Operation Reinhard, mass deportations of Jews in Poland to 19/07/1942 extermination camps. Treblinka concentration camp is opened, which initiates new deportations from the 22/07/1942 Warsaw Ghetto. The deportation of Belgian Jews to Auschwitz begins. Treblinka extermination camp opened in occupied Poland, east of Warsaw. The camp is fitted with two buildings containing 10 gas chambers, each holding 200 23/07/1942 persons. Carbon monoxide gas is piped in from engines placed outside the chamber, but Zyklon-B will later be substituted. Bodies are burned in open pits. The British section of the 'World Jewish Congress', claims that 1,000,000 Jews are 06/08/1942 already dead in occupied Europe. 26/08/19427,000 Jews arrested in unoccupied France. Open pit burning of bodies begins at Auschwitz in place of burial. The decision is 09/09/1942made to dig up and burn those already buried, 107,000 corpses, to prevent fouling of ground water. 18/09/1942Reduction of food rations for Jews in Germany. The inter-allied information committee estimates that the Germans have so far, 21/09/1942 executed 207,373 people in occupied Europe. The SS begin to take profit from the possessions and valuables of Jews from Auschwitz and Majdanek. German banknotes are sent to the Reichs Bank. Foreign 26/09/1942currency, gold, jewels and other valuables are sent to SS Headquarters of the Economic Administration. Watches, clocks and pens are distributed to troops at the front. Clothing is distributed to German families.
Himmler orders all Jews in concentration camps in Germany to be sent to 05/10/1942 Auschwitz and Majdanek. SS put down a revolt at Sachsenhausen by a group of Jews about to be sent to 22/10/1942 Auschwitz. 26/10/1942850 Jews are arrested in Norway. 28/10/1942The first transport from Theresienstadt arrives at Auschwitz. 26/11/1942The Germans make the first large deportation of Jews from Norway. 10/12/1942The first transport of Jews from Germany arrives at Auschwitz. The British Parliament vows to avenge Nazi crimes against Jews, as Eden announces that the Germans are now carrying into effect Hitlers often repeated 17/12/1942 intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe. U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged. 28/12/1942Sterilization experiments on women at Birkenau begin. The Holocaust! 18/01/1943First resistance by Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. 29/01/1943Nazis order all Gypsies arrested and sent to extermination camps. 30/01/1943Ernst Kaltenbrunner succeeds Heydrich as head of RSHA. 27/02/1943Jews working in Berlin armaments industry are sent to Auschwitz. A group of German wives of Jewish men begin to gather and protest in Berlin in 28/02/1943 order to try and stop the deportation of their husbands to concentrations camps. In New York, American Jews hold a mass rally at Madison Square Garden to 01/03/1943 pressure the U.S. government into helping the Jews of Europe. Over 1,000 Germans wife's of Jewish men deported to concentrations camps are 08/03/1943now protesting in Berlin. To prevent this kind of protest from spreading, Joseph Goebbels orders the release of the 1,500 Jewish men. 14/03/1943The Krakow Ghetto is liquidated. 17/03/1943Bulgaria states opposition to deportation of its Jews. 22/03/1943Newly built gas chamber/crematory IV opens at Auschwitz. 31/03/1943Newly built gas chamber/crematory II opens at Auschwitz. 04/04/1943Newly built gas chamber/crematory V opens at Auschwitz. Exterminations at Chelmno cease. The camp will be reactivated in the spring of 09/04/1943 1944 to liquidate ghettos. In all, Chelmno will total 300,000 deaths. 19/04/1943An armed uprising in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw begins.
The Jewish uprising in Warsaw triggers a massive German response and initiates a 20/04/1943 month long massacre of the 60,000 Jews in the ghetto. The Warsaw ghetto is finally cleared of Jews by the German police and security 16/05/1943 units. 11/06/1943Himmler orders liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in occupied Poland. 19/06/1943Goebbels declares Berlin to be Judenfrei (cleansed of Jews). Newly built gas chamber/crematory III opens at Auschwitz. With its completion, the 25/06/1943 four new crematories at Auschwitz have a daily capacity of 4,756 bodies.
02/08/1943Two hundred Jews escape from Treblinka extermination camp during a revolt. 16/08/1943The Bialystok Ghetto is liquidated. 11/09/1943Beginning of Jewish family transports from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz. On the eve of the Jewish New Year, the Gestapo and Danish Nazis begin rounding up all Danish Jews. However, a large number of Danish Jews had been saved when 30/09/1943an anti-nazi businessman got wind of the German plan and passed the details to the Danish resistance who, with the help of Danish fisherman ferried many Jews to neutral Sweden. 04/10/1943Himmler talks openly about the Final Solution at Posen. Massive escape from Sobibor as Jews and Soviet POWs break out, with 300 making it safely into nearby woods. Of those 300, fifty will survive. Exterminations then 14/10/1943 cease at Sobibor, after over 250,000 deaths. All traces of the death camp are then removed and trees are planted. 16/10/1943Jews in Rome rounded up, with over 1,000 sent to Auschwitz. An allied agreement to set up UN commission on war crimes is announced in 20/10/1943 London. 03/11/1943Nazis carry out Operation Harvest Festival in occupied Poland, killing 42,000 Jews. Quote from Nazi newspaper, Der Strmer, published by Julius Streicher - "It is actually true that the Jews have, so to speak, disappeared from Europe and that the 04/11/1943Jewish 'Reservoir of the East' from which the Jewish pestilence has for centuries beset the peoples of Europe has ceased to exist. But the Fhrer of the German people at the beginning of the war prophesied what has now come to pass." Auschwitz Kommandant Hss is promoted to chief inspector of concentration 11/11/1943 camps. The new kommandant, Liebehenschel, then divides up the vast Auschwitz
complex of over 30 sub-camps into three main sections. 20/11/1943Jews in northern Italy are to be sent to concentration camps. 02/12/1943The first transport of Jews from Vienna arrives at Auschwitz. The chief surgeon at Auschwitz reports that 106 castration operations have been 16/12/1943 performed. The Holocaust! In response to political pressure to help Jews under Nazi control, Roosevelt creates 24/01/1944 the War Refugee Board. Diary entry by Hans Frank, Gauleiter of Poland, concerning the fate of 2.5 million 25/01/1944Jews originally under his jurisdiction - "At the present time we still have in the General Government perhaps 100,000 Jews."
Hungary's 750,000 Jews, which have so far remained unmolested by the Germans 19/03/1944are about to endure a nightmare of mass deportation to the concentration camps as Eichmann arrives in Hungary with his "Special Section Commandos". A Jewish inmate, Siegfried Lederer, escapes from Auschwitz-Birkenau and makes it 05/04/1944safely to Czechoslovakia. He then warns the Elders of the Council at Theresienstadt about Auschwitz. Two Jewish inmates escape from Auschwitz-Birkenau and make it safely to 07/04/1944Czechoslovakia. One of them, Rudolf Vrba, submits a report to the Papal Nuncio in Slovakia which is forwarded to the Vatican. 14/04/1944First transports of Jews from Athens to Auschwitz, totalling 5,200 persons. Rudolf Hss returns to Auschwitz, ordered by Himmler to oversee the extermination 08/05/1944 of Hungarian Jews. 15/05/1944Beginning of deportation of Jews from Hungary to Auschwitz. The first Jews from Hungary arrive at Auschwitz. Eichmann arrives to personally 16/05/1944 oversee and speed up the extermination process. It is estimated that 100,000 have been gassed at Auschwitz. Between May 16 and May 31, the SS report collecting 88 pounds of gold and white metal from the teeth 24/05/1944 of those gassed. By the end of June, 381,661 persons, which is half of the Jews in Hungary have arrived at Auschwitz. Rosenberg orders operation 'Hay Action', the kidnapping of 40,000 Polish children 12/06/1944 aged ten to fourteen for slave labour in Germany.
The Russians liberate Maidanek Concentration Camp near Lublin, where 360,000 24/07/1944 people perished. Anne Frank and family arrested by Gestapo in Amsterdam, then sent to Auschwitz. 04/08/1944Anne and her sister Margot are later sent to Bergen-Belsen where Anne dies of typhus on March 15, 1945. The last Jewish ghetto in Poland, Lodz, is liquidated with 60,000 Jews sent to 06/08/1944 Auschwitz.
A revolt by Jewish slave laborers at Auschwitz-Birkenau results in complete 07/10/1944 destruction of Crematory IV. Deportation of Jews from Hungary resumes after a temporarily halt due to 15/10/1944 international political pressure to stop Jewish persecutions. 17/10/1944Eichmann returns to Hungary. The last train transport of Jews to Auschwitz are gassed. These are 2,000 Jews from 28/10/1944 Theresienstad. 30/10/1944The gas chambers at Auschwitz are used for the last time. 25,000 Jews are forced to walk over 100 miles in rain and snow from Budapest to 08/11/1944the Austrian border, followed by a second forced march of 50,000 persons, ending at Mauthausen Concentration camp. 25/11/1944Himmler orders the destruction of the crematories at Auschwitz. The Holocaust! 18/01/1945Nazis evacuate 66,000 inmates from Auschwitz back into Germany. Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz. By this time, an estimated 2,000,000 persons, 27/01/1945 including 1,500,000 Jews, have been murdered there.
04/04/1945Ohrdruf camp is liberated by the Americans. 10/04/1945Buchenwald Concentration Camp is liberated by the Allies. British troops liberate Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and free approximately 15/04/1945 40,000 prisoners. It is reported that "both inside and outside the huts was a carpet of
dead bodies, human excreta, rags and filth." 29/04/1945The U.S. 7th Army liberates Dachau Concentration Camp. 02/05/1945Theresienstadt taken over by the Red Cross. 05/05/1945Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
The lists of the first war criminals to be tried at Nuremberg are drawn up by a 'Four Power' Commission of Prosecutors in London. Goring, Hess, von Ribbentrop, Dr 29/08/1945Ley, Rosenberg, Dr Frank, Streicher, Keitel, Dr Funk, von Shirach, Dr Schacht, Sauckel, Prof Speer, Bormann, von Papen, Jodl, Krupp, Raeder, Donitz, Baron von Neurath, Seyss-Inquart and Frische are all named.
The first open session of the International Military War Crimes Tribunal indicts 21 18/10/1945 top Nazis. The Nuremberg trials begin, with Goring, Ribbentrop, Hess, Keitel, JodI, Raeder, 20/11/1945 Doenitz, Streicher and other top Nazis on trial. 21/11/1945All the top ranking Nazis at Nuremberg plead innocent. 29/11/1945Films of concentration camp atrocities are shown at the Nuremberg trials. Rudolph Hess causes consternation at the Nuremberg trials by announcing that he 30/11/1945 has been shamming insanity and amnesia all this time. SS personnel convicted of atrocities at Belsen and other concentration camps, are 14/12/1945 hanged. War at Sea Timeline! This timeline covers the naval war between the Western Allies and Axis navies between the years 1939 and 1945.
"We did not intend to fight enemy warships...but we took up the fight. The crew have behaved
magnificently. we shall win or die." Admiral Ltjens Commander of the Bismarck's Naval Squadron 25th May 1941
British King George V Battleship
Admiral Bertram Ramsay
Grand Admiral Erich Raeder
Contemporary with the Bismarck, the King George the V class of battleship was unlike the German vessel in that it was built in accordance with the London Treaty displacement limit of 35,000 tons.
Battle of the Atlantic Timeline! This timeline covers the naval war between the Allied and Axis navies between the years 1939 and 1945. This area includes the North and South Atlantic Oceans, plus the Arctic Ocean and North Sea. The Baltic and Caribbean Sea's are also included.
"I should like to pay the highest tribute for the most gallant fight put up against impossible odds" Admiral Tovey After the sinking of the Bismarck 27th May 1941
German Type-II U-Boat
Vice Admiral John Tovey
Grand Admiral Karl Dnitz
The Type II's were the first submarines to be produced by Germany after the Versailles treaty was broken. They were short range and displaced just over 300 tons, carried a crew of 25 and were armed with six 533mm torpedoes fired through three forward tubes.
Battle of the Atlantic!
The Kriegsmarine begins its campaign against British merchant shipping with 17 U03/09/1939boats putting to sea out of a total of about 57 operational boats, far fewer than the 300 Dnitz had felt he needed to succeed against Britain. The British liner SS Athenia (with several US citizens on board) is sunk by U-30 off 04/09/1939 Ireland. 10/09/1939U-boats continue their successes in the Atlantic. 12/09/1939Convoys for merchant shipping are established to counter the U-boats. 13/10/1939HMAS Hobart and five RAN destroyers leave Australia, bound for Britain. U39 attacks a battle group led by the Aircraft Carrier, HMS Ark Royal. She fires torpedos at the carrier, but these miss. 3 Destroyers of the Ark Royals escort, 14/09/1939 launch an immediate counter-attack against U39 and sink her with depth charges. U39 gains the dubious honour of becoming the first U-boat to be sunk in the war. Convoy OB-4, sailing from Liverpool to North America, is attacked by U-31 16/09/1939(Johannes Habekost), becoming the first "clear" convoy contact in British waters of the war. U-31 sinks 1 ship, the 4,060-ton British freighter Aviemore. The Aircraft Carrier HMS Courageous is torpedoed by U29 (Kapitanleutnant 17/09/1939 Schuhart) south-west of Ireland, killing 515, but 687 sailors survive. Prime Minister Chamberlain claims that at least 6 U-boats have been sunk in first 20/09/1939 fortnight of the war. 24/09/1939U-boats sink three UK-bound neutral merchant ships. Churchill claims the U-boat menace has been overcome, but U-48 sinks the steamer 25/09/1939 Royal Sceptre and casts its crew adrift 300 miles from land. The German pocket Battleships, Graf Spee and Deutschland, which had sailed from 27/09/1939 Germany in August, are given orders to attack allied shipping in the Atlantic. 30/09/1939Graf Spee sinks the British steamship Clement off Pernambuco, Brazil. U47 (Kapitanleutnant Prien) sinks HMS Royal Oak at anchor in Scapa Flow, killing 883. U47 then escapes undetected and returns home to Germany. The press in 14/10/1939 Germany declare Prien a hero. Polish submarine Orzel arrives in Britain having escaped internment in Estonia. A German air attack damages the British cruisers HMS Southampton, HMS 16/10/1939 Edinburgh and the destroyer HMS Mohawk in the Firth of Forth, in Scotland. 21/10/1939The Luftwaffe starts attacks against North Atlantic convoys. 25/10/1939U-boats sink four more British ships. HMS Blanche struck a mine and sank off the Thames Estuary. She was the first 13/11/1939Royal Naval destroyer lost in the war. Two German supply ships are scuttled when cornered by the Royal Navy. The German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks the merchantman Africa 15/11/1939 Shell off Mozambique. The Dutch ship Simon Bolivar hits an 'un-notified' mine in the North Sea, killing 80. 18/11/1939 Several other neutral ships also sunk by mines. Prime Minister Chamberlain announces the seizure of German merchant shipping in 21/11/1939retaliation for the sinking of neutral ships and indiscriminate mine warfare. The German Battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau set off from Germany on a
mission to harry British sea routes in the North Atl 22/11/1939German aircraft parachute mines in to the Thames Estuary. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau intercept a convoy, which is escorted by the merchant cruiser Rawalpindi. The Scharnhorst sinks the Rawalpindi (killing 265 crew), which sacrificed itself in order that the convoy could escape. The British 23/11/1939Home Fleet puts to sea in an attempt to engage the two German ships. However, both the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have already headed for home. The Royal Navy recovers its first intact German Magnetic mine. These type of mines have been causing an increasing number of casualties to shipping, in and around the UK. Germany warns all neutral shipping to stay clear of British and French coasts, or risk being sunk. This had already happened to a number of neutral ships, particularly 24/11/1939 at night when it was difficult to identify them. U-boat skippers were now given the go ahead to sink any ship not showing lights at night. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau put in to Wilhelmshaven after returning from their 27/11/1939 successful sortie in to the North Atlantic. The Admiralty announces the completion of a 300 square mile minefield from 30/11/1939 Thames Estuary to the Netherlands. The German liner Watussi is scuttled after her interception by South African 02/12/1939 Defence Force bombers. The RAF scores a number of direct hits on German warships at the Heligoland Bight 03/12/1939 naval base. The German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks the liner Doric Star off the 04/12/1939 western coast of South Africa. 05/12/1939Two Polish submarines escape from the Baltic Sea to join Royal Navy. 06/12/1939Germany warns neutral ships to resist the British blockade. Two more U-boats are reported to have been destroyed as the British campaign to 08/12/1939 destroy three a week continues. Two German cruisers which are accompanied by 5 destroyers are damaged by torpedo's from the British submarine HMS Salmon as they are return from a mine 12/12/1939laying operation of the northeast coast of England. Later in the day, HMS Salmon also gives warning under the 'rules of war' to a German liner, although it reaches the port of Bremen safely. In the south Atlantic, the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, fights an action against three British cruisers, HMS Achilles, HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter, which 13/12/1939results in serious damage to both sides. HMS Exeter is heavily damaged, although still operational. The Graf Spee withdraws to the neutral Uruguayan port of Montevideo for repairs. The Uruguayan government gives the Admiral of the Graf Spee 36 hours to leave 15/12/1939 harbour. Unable to complete the repairs to the Admiral Graf Spee within 24 hours, the time limit stipulated by international law for foreign warships in neutral ports to leave and under strict orders by OKM not to go in to internment in Uruguay, Captain 17/12/1939 Langsdorff takes his ship outside the harbour of Montevideo and orders his crew to scuttle her, thus denying the British fleet that's converging on the River Plate the opportunity of destroying her in an unequal battle.
20/12/1939Captain Langsdorff of Admiral Graf Spee commits suicide. The admiralty announces the completion of a minefield, 500 miles long and 35 25/12/1939 wide, down the East coast. Allied merchant shipping sunk by U-boats, world-wide from the out break of war to 31/12/1939year's end 1939 is 165 ships, equalling 693,557 gross tons. 9 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period. Battle of the Atlantic! 09/01/1940German bombers sink three merchantmen in North Sea. British submarines Seahorse, Undine and Starfish reported sunk after penetrating 16/01/1940 Heligoland Bight. 21/01/1940The Admiralty announce sinking of Grenville 8 dead, 73 missing, presumed dead. 22/01/1940Destroyer Exmouth torpedoed off Wick, Scotland by U-22; all hands killed. The British destroyer Cossack, enters a Norwegian fjord, captures the German freighter Altmark, former supply ship of the Graf Spee and frees 300 British 16/02/1940 merchant seamen who were captured from vessels sunk by the Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. 19/02/1940Destroyer HMS Daring torpedoed, 157 are killed. The German destroyer Z3 Max Schultz, hits a mine and sinks whilst trying to 22/02/1940 evade an air attack in the North Sea. Crews of HMS Exeter and HMS Ajax cheered through London after return from 23/02/1940 South America. 02/03/1940British India liner Domala bombed in English Channel, killing 100 people. 16/03/1940Germans bomb Scapa Flow naval base. 22/03/1940U-boats sink seven neutral ships. The British and French decide to start mining neutral Norwegian waters from the 28/03/1940 8th April 1940. 02/04/1940Germans again attack Scapa Flow and North Sea convoys. The RAF spots units of the Kriegsmarine steaming North towards Narvik and 07/04/1940 Trondheim loaded with troops and equipment. British submarines torpedo three German ships. Destroyer Glowworm is sunk after reporting German fleet movements and ramming cruiser Hipper. British naval vessels lay mines in Norwegian waters in preparation for landings by British and 08/04/1940French forces at Namsos, Narvik and Andalsnes. The Polish submarine Orzel sinks the German transport ship Rio de Janeiro at 11:50. The Norwegians rescue several German soldiers who claim they are on their way to help the Norwegians against the British. The Kriegsmarine loses the cruisers Blcher, which is sunk by Norwegian coastal 09/04/1940 batteries, plus Knigsberg and Karlsruhe to British naval and air attack. 10/04/1940Six British destroyers surprise ten German Destroyers in Narvik Fiord, in what
becomes known as the 1st Battle of Narvik. Two German and two British Destroyers are sunk and the British Flotilla commander, Captain Warburton-Lee is killed. He is later awarded the Victoria Cross, posthumously. Royal Navy submarine Spearfish puts pocket battleship Lutzow out of action for a 11/04/1940 year. British Naval forces, this time supported by the Battleship HMS Warspite, again engage the German naval forces located at Narvik in the Jssing Fjord. This, the 2nd 13/04/1940 Battle of Narvik, results in the sinking of 7 German destroyers and a U-boat whose surviving crews join Gebirgsjger units that are defending isolated Narvik. 14/04/1940The German Minesweeper M6, sinks Royal Navy submarine Tarpon. 17/04/1940Royal Navy bombards Stavanger. 18/04/1940British submarine Starlet sunk off Norway. 03/05/1940Destroyer Afridi sunk by German bombers off Norway. 09/05/1940The French submarine Doris is sunk by U-9 off the Dutch coast. Admiralty order requires all owners of large boats to send in particulars within two 14/05/1940 weeks. 20/05/1940First gathering of small craft for Dunkirk. 24/05/1940Luftwaffe sink destroyer Wessex off Calais. The British destroyer HMS Wakeful is hit and sunk by a torpedo from the German E-boat S30. HMS Grafton which was nearby try's to rescue the sailors from HMS Wakeful, but is itself hit by another torpedo from the same German E-boat and 29/05/1940begins to sink. Another British destroyer, HMS Comfort moves up to help, but HMS Grafton fires on her in the mistaken believe that she is a German ship, sinking HMS comfort. 15 other vessels are also sunk by Luftwaffe Stuka attacks near Dunkirk on this day. 31/05/1940Heavy Luftwaffe attacks sink two French destroyers off the beaches at Dunkirk. The British destroyers Keith, Basilisk and Havant and the transport Scotia are sunk 01/06/1940 by Luftwaffe dive bombers, near Dunkirk. Admiralty announce the loss of six destroyers, 24 small warships and participation 03/06/1940of 222 British naval vessels and 665 other craft in Dunkirk operation. 226 vessels are sunk altogether. U-46 sinks the British armed merchant cruiser Carinthia off the west coast of 06/06/1940 Ireland. The British aircraft carrier Glorious is sunk by the German heavy battle cruisers 08/06/1940 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Southwest of Narvik. 11/06/1940RAF attack German ships in Trondheim harbour, Norway. Armed merchant-cruiser Scotstown is torpedoed by U-25 off Ireland, 6 crew lost. 13/06/1940The first US arms ship, 'Eastern Prince', sets sail for Britain. The German raider Orion lays mines off Auckland, New Zealand. 16/06/1940U-101 sinks the British merchant ship Wellington Star in the Bay of Biscay. Liner Lancastria, with 3,000 British troops aboard, bombed and sunk at St. Nazaire, 17/06/1940 in North West France. 19/06/1940French ships seek refuge in British ports.
The German heavy cruiser Gneisenau is damaged by a torpedo from the British 20/06/1940 submarine Clyde. 27/06/1940All French ships in British ports are seized by the Royal Navy. In the first 6 months of the year, German U-boats have sunk 900,000 tons of Allied 01/07/1940 shipping. The British liner Arandora Star, carrying 1,500 German and Italian prisoners of war 02/07/1940 to Canada, is sunk by U-47 off the west coast of Ireland, with many casualties. 59 French warships that had sought refuge at Plymouth and Portsmouth are seized by the Royal Navy, but only after overcoming armed French resistance in some 03/07/1940cases. The British Auxiliary AA ship Foyle Bank is sunk in German air attacks on the docks at Portland, Dorset. Due to heavy losses at the hands of the Luftwaffe the British suspend all future convoy from passing through the English Channel. German Stukas and MTBs attack a British convoy South of Portland, sinking 5 04/07/1940 merchant ships. 05/07/1940The British destroyer Whirlwind is sunk by U-34 off Lands End. German aircraft and minesweepers sink 4 British submarines, Narwhal, Spearfish, 06/07/1940 Shark and Thames. The first German U-boat base in France is opened at Lorient. The British submarine Salmon is lost south-west of Stavanger, Norway. The 09/07/1940German raider Komet leaves Bergen in Norway for operations in the Pacific via the Northwest Passage in the Arctic Ocean assisted by Russian icebreakers. 16/07/1940Destroyer Imogen sinks in Pentland Firth after collision in fog. 20/07/1940German aircraft sink destroyer Brazen off Dover. Reports of Lancastria disaster released in London after Churchills ban on the news 24/07/1940lifted. Neutral French liner Meknes, taking 1,100 French sailors back to France, sunk by German E-boat 572: 400 killed. German aircraft sink destroyers Codrington at Dover and Wren off the Suffolk 27/07/1940 coast. 10/08/1940U-56 sinks armed merchant-cruiser HMS Transylvania off Northern Ireland. Hitler announces that a total maritime blockade is to be placed around Britain, with 17/08/1940 any neutral ships transporting cargo to Britain to be sunk without warning. 24/08/1940The German battleship Bismarck is commissioned. German U-boats sink 5 more British ships from the convoys HX-65 and HX-65A 25/08/1940 near Hebrides, Scotland. 27/08/1940Armed merchant-cruiser Dunvegan Castle sunk by U46 off Ireland. Destroyer Ivanhoe hits mine and sinks off Dutch coast, second to go down there in 01/09/1940 two days. 06/09/1940British naval blockade lifted on all French colonies supporting General de Gaulle. In the mid-Atlantic, south-east of Iceland, the Canadian merchant ship Kenordoc is 15/09/1940 sunk en route to Bristol, England. Liner City of Benares, evacuating children to Canada, is sunk by U48; 77 out of 99 17/09/1940 children lost, total killed 260.
Over the past 17 days, British aircraft have sunk 12.5% of 1865 German transport 21/09/1940 vessels preparing for an invasion of England. Moscow Radio reports that RAF bombing has largely destroyed the German 22/09/1940 invasion fleet along the Channel. Royal Canadian Navy armed merchant cruiser Prince Robert captures German 25/09/1940 merchant ship Weser off Manzillo, Mexico. 28/09/1940The first of the recently purchased US destroyers arrive in Britain. 04/10/1940Admiralty announces recent sinking of seven German submarines. U-101 torpedoes and sinks the merchant ship Saint-Malo south of Iceland. The ship 12/10/1940 was a former French vessel requisitioned by the Canadian government. 28 are killed. U-124 torpedoes and sinks the merchant ship Trevisa of Convoy SC-7 south of Iceland, 7 are killed. Convoy SC-7 (30 ships) is on the final leg of its journey from 16/10/1940Sydney to Aberdeen, and is attacked by 7 U-boats in the North Atlantic between the 16th and 19th October. Losses amount to 20 ships for 79,646 gross tons. No U-boats were lost. Convoy HX-79 (49 ships), sailing from Halifax in Canada to Britain, is attacked by 5 U-boats between the 19th and 20th October in the North Atlantic. The British lost 19/10/1940 12 ships for 75,063 gross tons, while not a single U-boat was lost. The destroyer Venetia sinks after hitting mine in Thames Estuary. On a convoy in the North Atlantic, Royal Canadian Navy destroyer Margaree 22/10/1940collides with freighter Port Fairy in poor visibility, 400 miles west of Ireland. It is the first convoy mission for the destroyer, and 140 lives are lost. 01/11/1940British mine Bay of Biscay. U99 sinks the armed merchant-cruiser HMS Laurentic off Iceland. As the crew of 03/11/1940HMS Laurentic are being rescued by another merchant-cruiser, HMS Patroclus, she in turn is struck and sunk by torpedo's from U-99, which had lain in wait. Armed merchant-cruiser Jervis Bay sunk by pocket-battleship Admiral Scheer 05/11/1940 during its attack on an Atlantic convoy. Royal Canadian Navy destroyer Ottawa and Royal Navy destroyer Harvester sink 06/11/1940 Italian submarine Faa di Bruno off Ireland. The Italian submarine Argo torpedoes Royal Canadian Navy destroyer Saguenay, 01/12/1940killing 21, but not sinking the ship. Saguenay had been escorting an eastbound convoy 300 miles west of Ireland. 07/12/1940The Admiral Hipper leaves Kiel for an anti-shipping sortie into the Atlantic. 17/12/1940Destroyer Acheron sunk by mine off Isle of Wight. The Admiral Hipper intercepts a convoy bound for the middle east, but is forced to 25/12/1940 withdraw by three escorting cruisers and has to put in to Brest for repairs. Allied merchant shipping sunk by U-boats, world-wide from January to year's end 31/12/19401940 is 567 ships, equalling 2,771,483 gross tons. 24 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period.
01/02/1941 The Admiral Hipper slips out of Brest for another sortie into the Atlantic. 04/02/1941 The Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sail from the Baltic to the Atlantic, causing absolute havoc to shipping routes and timetables. 07/03/1941 U-47, commanded by top ace Gnther Prien, hero of Scapa Flow, is sunk by the British Destroyer HMS Wolverine. 16/03/1941 The Kriegsmarine loses two of its most successful U-boat commanders, Kretschmer (U-99) and Schepke (U-100) to British escorts from convoy HX112. 19/03/1941 Churchill forms the 'Battle of the Atlantic' committee in order to afford the highest level of co-ordination against the U-boat menace. 08/05/1941 During an attack against convoy OB318, U-110 commanded by Julius Lemp suffers serious damage and is forced to surface and scuttle. Unfortunately for the Germans, the scuttling charges failed to detonate, allowing the British destroyer HMS Bulldog to put across a boarding party and seize an enigma machine and other vital secret material. The British put U-110 under tow, but the damaged Uboat later sinks. The German raider Penguin is sunk by HMS Cornwall off the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean. 17/05/1941 The German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen leave Gotenhafen in the Baltic to begin operations against British convoys in the Atlantic (Operation Rheinbung). 19/05/1941 Egyptian liner Zamzam reported sunk by Germans in the South Atlantic, passenger list included over 200 Americans. 21/05/1941 Against strict orders not to attack American vessels, the US merchant ship Robin Moor is sunk by U-69 (Kptlt. Metzler). This sinking of a neutral American vessel is publicly denounced by President Roosevelt and becomes yet another argument for him in his secret desire for bringing the United States into war against Germany. An RAF reconnaissance plane sight the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in the port of Bergen, allowing the British Home Fleet time to ready plans to intercept them in the earlier hours of the 22nd May. 22/05/1941 British blockade of Vichy France made complete. 23/05/1941 During the evening, the cruiser HMS Suffolk sights the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen in the Denmark Straight. The Home Fleet makes ready to intercept at dawn on the 24th May. 24/05/1941 The German battleship Bismarck, supported by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, sinks the British battle cruiser Hood after firing only three salvoes. There are only 3 survivors out of a crew of 1,421. The Prince of Wales is also damaged and forced to break off the action. 25/05/1941 Bismarck escapes the Royal Navys pursuit and separates from the Prinz Eugen and makes her way to Brest. 26/05/1941 British flying boat spots the Bismarck at 10:36am. Swordfish Torpedo-bombers from the Ark Royal score hits on the Bismarck, disabling her steering gear and rendering her un-maneuverable. This enables British destroyers to attack after dark. 27/05/1941 400 miles west of Brest, the crippled Bismarck is relentlessly bombarded by dozens of British warships, including the battleships Rodney and King George V. After all her guns are silenced, she is sunk by torpedo's from the cruiser Dorsetshire. There are only 110 survivors out of a crew of 2,300. The convoy HX129, becomes the first to have continuous escort protection across the Atlantic. 01/06/1941 The heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen arrives in Brest. 07/06/1941 The first of five heavy night raids by the RAF begins on Brest as Prinz Eugen shelters there. 12/06/1941 The German pocket battleship Ltzow (formerly Deutschland) is attacked and damaged by RAF aircraft off the southern coast of Norway. 13/06/1941 29 People Killed, when German dive-bombers sink the Great Western Railway steamer St. Patrick. 12/08/1941 US Navy takes over patrolling convoy routes in the North Atlantic and tracking German submarines for the Royal Navy in violation of Neutrality Act. 19/08/1941 German submarines sink a Norwegian and 3 British ships from the Convoy OG-71 of 22 ships and 9 escorts in the Atlantic Ocean. 21/08/1941 First Arctic convoy leaves Iceland for Russia. 04/09/1941 U-652 attacks the US destroyer Greer off Iceland after being tracked and harassed by it. 10/09/1941 British convoy SC-42 (64 ships), sailing from Sydney to the Britain is attacked by a wolf pack of 19 Uboats just south of Greenland between the 10th and 14th September. SC-42 loses 17 merchant ships for 69,813-tons. 2 U-boats, U-207 and U-510 are sunk in return. 15/09/1941 The US Navy begins to take
over the convoying of British ships as far as Iceland, which is seen as an un-neutral act by the German government. 26/09/1941 The first Arctic bound for Russia leaves Britain. It consists of ten merchantmen with escorts and was designated as PQ1. 06/10/1941 Churchill gives a personal undertaking to Stalin to send a convoy every ten days to Russia's northern ports. 17/10/1941 Destroyer USS Kearny damaged by German torpedo off Iceland. 31/10/1941 The US destroyer Reuben James escorting Convoy HX-156 is sunk by U-552 (Kapitnleutnant Erich Topp) with the loss of 100 of her crew. The destroyer is the first US naval casualty in the hitherto undeclared war between Germany and the United States that has existed after President Roosevelt authorised the use of American naval vessels to escort Lend-Lease convoys bound for Britain. 01/11/1941 The German government issues a statement denying the charges made by President Roosevelt that the US destroyers Greer and Kearney were attacked by German submarines without any provocation; that the exact opposite was true in that the U-boats fired torpedoes only after they were tracked and depth-charged for hours by these US vessels. 06/11/1941 The German blockade runner 'Odenwald' which is disguised as a US merchant, is captured by the US cruiser Omaha and the destroyer Somers. 22/11/1941 All operational U-boats ordered to proceed to the Mediterranean or its approach. 09/12/1941 Hitler lifts the ban on U-boats operating in US territorial waters, two days before he declares war on the USA. This was to allow Dnitz to deploy 5 U-boats along the USA's eastern seaboard in order to be available for immediate action when the declaration of war was made. 14/12/1941 Convoy HG76 (32 ships), sets sails from Gibraltar with heavy escort. 20/12/1941 Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll takes over command of the Atlantic Fleet, from Admiral Ernest J. King who is appointed as Commander, US Navy. 31/12/1941 Allied merchant shipping sunk by U-boats, world-wide from January to year's end 1941 is 503 ships, equalling 2,530,011 gross tons. 35 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period.
Battle of the Atlantic! The Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Beat, the first coordinated attack carried out by five U-boats initially against US shipping along the East Coast of the United 11/01/1942 States. Their first victim is the 9,000 ton British steamer Cyclops which is sunk by U-123 (Kptlt. Hardegen), 300miles to the east of Cape Cod. Hitler orders Admiral Otto Ciliax, who commands the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen at Brest, to prepare to return to Germany. 12/01/1942 The new German battleship Tirpitz, sister ship of the Bismarck is ordered to Norway. The German battleship Tirpitz, arrives at Trondheim in Norway, to threaten the 14/01/1942Arctic convoys, but is wasn't until the 23rd January that the British became aware of this threat. RAF Bomber Command mount an attack to sink the Tirpitz, while she is at anchor 29/01/1942 in Trondheim. The raid is unsuccessful as the Tirpitz survives unscathed. All U-boats adopt an new Enigma cipher known as 'Triton'. The new cipher replaces the previous cipher, 'Hydra' and has an additional rotor in the Enigma machine. This 01/02/1942meant that the British were unable to read U-boat coded communications traffic until much later in the year, seriously affecting there ability re-route their convoys around U-boat wolf packs. At 23.00 hours, Admiral Ciliax orders his squadron, which includes the battleships 11/02/1942 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen, to leave Brest and dash
through the English Channel for the safety of Kiel in Germany. At 11.00 hours, British aircraft spot the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen as they enter the straits of Dover. At 12.00 hours the British launch MTB attacks against Admiral Ciliax's squadron, but were forced to fire at extreme range and so missed. An hour later at 13.00 hours the British again launch torpedo attacks, this time using six Swordfish aircraft, but five were shot down and all torpedo's missed. At 14.30 hours the battleship Scharnhorst hits a mine off the Dutch coast. The mine 12/02/1942 inflicts only minor damage and the Scharnhorst is able to continue towards Germany. A short time later the British again launch attacks against the three German ships, this time using destroyers from the port of Harwich and aircraft from both Bomber and Coastal commands, but without success. At 20.35 hours the battleship Gneisenau hits a mine, while at 20.55 hours the Scharnhorst hits its second mine of the day, although both ships are able to continue towards Kiel. In the early hours of the morning, the Scharnhorst puts into Wilhelmshaven, while 13/02/1942 the Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen reach Kiel a short while later. Dnitz orders all available U-boats in the Atlantic to attack British and American shipping off the US eastern seaboard. German U-boats, with their deck guns, 16/02/1942 bombard oil storage facilities and refineries on the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curacao in the southern Caribbean. German vessel disguised as a British merchantman is reported sunk by a U-boat off 17/02/1942 Azores. The British submarine HMS Trident, torpedo's the cruiser Prinz Eugen which is 23/02/1942 sailing to Norway from Kiel, forcing its return to Germany for substantial repairs. The RAF launch an attack against the battleship Gneisenau, which is being repaired 26/02/1942at Kiel's floating dock. The damage caused is severe and the battleship is never again put to sea under her own power. A US Hudson of squadron VP-82 which is based at Argentia, Newfoundland sinks 01/03/1942 U-656 off Cape Race. Churchill declares that the Tirpitz is 'the most important naval vessel in the situation 02/03/1942 today' and believes her destruction would 'profoundly affect the course of the war'. German reconnaissance planes locate the British convoy PQ-12 bound for 05/03/1942 Murmansk. Having received permission from Hitler, the Battleship Tirpitz and 3 destroyers set sail from Trondheim to intercept convoy PQ-12, but is spotted by a British submarine which relays the information onto the British Admiralty. However, bad 06/03/1942 weather means that the Tirpitz is unable to locate PQ-12 and so heads back to base. Enroute to Trondheim the Tirpitz is spotted and attacked by aircraft from HMS Victorious, but is not damaged. Convoy PQ-12 arrives unscathed at Murmansk, earning the distinction of being the 12/03/1942 last PQ convoy to sail without losses. U-503 is sunk near the Grand Banks, off Newfoundland, by another aircraft from 15/03/1942 the US squadron, VP-82. 29/03/1942Escorts of the Arctic convoy PQ13, beat off a German destroyer attack, sinking Z26. The RAF make a second unsuccessful attempt to sink the Tirpitz while in port at 30/03/1942 Trondheim.
As a result of the immense loss in shipping along the US eastern seaboard, since January 1942, the US authorities instituted a partial convoying system, known as the 'Bucket Brigade'. This meant that ships would sail in convoy as close to the coast as 01/04/1942 possible during daylight hours and anchor in protected harbours at night. Due to the shortage of escort vessels, continuous convoying was not possible and the 'Bucket Brigade' system did not apply to the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico. The US destroyer USN Roper, sinks U-85 south of Norfolk, Virginia. This is the 13/04/1942 first success of the war by a US warship against a U-boat. The entire US eastern seaboard is ordered to black-out its lights at night, in an 18/04/1942 attempt to reduce the success of the U-boats at night. The first U-boat tanker or ' Milch cow', U-459, sets sail for the Atlantic. Her role 21/04/1942was to prolong the time that U-boats could spend in US waters by refueling and rearming them at sea. RAF Bomber Command again attack the Tirpitz at Trondheim, without success. 27/04/1942Wing Commander Bennett who led the raid crashes in Norway, but manages to escape to Sweden. Off the northern coast of Norway, German destroyers sink the British cruiser 03/05/1942 Edinburgh which was escorting Convoy PQ-15. 05/05/1942Convoy PQ-15 arrives at Murmansk. The damaged British escort cruiser HMS Trinidad returning from Murmansk is sunk 14/05/1942 by Luftwaffe dive-bombers off the northern Norwegian coast. The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm attacks and hits the German heavy cruiser Prinz 18/05/1942Eugen off Norway, but she makes it back to Kiel. Despite increasing losses, Churchill remains determined to continue the Artic convoys to Russia. In the Barents Sea, Convoy QP-12 is on its way home to Britain with 15 ships, while Convoy PQ-16 is en-route to Murmansk with 35. Some 260 Luftwaffe 26/05/1942aircraft, including He 111 torpedo bombers, swing in to attack, joined by U-boats, amid appalling weather. QP-12 emerges unscathed, but PQ-16 feels the teeth of a running five-day battle, losing an acceptable six ships. The Luftwaffe bombers sink 5 ships of Convoy PQ-16 off the northern coast of 27/05/1942 Norway. Since the start of Operation Paukenschlag (Drum Beat) in January, the U-boats 31/05/1942 operating along the US eastern seaboard have sunk 111 vessels. 11/06/1942U-boats begin laying mines off Boston, Delaware and Chesapeake Bay. 15/06/1942U-552 (Kptlt. Topp) sinks 5 ships of Convoy HG-84 in the northern Atlantic. Convoy PQ-17 sets sail from Iceland. It consists of 35 merchants, 3 rescue ships and 2 tankers for refueling and is heavily loaded with 297 aircraft, 594 tanks, 4246 lorries and gun carriers, plus an additional 156,000 tons of cargo. The convoy is to 27/06/1942 be guarded by 21 close escorts, 7 warships from a cruiser covering force and a further 19 warships in a distant covering force. All told 1 aircraft-carrier, 2 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 23 destroyers, 4 corvettes, 3 minesweepers, 2 AA
ships, 4 ASW trawlers are to protect the convoy. Additionally, 15 submarines, six of them Russian are placed ahead of the the convoy. 2 freighters and 1 tanker from convoy PQ-17 suffer accidental damage and are 28/06/1942 forced to abort. Returning from a successful patrol in the Gulf of Mexico (12 ships sunk), U-158 30/06/1942 (Kptlt. Rostin) is destroyed by a US Mariner flying boat off Bermuda. U-456 spots PQ-17 and flashes an alarm, but is driven under almost immediately by the destroyer HMS Leamington. However U-408, U-255 and U-703 locate and 01/07/1942 shadow the convoy in order to provide reports on the convoy while reinforcements are sent to the area. PQ-17 and its reverse convoy QP-13 (35 freighters and 15 escorts) pass each other. 02/07/1942U-88 spots and reports this, but German forces are told not to attack QP-13 as it is an empty convoy. Rather, they are to concentrate there whole strength on PQ-17. 11 U-boats in the area begin to close in on convoy PQ-17 or place themselves along 03/07/1942the route of the convoy. 6 U-boats make attack runs throughout the day, but have no success and either lose contact or fall behind the convoy. Convoy PQ-17, now reinforced with the 7 warships of the cruiser force which had come up during the night, comes under heavy attack from Luftwaffe dive-bombers and torpedo planes during the morning. An American merchant (7,200 tons) was badly hit by a torpedo and had to be abandoned, although U-457 found and sank it. U-457, also incorrectly reported that it had seen a battleship with the convoys escorts. Because of this report, Admiral Raeder believed that the British distant covering force, which included an aircraft-carrier had arrived to help the convoy. He therefore refused permission for the German battleship Tirpitz, pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, heavy cruiser Hipper, 7 destroyers and 2 E-boats to put to sea until the British aircraft-carrier had been sunk. In the afternoon, larger numbers of 04/07/1942Luftwaffe planes attacked convoy PQ-17 twice, severely damaging 3 merchants, two of which later sank. Later that day, the British First Sea Lord Dudley Pound, thought that the German surface force had sailed to attack the PQ-17 and would in all probability wipe out the convoy along with the covering cruiser force. He therefore made the catastrophic decision to withdraw the cruiser force and "scatter" PQ-17 in the hope that this might save most of the convoy. Almost immediately, the U-boats benefited, with U-703 sinking 2 merchants for 12,100 tons, U-88 sank 2 merchants for 12,300 tons, U-334 sank 1 merchant for 7,200 tons and U-456 sank a merchant for 7,000 tons. On the downside the Luftwaffe, having difficulty in spotting friend from foe, damaged U-334 and U-456 forcing them to return to Norway for repairs. Upon learning that the covering force for PQ-17 had fled and the convoy had scattered. Admiral Raeder secured Hitlers approval to use the German surface force, although caution was to be exercised in order not to risk the sinking or damage of the Battleship Tirpitz, pocket battleship Admiral Scheer or heavy cruiser Hipper. 05/07/1942 Escorted by 7 destroyers and 2 E-boats, the 3 big German ships sailed from Altenfiord at 3pm. As the force left moved in to open seas, the soviet submarine K21 saw and attacked the Tirpitz, but its torpedos missed. An hour later an RAF Coastal Command Catalina reported the force as at sea and a further two hours later
HMS Unshaken, radioed in a sighting and an exact description of the force. Hearing of these allied sightings through allied intelligence, Admiral Raeder became nervous and cancelled the sortie, ordering the surface fleet to return to port leaving the Luftwaffe and U-boats to finish off PQ-17. U-132 (Kptlt. Vogelsang) enters the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Canadian East 06/07/1942 coast and sinks 3 merchant ships. 10/07/1942The first two ships of convoy PQ-17, arrive at Archangel. Final losses for convoy PQ-17 are 24 ships sunk for 141,721 tons. 8 ships were sunk by the Luftwaffe, 7 by U-boats and another 9 were combined Luftwaffe/U-boat 15/07/1942kills. The loss of material was likewise very heavy with 210 aircraft, 430 tanks, 3350 lorries, and 99,316 tons of general cargo going to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The Germans lost only 5 planes and no U-boats. An interlocking convoy system is introduced along the entire US eastern seaboard, 01/08/1942 as well as the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The British convoy, code-named 'Pedestal' leaves Britain for the strategicallyimportant island of Malta in the Mediterranean. The convoy consists of 14 fast 02/08/1942merchant ships loaded with fuel, food, and ammunition. The convoy is accompanied by 2 battleships (Nelson and Rodney), 3 aircraft carriers (Victorious, Indomitable, and Eagle), 14 destroyers, and 3 anti-aircraft cruisers. Allied convoy SC-94 is sighted by German U-boat in the Atlantic, when a group of 05/08/19426 ships with 2 escorts get lost from the convoy due to the fog. One ship is sunk, but two U-boats are driven off. Convoy SC-94 lose 7 British, U.S. and Dutch ships, torpedoed by German U-boats 09/08/1942 in the North Atlantic. 22/08/1942The Admiralty announces the loss of the famous submarine Upholder. 08/09/1942Twelve British merchant seamen are awarded Russian decorations. Convoy PQ-18 consisting of 41 merchants sets sail from Loch Ewe in Scotland bound for Murmansk. Since the slaughter of PQ-17 in July the escort system had 12/09/1942 been radically overhauled, meaning that this convoy had among others and the escort carrier HMS Avenger and 16 destroyers to protect it. In spite of intense pressure from U-boats and the Luftwaffe, convoy PQ-18 reaches Murmansk. Its losses amounted to 1 destroyer, 1 minesweeper and 13 merchant 18/09/1942 ships. In return for this the Germans lost 3 U-boats sunk and 5 damaged, along with 41 aircraft destroyed. The naval convoys assemble for Operation 'Torch', the Anglo-American landings in 16/10/1942 French North Africa. The battleship Tirpitz leaves Bogenfjord and moves south to Lofjord near 23/10/1942 Trondheim, where it is to be refitted. U-boat control in France creates wolfpack 'Battleaxe'. This will operate in the North 24/10/1942Atlantic until it is disbanded on the 1st November 1942 and will include at one time or another U-134, U-203, U-409, U-509, U-510, U-572, U-604 and U-659.
Wolfpack 'Battleaxe' attacks Convoy SL-125 (37 ships) which is sailing from Sierra Leone to the UK. The attack begins off the northwest coast of Africa, not far from 27/10/1942Gibraltar and continues until the 31st October 1942. During this time 12 merchants (80,005 gross tons) are sunk and 7 damaged. While the battle rages, the allies reroute all convoys associated with the 'Torch' landings in North Africa. A British merchant seaman is hanged at Wandsworth for supplying the Germans 03/11/1942 with shipping information. Convoy JW-51A sets sail from Lock Ewe in Scotland with 16 merchants bound for 15/12/1942 the Kola Inlet. Convoy JW-51B (14 merchants) leaves Loch Ewe escorted by 6 destroyers and a 22/12/1942 minesweeper. 25/12/1942Convoy JW-51A arrives at Murmansk without loss. The British cruisers HMS Jamaica and HMS Sheffield join convoy JW-51B south of 29/12/1942 Bear Island as its makes the dangerous passage through the Barents Sea. The German pocket battleship Ltzow, cruiser Admiral Hipper and 6 destroyers 30/12/1942 leave Altenfjord and head north to intercept convoy JW-51B. In what is to become known as the 'Battle of the Barents Sea', the German pocket battleship Ltzow, cruiser Admiral Hipper and 6 escorting destroyers are intercepted at 9.30am by the British cruisers HMS Jamaica, HMS Sheffield and five destroyers before they can reach convoy JW-51B. During the naval exchanges that follow, the 31/12/1942British lose 1 destroyer and a minesweeper, which had been searching for stragglers from the convoy, whilst the Germans lose a destroyer. By Midday the Germans have decided to withdraw and the battle is over. Allied merchant shipping sunk by Uboats, world-wide from January to year's end 1942 is 1,323 ships, equalling 7,047,744 gross tons. 87 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period. Battle of the Atlantic! 03/01/1943Convoy JW-51B arrives without loss at Murmansk. German naval forces announce a blockade of Sweden's Gothenburg harbour to 15/01/1943protest the ongoing traffic between Sweden and Great Britain. After five months, the Germans finally relent and lift the blockade. 29/01/1943Admiral Dnitz takes over from Admiral Raeder as C-in-C of the German Navy. Convoy ON-166 (60 ships) sailing from Britain to North America, is attacked in the North Atlantic by 19 U-boats from wolfpacks Ritter and Knappen between the 21st 21/02/1943 and 26th February. 14 allied ships are lost for 87,901 tons. 4 U-boats U-225, U-606, U-529, U623 were sunk during the battle. A new wolfpack, codenamed 'Raubgraf' (Robber Baron), is created in the central 07/03/1943 North Atlantic. It will operate between the 7th and 20th March 1943 and includes U-
84, U-89, U-91, U-435, U-468, U-600, U-603, U-615, U-621, U-638, U-653, U-664, U-758. Immediately the wolfpack attacks convoy ON-168 which is traveling between North America and the UK. One ship is damaged and abandoned on the 7th March, to be finally sunk on the 12th March for 6,537 gross tons. U-510 torpedoes eight ships in three hours off the coast of Brazil, in what is the 09/03/1943 most successful single U-boat action of the war. The north Atlantic convoy ONS-169 is attacked by wolfpack 'Raubgraf' between the 11th and 12th March losing 2 ships for 10,531 gross tons. Atlantic convoys SC121 11/03/1943 and HX228 are also attacked by other wolfpacks and lose 17 ships for the loss of just U-444 and U-432. Wolfpack 'Raubgraf' and attacks convoys HX-229 (37 ships) between until the 19th March, sinking 12 ships for 86,326 gross tons damaging 4. Another wolfpack, 16/03/1943named 'Strmer', attacks SC122 and over a period of four days and nights sinking 11 ships (54,740 tons) for the loss of just one U-boat, U-384 (Oblt. von RosenbergGruszinski). On his last patrol aboard U-404, Kapitnleutnant Otto von Blow fires two FAT and two G7e torpedoes at British aircraft carrier HMS Biter. All detonate prematurely and HMS Biter escapes without damage. Von Blow is later decorated by Hitler 25/04/1943with Oak leaves to his Knights Cross for his Atlantic successes and German newspapers report the recent sinking of the American carrier USS Ranger as well. Later, USS Ranger commander Gordon Rowe, is photographed aboard his carrier smiling at a photograph of von Blow and the German report of his vessel's demise. U-boats begin a six-day attack on Convoy ONS5, during which 13 allied ships are 29/04/1943 finally sunk for the loss of six U-boats. 14/05/1943During a raid against Kiel by the U.S. 8th Air Force, 3 U-boats are destroyed. 20/05/1943The U.S. Tenth Fleet is formed for anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic. The battle of the Atlantic is officially concluded as won by Allies, due to the 24/05/1943withdrawal of virtually all U-boats from the Atlantic by Admiral Dnitz, C-in-C of the Kriegsmarine after the loss of 56 boats in April and May. By the end of May, 41 U-boats have been sunk in the Atlantic due to greatly improved allied anti-submarine techniques and tactics (Hedgehog, greater-range patrol aircraft, better radar, more escort vessels and carriers, plus the advantage of 31/05/1943 having broken the German Navy Enigma code). "Black May" effectively marks the end of a sustained German U-boat campaign in WW2 which did come very close to starving out Britain and forcing her to make terms with Germany. BdU (C-in-C U-boats) adopts a new policy of fighting back at Allied sub-hunting 01/06/1943aircraft with the U-boats' own AA guns while crossing the Bay of Biscay on the surface. This tactic proves to be largely unsuccessful and is soon abandoned. 05/06/1943U-513 (Kptlt. Sohler) sinks 4 ships off the coast of Brazil. RAF Coastal Command begins daily patrols over the Bay of Biscay with aircraft 14/06/1943 equipped with new detection devices to locate and destroy German U-boats leaving
and entering their bases on the French coast. The British battleships Valiant and Warspite are transferred from Scapa Flow to 17/06/1943Oran and Alexandria in North Africa in preparation for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. The British announce a five-day U-boat attack on the Atlantic convoys and claim 20/06/1943 that 97% of ships survived. 07/07/1943Off the coast of Brazil, U-185 (Kptlt. Maus) sinks 3 merchant ships. The Japanese submarine I-8, reaches France after a marathon voyage from Penang 31/08/1943 in Malaya. 21/09/1943Molotov insists on the resumption of Arctic convoys. Six British midget submarines attack and damage the Tirpitz in Alten Fjord, 22/09/1943 northern Norway. A German torpedo boat flotilla sinks the Royal Navy cruiser Charybdis and the 23/10/1943 destroyer Limborne in a Channel duel. An E-boat attack on a convoy off the Norfolk coast result in four E-boats being sunk 24/10/1943 and one British trawler. A hospital ship arrives in Liverpool with 790 wounded POW's aboard, repatriated 26/10/1943 from Germany.
Ordered to sail to the Barents Sea and destroy the allied convoy JW-55B bound for the Soviet port of Murmansk, the German battle-cruiser Scharnhorst encounters a 26/12/1943protective force of the British Home Fleet consisting of the cruisers HMS Belfast, Duke of York, Jamaica and Norfolk. After a fierce action, Scharnhorst is sunk, with only 36 of her crew of 1,839 surviving. The Royal Navy cruisers Enterprise and Glasgow sink the German destroyers T25, 28/12/1943 T26 and Z27 which were escorting blockade runners in Bay of Biscay. Allied merchant shipping sunk by U-boats, world-wide from January to year's end 31/12/19431943 is 588 ships, equalling 3,042,371 gross tons. 242 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period. Battle of the Atlantic! The last of four German blockade-runners from Japan are sunk in the South 05/01/1944 Atlantic.
07/02/1944The first operational Schnorkel U-boat arrives in the Atlantic. Convoy JW-57 (43 ships and 19 escorts) sailing the Loch Ewe to the Kola 25/02/1944Peninsula, is attacked on 25 February off Norway. One destroyer, HMS Mahratta, is sunk by U-990 for 1,920 tons. Convoy RA-57 (31 ships) sailing the Arctic route from the Kola Peninsula to Loch 04/03/1944Ewe, is attacked off Norway. The steam merchant Empire Tourist is sunk by U-703 for 7,062 gross tons lost. However, the convoys escorts sink 3 U-boats en-route. Forty-two Royal Navy, fleet Air Arm Barracuda torpedo-bombers hit the Battleship 03/04/1944 Tirpitz 14 times in a daring raid on the Alten Fjord, in Norway. German planes spot an Allied convoy west of Start Point along the Channel Coast. The convoy is actually making a practice run ('Operation Tiger') for the planned invasion of Normandy on a stretch of coast very much like that found in the Normandy region of France. The 5th and 9th Schnellbootflottillers are directed to attack at night, which they do with the following boats: S100, S130, S138, S138, 27/04/1944 S140, S142, S143, S145, S150. They engage the convoy, consisting of 8 landing craft and protected by the lone English Corvette Azeala at Lyme Bay. The result is that LST 507 was set on fire and had to be given up, LST 531 was sunk and LST 289 received a torpedo hit which killed many soldiers. Total Allied losses were 197 seaman and 441 soldiers lost. 16/05/1944Aircraft of RAF Coastal Command sink 5 U-boats off the Norwegian coast. 29/05/1944The U.S. escort carrier Block Island is sunk by U-549. U-505, patrolling off Cape Blanco on the West African coast is forced to the surface 04/06/1944by depth-charges from the U.S. destroyer escort Chatelain and is captured intact and towed to Bermuda by the escort carrier Guadalcanal. 06/06/1944The Royal Navy loses the Destroyers Wrestler and Svenner, which was Norwegian. German U-boats begin operations off the Normandy coast, sinking 4 small allied 05/07/1944 warships and damaging the British cruiser Dragon. The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm begins four days of attacks on the German 22/08/1944 Battleship Tirpitz and other shipping in the Alten Fjord, Norway. Twenty-eight RAF Lancaster bombers from Russia pound the Battleship Tirpitz 15/09/1944with 12,000lb Tall Boy bombs in Kaa Fjord, Norway, scoring direct hits right throughout the ship.
RAF Lancaster's attack the Battleship Tirpitz again with 12,000lb, Tallboy bombs, 29/10/1944 this time off Tromso. Heavy bombers of the RAF, after several previous attempts, succeed in sinking the battleship Tirpitz, the sister ship of the Bismarck, which is lying at anchor in a fjord 12/11/1944 near Tromso in Norway. Over 1,000 men of her crew trapped in her capsized hull are lost. The German ship Rigel is sunk. Over 2,570 are drowned, most of them prisoners 27/11/1944 of war. Princess Elizabeth launches HMS Vanguard, the last and biggest battleship ever 01/12/1944 built in Britain. 23/12/1944A German E-boat force is routed off the Scheldt Estuary. In the English Channel, U-486 (Oblt.z.S. Gerhard Meyer) sinks the allied troop carrier SS Leopoldville with the loss of 763 men of the US 66th Infantry Division. 24/12/1944 All news and information on this incident is suppressed by orders of SHAEF headquarters. Allied merchant shipping sunk by U-boats, world-wide from January to year's end 31/12/19441944 is 251 ships, equaling 978,892 gross tons. 252 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period. Battle of the Atlantic! The Wilhelm Gustloff, an ex-Kraft Durch Freude ship (Strength Through Joy) in the service of the German Kriegsmarine, is sunk in the Baltic Sea by a Russian 30/01/1945 submarine with the loss of over 6,000 lives, making the incident the largest single naval disaster in history. HMS Venturer, cued by Ultra, sinks U-864 off Bergen, Norway. The U-boat was bound for Japan, carrying an Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor, 64 tons of 02/02/1945mercury, heavy water, some 20 Luftwaffe officers as well as German and Japanese engineers. This is the only known sinking of one submarine by another when both boats were submerged throughout the engagement. A Russian torpedo hits the ex-Strength through Joy Nazi cruise liner leaving 18/02/1945Danzig for Denmark with 5,000 refugees and 3,800 U-boat personnel on board. Only 1,000 are reported as saved. German U-boats sink 8 ships and 2 destroyers from a convoy bound for the Russian 24/02/1945 port of Murmansk. German light naval vessels from the still German-occupied British Channel Islands 09/03/1945 enter the allied supply port of Granville in Bretagne, sinking five ships.
The German Heavy Cruisers Schlesien and Prinz Eugen give supporting fire forces 16/03/1945 of Heeresgruppe Kurland in their defense of the Kurland pocket. During a raid on Kiel by the U.S. 8th Air Force, severe damage is caused to the 05/04/1945 cruisers Hipper and Emden. The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer is sunk during a massive RAF raid on 10/04/1945 Kiel. Off the Hela peninsula in the Baltic, the German liner Goya is torpedoed by a 16/04/1945 Russian submarine, killing 6,500 wounded soldiers and refugees. 25/04/1945German U-boats sink 5 allied supply ships in the English Channel. German U-boats sink 8 Allied ships, 3 destroyers and 2 corvettes in the English 28/04/1945 channel. Convoy RA-66 sailing from the Kola Peninsula to Loch Ewe is attacked by at least 2 U-boats north of Kola. The British destroyer HMS Goodall, which was lend29/04/1945 leased by the US in 1943 is sunk by U-286 (Oblt.z.S. Willi Dietrich), for 1,150 tons, marking this as the last convoy to come under attack in the war. Grand Admiral Dnitz, now the newly designated leader of the Reich, orders all U04/05/1945boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases (to go into effect fully at 0800 on 5th May): "You have fought like lions!" The last U-boats of the war sunk with all hands: U-853 and U-881 in the North 06/05/1945 Atlantic by US destroyer escorts, and U-3523 in the Baltic by the RAF. U-2336 sinks the last allied merchant ships of the war off the Firth of Forth, these 07/05/1945 are the Norwegian vessels Sneland I and the British Avondale Park. An RAF Catalina damages U-320 near Bergen off the coast of Norway. The boat is then scuttled by the crew, no hands lost, becoming the final German submarine lost as a result of combat action in World War 2. German unconditional surrender signed in Reims, France on 7th May takes effect fifty-nine minutes before midnight this 08/05/1945date (VE Day--Victory in Europe Day). Allied merchant shipping sunk to U-boats, world-wide from January to the end of hostilities is 103 ships, equaling 403,760 gross tons. 120 U-boats were lost worldwide in the same period. For the entire war the allies lost 3,500 ships. equaling 17,467,818 gross tons, whilst the Germans lost 769 U-boats. A British naval squadron arrives in Copenhagen harbour to receive the surrender of 09/05/1945 the remains of German fleet. 10/05/1945The first U-boat to surrender, U-249 puts in at Portland. Rear Admiral Brning, the commander of German naval forces, arrives at 13/05/1945 Felixstowe to sign the unconditional surrender of all boats under his command. U-858 surrenders off Delaware, USA, becoming the first German warship to 14/05/1945 surrender to U.S. forces after the war ends. U-234 surrenders at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. On 16th April 1945 she had departed Norway and was enroute to Japan with an extremely important cargo, 16/05/1945which included technical drawings, an Me-262 jet fighter in crates, 550 kg of U-238 uranium ore for atom bomb development, several high ranking German technological experts, and 2 Japanese officers. When Kptlt. Fehler heard of the
cease-fire orders on 4 May 1945, he decides to surrender to the Americans, rather than the Canadians, being in a relatively equal position to do either. Still at war with the US, the Japanese officers take their own lives rather than surrender.
U-977 arrives in River Plate estuary and surrenders. The 600-ton U-boat left Kiel on 17/08/1945 the 13th April. Mediterranean Timeline! This timeline covers the naval war between the Allied and Axis navy's in the Mediterranean Sea between the years 1940 and 1944.
"No amphibious attack in history had approached this one in size. Along miles of coastline there were hundreds of vessels and small boats afloat and ant-like files of advancing troops ashore." General Dwight Eisenhower July 1943 (Sicily)
British Fairy Swordfish
Admiral Andrew Cunningham
Admiral Inigo Campioni
The Fairey Swordfish, went into service with the Fleet Air Arm in 1936 and operated from fleet carriers and escort carriers. The planes finest moment came during the night attack against the Italian Fleet at Taranto in November 1940, when they badly damaged 3 battleships, 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers.
05/03/1940 An Italian collier ship seized by Allies. 12/06/1940 Italian submarine Bagnolini sinks British cruiser Calypso south of Crete. 13/06/1940 The British submarine Odin
is sunk by the Italian destroyer Strale in Gulf of Taranto. 16/06/1940 The British submarine Grampus is sunk by four Italian torpedo boats off Syracuse, Sicily. 03/07/1940 Heavy units of the British Navy, code named Force H (Somerville), launch an attack (Operation Catapult) on the French fleet stationed at Mers-el-Kebir near Oran in Algeria, sinking the battleship Bretagne and heavily damaging the battleship Provence and the battlecruiser Dunkerque. 1,300 French sailors are killed and hundreds wounded. 05/07/1940 In retaliation for the British action at Mers-el-Kebir, Vichy French warships based at Dakar capture 3 British merchant ships, while French aircraft stationed in Morocco attack British shipping off Gibraltar. 07/07/1940 A French naval squadron that has sought refuge at Alexandria is disarmed and interned by the British Navy. 08/07/1940 Swordfish aircraft damage the French battleship Richelieu at Dakar after the French reject demilitarisation proposals. 09/07/1940 The British and Italian fleets make contact at Battle of Cape Spartivento. The British force includes 1 Aircraft Carrier and 3 Battleships, while the Italian squadron under Admiral Campioni consists of 2 Battleships, 6 heavy and 12 light cruisers. The Italians brake off contact after their flag ship Giulio Cesare is hit and damaged, although they still claim a naval victory. 19/07/1940 The Italian Cruiser, Bartolomeo Colleoni is sunk off Cape Spada, near Crete by HMAS Sydney. 30/08/1940 The British Battleship Valiant, the Aircraft Carrier Illustrious and two Cruisers leave Gibraltar bound for Alexandria to reinforce Admiral Cunningham's Mediterranean fleet. 29/09/1940 A British convoy, under heavy escort, sets sail for Malta from Alexandria. Admiral Cunningham hopes to provoke the Italians into a fleet action. The Italian fleet puts out to sea, only to return to port at Taranto prematurely without seeing action. 04/10/1940 The Admiralty announces the recent sinking of two Italian submarines. 08/10/1940 Another heavily escorted supply convoy sets sail for Malta from Alexandria. However, bad weather stops the Italian fleet from putting to sea and the convoy arrives safely. Only the escorts return trip to Alexandria, they are attacked by a force of Italian Destroyers and Torpedo boats. No casualties are suffered by the Royal Navy, but the Italians lose 2 destroyers and 2 Torpedo boats sunk and 1 Destroyer damaged. 15/10/1940 Italian submarine Toti sinks British submarine Rainbow. 11/11/1940 The British Fleet launches an air attack against the Italian fleet at Taranto. Swordfish aircraft from the Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious damage three battleships, two cruisers, two destroyers and two auxiliaries craft. This British victory, forces the Italians to temporary withdraw their big surface units to the safer ports on the west coast of Italy. 27/11/1940 The British Admiralty decides to send the Battleship Ramillies and 2 Cruisers from the Mediterranean fleet to reinforce the Atlantic fleet. They are to sail to Malta with a supply convoy, link up with Force H and then sail onto Gibraltar. Just as the reach the rendezvous point, Ramillies, the 2 Cruisers, the Aircraft Carrier Ark Royal and 10 Destroyers are intercepted by Admiral Campioni's squadron of 2 Battleships, 7 Cruisers and 16 Destroyers. However, as soon as the Battleship Renown from Force H joined in, the Italians withdrew with 1 Cruiser and 2 Destroyers damaged, while the British suffered damage to the heavy cruiser HMS Berwick. 08/12/1940 Italian Naval Chief resigns, to be replaced by Admiral Campioni. 21/12/1940 The Admiralty decides to transfer another Battleship, HMS Malaya to Force H from the Mediterranean fleet. Again this was to be accomplished by escorting a convoy to Malta and linking up with units of Force H for the journey to Gibraltar. No losses were suffered to enemy action although a Destroyer was sunk when it hit a mine.
Mediterranean! The Luftwaffe launches its first attacks against British convoys bound for Malta in 06/01/1941 the Mediterranean. German aircraft surprise the Mediterranean fleet, which is escorting 3 merchant 10/01/1941 ships to Greece. 40 Ju-87 Stukas attack them, scoring 6 hits on HMS Illustrious and
severely damaging her. HMS Warspite also receive damage. Both ships make for Malta and arrive the next day. The Cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Gloucester are attacked by German aircraft in the Sicilian channel. HMS Gloucester receives damage, while HMS 11/01/1941 Southampton is sunk. British submarine's begin to make attacks German and Italian convoys crossing to Libya. 22/01/1941The Destroyer HMS Hyperion sunk by mine off Cape Bon. Force H from Malta bombards Genoa, without hindrance from the Italian Navy or 08/02/1941 Air force. Stuka's sink a British Destroyer and the Monitor Terror off the North African coast, 23/02/1941 near Tobruk. The British submarine, HMS Upholder, sinks the Italian Cruiser Armando Diaz to 25/02/1941 the southwest of Malta. The Royal Navy begins escorting British and Commonwealth troop convoys from 05/03/1941 Egypt to Greece. German Naval staff complain to the Italians about their lack of effort to intercept 19/03/1941 British convoys to Greece. The British Cruiser York, is severely damaged and then beached at Suda Bay in 26/03/1941 Crete, when it is hit by an Italian motor boat loaded with explosives. In an attempt to intercept British convoys sailing to Greece, the Italian navy puts a force of 1 Battleship, 8 Cruisers and 9 Destroyers out to sea. However, they are 28/03/1941 spotted by an RAF flying boat which alerts Admiral Cunningham who orders the Mediterranean fleet to slip anchor and intercept the Italians the next day. The Italians spot a British convoy escorted by 4 Cruisers and 4 Destroyers and close in. The British ships lure the Italians towards the main body of the Mediterranean Fleet which includes 3 battleships and the Aircraft Carrier HMS Formidable. HMS Formidable launches aircraft which attack and hit the Italian Battleship Vittorio 29/03/1941Veneto with a torpedo, although it manages to limp back to Taranto. Later, they also hit the Cruiser Pola which is seriously damaged. The Italians decide to withdraw and detach 2 cruisers and 4 Destroyers to assist the damaged Cruiser Pola. However, the British intercept them and sink the Cruiser Pola and its 2 escort Cruisers Zara and Fiume as well as 2 of the escorting Destroyers. British losses total just 2 aircraft. 31/03/1941Italian naval forces sink the British Cruiser, HMS Bonaventure off Crete.
A British convoy, codenamed 'Tiger', arrives at Alexandria with much needed tanks 12/05/1941 and aircraft. The Royal Navy Minesweeper Widnes is sunk by Luftwaffe planes near Suda Bay 20/05/1941 in Crete. 21/05/1941Royal Navy sinks several small German troop boats, helping to thwart the sea borne
invasion of Crete. The Luftwaffe sinks the British Destroyer Juno and damages the Cruiser Ajax, southwest of Crete. Heavy German air attacks on Crete sink the cruisers Fiji, Gloucester and York and 22/05/1941the destroyer Greyhound. The Battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Valiant are damaged, but the Royal Navy manages to break up a German supply convoy. 23/05/1941Luftwaffe sinks two more British destroyers of Crete, Kashmir and Kelly. 26/05/1941The Aircraft carrier Formidable is severely damaged in Mediterranean by Stukas. During the evacuation of British troops from Crete, a Luftwaffe attack on the cruiser 29/05/1941 Orion inflicts 200 casualties and sinks British destroyers Imperial and Hereward. 01/06/1941Stukas sink the British cruiser Calcutta off Alexandria. 23/07/1941Vital convoy reaches Malta after two-day battle; HMS Fearless is sunk. Italian motorboats with 33 Italian naval assault troops attempt to enter Valletta 25/07/1941harbour on the island of Malta to attack British ships, but are discovered. All eight boats are sunk with 15 men being killed and 18 taken prisoner.
Royal Navy Surface Force K from Malta annihilates an Italian convoy of seven 09/11/1941 supply ships and sinks two destroyers. 13/11/1941Aircraft carrier Ark Royal is torpedoed off Gibraltar by U-81 and later sinks. U-331 (Kplt. Tiesenhausen) sinks the British battleship Barham in the 25/11/1941 Mediterranean. Hitler issues Directive No.38 which tasks Kesselring as C-in-C South, with gaining naval supremacy over the area between southern Italy and Libya in order to deny 02/12/1941 British supplies to Malta and Libya. To assist with this, he was reinforced with Fleiger Korps II, which was transferred from Russia. The British manage to turn back an Italian convoy, which is taking supplies to 13/12/1941 Libya, by making it believe that its under threat from the Mediterranean Fleet. Royal Navy destroyers sink two Italian Light Cruisers off Cape Bon. Both Cruisers 14/12/1941were carrying much needed fuel for Panzer Armee Afrika. U-557 sinks the British Cruiser Galatea outside of Alexandria harbour. Frogmen of the Italian Navy penetrate the port of Alexandria in Egypt and cripple 19/12/1941 the British battleships HMS Valiant and Queen Elizabeth, along with a destroyer
and a tanker. This means that Cunningham had lost all his battleships and could no longer muster a force strong enough to take on the Italian fleet.
02/02/1942 A supply convoy bound for Malta sets sail from Alexandria. It consisted of 3 fast freighters, 2 cruisers, 8 destroyers and an anti-aircraft ship. However, the Luftwaffe still managed to sink all three merchantmen before they reached Malta. 15/02/1942 Churchill broadcasts to the nation and says the Mediterranean will close to all allied shipping. 07/03/1942 Force H, consisting of HMS Argus and HMS Eagle and supported by a number of destroyers, sets sail for Malta with a number of Spitfires on board. Fifteen Spitfires were flown off when Force H came within range of the Island. 20/03/1942 In what was to become known as the 2nd Battle of Sirte, 4 freighters, escorted by 3 cruisers, 1 anti-aircraft cruiser and 17 destroyers leave Alexandria bound for Malta. This force would later be strengthened by the cruiser Penelope and a destroyer from Force K. 21/03/1942 In a repeat of Force H's mission on the 7th March 1942. Sixteen more Spitfires are delivered to Malta. The Axis, now aware of the large British supply convoy sailing towards Malta, dispatch Admiral Iachino from Taranto with the Battleship Littorio and 4 destroyers. Admiral Parona also sets sail from Messina with 3 cruisers and 4 destroyers. 22/03/1942 Late in the afternoon after an unsuccessful Italian torpedo-aircraft attack, Admiral Iachino's squadron engages the British convoy. This protected itself with a smokescreen, but the cruiser HMS Cleopatra was damaged. Admiral Philip Vian, commanding the British escorts, now sent his destroyers in a torpedo attack on the Italian battleship Littorio. However, by now it was getting dark and so Admiral Iachino turned away from the British convoy and sailed for home. 23/03/1942 The British convoy, have escaped serious damage are approaching Malta. However, it is here that they come under concentrated air attack which sinks 1 freighter and damages another, although the other two freighters make it safely in to the port of Valleta. However, air attacks against the docks at Valletta made it very difficult to unload. 26/03/1942 Two of the freighters from the recent relief convoy are sunk in port by the Luftwaffe. These two ships were still almost fully loaded as damage to the docks at Valletta has prevented their swift unloading. Of the 26,000 tons of supply that had been sent from Egypt on this latest convoy, only 5,000 tons were eventually unloaded. 29/03/1942 Another sixteen Spitfires are delivered to Malta by Force H. 08/04/1942 The badly damaged cruiser HMS Penelope, limps in to Gibraltar. 20/04/1942 The US aircraft-carrier Wasp flew in 46 Spitfires to Malta. 26/04/1942 Cunningham is forced to order the withdrawal of the 10th Submarine Flotilla from Malta as a result of the intense bombing and because of the mines laid by aircraft and German E-boats. 09/05/1942 Another 60 Spitfires are landed in Malta by the aircraft carriers USN Wasp and HMS Eagle. 11/05/1942 The Luftwaffe sinks three British destroyers, Lively, Kipling and Jackal to the South of Crete. 11/06/1942 Simultaneous British convoys set sail for Malta from Gibraltar and Alexandria. The Gibraltar convoy (codenamed ' Harpoon'), consisted of 5 freighters and a US tanker. It was initially escorted by a battleship, 2 aircraft carrier, 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers and was later reinforced by an anti-aircraft cruiser and 9 destroyers. The Alexandria convoy (codenamed 'Vigorous'), had eleven freighters and was escorted by 7 light cruisers and 26 destroyers. 14/06/1942 The first axis attacks are made against the 'Harpoon' and 'Vigorous' convoys. 'Harpoon' loses a freighter and receives damage to a cruiser from an axis air attack off the Tunisian coast. 'Harpoons' escorting aircraft carriers turn back at this point. In the late afternoon, the 'Vigorous' convoy passes out of air cover range and promptly losses two freighters to axis air attacks. Another freighter is forced to return to Alexandria as it is deemed to slow. 15/06/1942 An Italian naval squadron intercepts the 'Harpoon' convoy and disables two British destroyers, as well as damaging the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cairo, although the the Italians lost a destroyer in the process. Axis aircraft then attacked and sank 2 freighters, the tanker Kentucky and 1 destroyer. Another Italian naval squadron had sailed from Taranto to intercept 'Vigorous', which reversed course in the face of this
threat. While it was doing this, German E-boats moved in and sank a destroyer and damaged a cruiser with torpedo's. At this point British torpedo aircraft from Malta attacked the Italian naval squadron, disabling a cruiser, which was later sunk by a British submarine. In the meantime 'Vigorous' turned towards Malta again, but further reports of the Italian naval squadron steaming south, forced another course reversal. German Stukas attacked the convoy at this point and damaged a cruiser and sank a destroyer. The Italian naval squadron moved now moved north, removing the threat to the 'Vigorous' convoy, but Admiral Vian commanding the 'Vigorous' convoy decided that he did not have enough ammunition left to resume his course to Malta and so continued back to Alexandria, during which U-205 sank the cruiser HMS Hermione south of Crete and Stukas sank another destroyer. However, as consolation, British aircraft did manage to torpedo the Italian Battleship Littorio, which spent the next two months under repair. 30/06/1942 U-372 sinks the British submarine depot ship Medway. The loss of the torpedo's she was carrying put a severe brake on British submarine operations in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Fleet evacuates Alexandria for Haifa, Port Said and Beirut. The port facilities are also prepared for demolition incase axis forces reach the city. 10/08/1942 The British convoy 'Pedestal' (14 merchants, 2 battleships, 3 aircraft-carriers, 14 destroyers and 3 anti-aircraft cruisers), which had left Britain on the 2nd August en-route to Malta, reaches the Straits of Gibraltar, where it is reinforced with 3 heavy cruisers (Manchester, Nigeria, and Kenya) and 11 more destroyers. For a time, the aircraft-carrier HMS Furious joins the convoy with a complement of 38 Supermarine Spitfires which are to be flown off towards the embattled island. 11/08/1942 The 'Pedestal' convoy is spotted by a German U-boat. Over the coming days 21 German and Italian submarines, nearly 800 aircraft, 23 torpedo boats, and units of the Italian fleet move in to intercept the convoy. 15/08/1942 The last of 6 remaining merchant of the Pedestal convoy, the tanker Ohio, with 10,000 tons oil on board is towed into Malta by three British warships. 18/10/1942 After intensifying their raids during the early part of the October, German and Italian daylight bombing raids over Malta are finally suspended. The drain on aircraft being sent to other fronts has left little alternative. 09/11/1942 Naval battles off Oran and Casablanca, result in three French destroyers being sunk. 27/11/1942 The French scuttle 79 warships docked at Toulon as German troops enter the City, but four submarines manage to escape. 11/12/1942 In the last week the Royal Navy has lost the destroyers Pentlan, Porcupine and Blean, off Algeria. 12/12/1942 The 1,500 ton destroyer HMS Partridge is sunk off the coast of Algeria by U-565, commanded by Wilhelm Franken. 14/03/1943 The Royal Navy Submarine Thetis, now renamed Thunderbolt is sunk by the Italian corvette Cicogna, off Sicily. 10/04/1943 USAAF bombers sink the Italian cruiser Trieste in raid on Sardinia. 16/04/1943 The Royal Navy's Destroyer Pakenham and two Italian destroyers are sunk in naval engagements in Sicilian Channel. 23/05/1943 The British claim that 313 Axis ships have been sunk in the Mediterranean since the battle of El Alamein. 18/08/1943 A U.S. cruiser and destroyer force shells Gioia, Taura and Palmi on the coast of Italy. 09/09/1943 The Italian fleet leaves Spezia in Northern Italy, en route for Malta, where it surrenders to the Royal Navy. 26/11/1943 The HMT Rohna, a British troop transport, is attacked in the eastern Mediterranean by a Luftwaffe plane using a radio-guided bomb, sinking the ship and killing 1,015 American GIs and 135 British and Australian service men. It is the largest loss of U.S. servicemen at sea in the war. The disaster is kept secret, as the Allies did not wish to disclose that the Germans possessed such an intimidating weapon. Consequently, the destruction of the Rohna will remain virtually unknown to the public for many years after the war.
18/02/1944 The Cruiser Penelope is sunk by U-410 off Naples and earns the distinction of being the last British cruiser to be lost in the war. 20/02/1944 The Admiralty announces an 11-day battle with U-boats in Straits of Gibraltar, during which three ships are sunk and several damaged. 03/03/1944 The allies announce that Russia is to get a third of Italian fleet, or equivalent in British and American warships. 09/09/1944 After being hit by 133 RAF bombs and rockets the day before, the Italian pre-war luxury liner Rex capsizes and sinks off Trieste, where it had been mothballed for much of the war. The Rex was the only Italian ship ever to hold the North Atlantic Blue Ribbon for the fastest transAtlantic crossing. 14/09/1944 The French battle fleet enters Toulon. 24/09/1944 British naval units begin operations against the German occupied islands in the Aegean Sea in the eastern Mediterranean. 18/11/1944 A German hospital ship, Tbingen is sunk accidentally by allied aircraft in the Adriatic, but luckily no wounded were onboard. The British express regret to the German authorities about the mistake.
War in the Desert Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within Africa and the Middle East between the years 1940 and 1943.
"To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance, and we are now going to finish with it for good." Field Marshal Erwin Rommel June 1942
German SdKfz 222
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
The SdKfz 222 that served with the Afrika Korps reconnaissance units and was armed with a 2cm cannon and a coaxial machine-gun. Carrying a 3 man crew, it had performed well enough, but was handicapped in the desert by its relatively short cross-country range of 100 miles.
12/02/1940 Anthony Eden greets the first Australian and New Zealand troops arriving in Suez. 11/06/1940 South Africa declares war on Italy. RAF bomb airfields and petrol dumps in Italian East Africa and Libya. British armoured cars cross into Libya from
Egypt and ambush a number of Italian trucks near Fort Capuzzo. Italian aircraft bomb Aden and Port Sudan. 12/06/1940 RAF bomb docks in Tobruk, Libya. 14/06/1940 Spanish troops enter Tangier. British troops capture Fort Capuzzo and Maddalena, destroy the fixed guns and emplacements and then retire back to Egypt. 22/06/1940 Italians bomb Alexandria, Egypt. 26/06/1940 Turkey announces that she will stay out of the war. 27/06/1940 French C-in-C in Syria accepts armistice terms. 28/06/1940 Marshal Balbo, the Governor-General of Libya is killed when his plane is shot down by another Italian aircraft. 01/07/1940 Marshal Balbo's replacement, Marshal Graziani, is appointed as C-in-C of the Italian forces in Libya. 04/07/1940 Italian bombers raid Alexandria. Italian forces attack from Abyssinia and Eritrea and capture the British outposts of Kassala and Gallabat on the Sudanese border. 13/07/1940 Italians attack British garrison at Moyale in Abyssinia. 25/07/1940 Italy bombs the British naval base at Alexandria and the base at Haifa. 02/08/1940 Italy reported to be massing troops on Libya-Egypt border. 04/08/1940 The Italians begin their invasion of British Somaliland. Using some 25,000 troops, they push the small British garrison back towards the port of Berbera. 05/08/1940 The Italian air force raids Berbera, Aden, Burao and Zeila. Italian troops In Italian Somaliland then occupy Zeila, thereby sealing the border between French and British Somaliland and opening up the coastal track to Berbera. 06/08/1940 Italian forces reach Odweina in British Somaliland. Battles at Tug Argan and at Hargeisa. 09/08/1940 Italian ground forces make slow progress in British Somaliland. Both the Italians and the British conduct air raids against each other. 17/08/1940 British warships bombard Italian ports in Libya. The 5th Indian Division is deployed to the defence of Sudan. 18/08/1940 The last of the British rearguard in British Somaliland slip away in darkness, race into Berbera and embark on the morning. British bombers attack Italian units at Laferug and the airfield at Addis Abeba. Italian aircraft attack Berbera, but there are no more military targets. 19/08/1940 Mussolini orders Marshal Graziani to invade Egypt. Italian troops enter the Port of Berbera, the capital of British Somaliland, where they are welcomed by strafing RAF Blenheims. British transport 5,300-5,700 combat troops and 1,000 civilians to Aden, Yemen. August 5-19, British ground losses were 38 KIA, 102 wounded and 120 missing. RAF flew 184 sorties, dropped 60 tons of bombs, lost 7 aircraft destroyed and 10 badly damaged, lost 12 aircrew KIA and 3 wounded. Italian losses were 465 KIA, 1530 wounded and 34 missing. 22/08/1940 Churchill dispatches a heavily armed convoy with 150 tanks to reinforce the middle east. 09/09/1940 Italians bomb Tel Avis, killing 111 people. 13/09/1940 5 Italian divisions and 200 tanks in Cyrenaica under Marshal Graziani, cross the Libyan/Egyptian border and advance toward Sidi Barrani in Egypt. The 7th Armoured and 4th Indian Divisions have orders to withdraw as far as Mersa Matruh and then stand and fight. 16/09/1940 Italian advance in Egypt continues as they capture Sidi Barrani, 60 miles from frontier. At this point the Italians halt their offensive and begin to construct a number of fortified camps. 21/09/1940 Wavell, orders planning to begin for a British counter-attack against the Italians, with the aim of driving them out of eastern Libya and capturing Tobruk. 23/09/1940 An British/Free French attempt to capture Dakar in Vichy French West Africa fails when the staunchly pro Vichy garrison fights back, inflicting damage on the invasion fleet, causing it to abort. 24/09/1940 The convoy of 150 tanks dispatched by Churchill on the 22nd August, arrives at Port Said in Egypt. 25/09/1940 An attack by Free French forces landed by ships of the Royal Navy against the west African port of Dakar is repulsed by Vichy French troops. 26/11/1940 The Western Desert Force, begins Training Exercise No.1. This was a dress rehearsal for 'Operation Compass'. Surprise was vital and so not even the troops involved were told of the rehearsals significance. 06/12/1940 The Western Desert Force, begins Training Exercise No.2. This was a 60 mile approach march to their concentration point, designated Piccadilly, approximately 20 miles south of Maktila. 08/12/1940 The Western Desert Force is now fully concentrated for 'Operation Compass'. 09/12/1940 The Western Desert Force which is 30,000 strong and under the command of Wavell takes to the offensive 'Operation Compass'. The 4th Indian division captures the Italian camps at
Nibeiwa, Tumar East and West, while the 7th Armoured drives south of the camps at Sofafi and Rabia and turns north towards Buq Buq on the coast road. As column also advances along the coast road from Mersa Matruh towards Maktila as British warships bombard both Maktila and Sidi Barrani. 10/12/1940 Sidi Barrani is surrounded. Italian troops from the camps at Sofafi and Rabia flee west as the 7th Armoured divisions thrust threaten to encircle them. 11/12/1940 Sidi Barrani is captured along with over 20,000 Italians, bringing the total captured to nearly 38,000 in 2 days, along with 237 guns and 73 tanks. At this time, Wavell decides to withdraw the 4th Indian Division and send it to the Sudan. It will be replaced by the 6th Australian Division, although it will take some days for it to be ready. 17/12/1940 While pursuing the retreating Italians, the British forces in North Africa take Sollum, Fort Capuzzo and several other crucial Italian defensive positions. They also capture another 38,000 Italians along the way. 19/12/1940 Mussolini requests German assistance for his hard-pressed troops in Cyrenaica, asking for a Panzer Division, Luftwaffe units and various logistical support. 20/12/1940 No Italian troops are now left on Egyptian soil, except as prisoners. 21/12/1940 Bardia is surrounded by the 6th Australian Division, although the Italians are determined to fight it out.
War in the Desert! 01/01/1941The Western Desert Force is renamed as the XIII Corps. 02/01/1941Royal Navy bombards Bardia in North Africa day and night. 03/01/1941Australian 6th Division breaks through the Italian defences around Bardia. General Bergonzoli surrenders the Italian XXIII Corps at Bardia to the Australians. 05/01/194145,000 Italian prisoners and 130 tanks are captured by the Australians for just 500 casualties. Churchill demands that troops be released from Wavell's offensive and sent to 06/01/1941 Greece. Tobruk is surrounded, but the British are unable to assault it immediately as supplies 07/01/1941 and reinforcements need to be brought up. Hitler confirms in Directive No.22, his intentions to send military support to the 11/01/1941 Italians in Libya. The operation is to be named 'Sunflower'. 17/01/1941During the night, the Italians evacuate Kassala and Gallalabat in the Sudan. British troops under General Platt, re-occupy Kassala in the Sudan and advance into 19/01/1941 Eritrea. 20/01/1941Emperor Haile Selassie crosses the Abyssinian border at Um Idla. 21/01/1941British and Australian forces breach the defenses at Tobruk. Tobruk surrenders to British and Australian troops who capture 25,000 Italians, along with 208 guns and 87 tanks. Combined British and Australian losses were 22/01/1941 about 450. The British government now orders Wavells XIII Corps to capture Benghazi. The British 4th Armoured Brigade reaches Mechili, but cannot attack as its garrison 23/01/1941is stronger than first thought and so has to bring the rest of the 7th Armoured Division up. General Cunningham's 'Southern Force' invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa 24/01/1941 and Bura in Kenya. 26/01/1941The Italians evacuate Mechili during the night. The 7th Armoured Division captures Mechili. Meanwhile the Australians have 27/01/1941bumped into strong Italian defences at Derna and so Wavell decides to halt further offensive action until reinforcements and supply can be brought up.
Australian troops capture Derna as the Italians begin to withdraw towards Benghazi. The 1st South African Division launches a feint attack against Mega in southern 30/01/1941 Abyssinia, in order to prevent the Italians from sending troops to reinforce their hard pressed forces in Somaliland. The Italian garrison at Metemma in northern Abyssinia, having been under 31/01/1941increasing pressure for the past 3 weeks, begins to withdraw towards Gondar, allowing the 9th Indian Brigade to occupy the town. 01/02/1941Agordat in Eritrea falls to the 5th Indian Division after 2 days of fighting. 5th Indian Division captures Barentu, forcing the Italians to withdraw towards the 02/02/1941 mountain fortress at Keren. The British 'Northern Force' bumps into the Italian defences at Keren, but fail to 03/02/1941crack them open. General Platt decides he must build up his forces for a major assault. RAF reconnaissance planes report that the Italians are beginning to evacuate Benghazi in a withdrawal towards El Agheila. The 7th Armoured Division is given 04/02/1941 immediate instructions to advance from Mechili across the desert in order to cut off the Italians escape route. An advanced column of armoured cars from the 7th Armoured Division intercept 05/02/1941 the Italian retreat about 70 miles south of Benghazi. Australian forces capture Benghazi along with six senior Italian Generals. Italian forces make repeated attempts to break through the weak British blocking forces at 06/02/1941 Beda Fomm, but cannot. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel is appointed to command the German forces being sent to Africa. Again, the Italians make further breakout attempts, which all fail. Later in the day the Italians surrender 20,000 men, 200 guns and 120 tanks to just 3,000 British troops. Anthony Eden makes a speech parodying Winston Churchill's famous 'Battle 12/02/1941of Britain' speech. He says "Never has so much been surrendered, by so many, to so few". Lieutenant General Rommel arrives in Tripoli and reports to General Gariboldi who has replaced Marshal Graziani as commander of the Italian Army in Libya. Kurmuk near the Ethiopian border in Sudan is recaptured by British forces. Leading 14/02/1941elements of the German 5th Light Division arrive at Tripoli and are immediately moved up to Sirte to take up defensive positions. 23/02/1941Free French forces land in Eritrea. Reconnaissance elements of the German 5th Light Division clash with British forces 24/02/1941 for the first time in Africa, at Nofilia near El Agheila. British Nigerian troops of the 11th African Division occupy Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, having advanced up the coast. Meanwhile the 12th African 25/02/1941 Division pushes up the river Juba in Italian Somaliland towards the Abyssinian border town of Dolo. The 11th African Division begins a lighting pursuit of the retreating Italian forces 01/03/1941 north from Mogadishu, towards the Ogaden Plateau. 04/03/1941The British start to transfer the first contingent of troops from Egypt to Greece.
These are to be under the command of General Maitland Wilson. 06/03/1941German aircraft mine the Suez canal, blocking it for 3 weeks. The German 5th Light Division has now completely arrived in Libya and is ordered to prepare for an attack on El Agheila. Meanwhile, Rommel has flown back to 11/03/1941 Germany for further orders and has been told that when the 15th Panzer Division has arrived in Libya at the end of May he is to recapture Benghazi. The British 'Northern Force' having concentrated the 4th and 5th Indian Divisions 15/03/1941 begin their offensive for Italian fortress of Keren in Eritrea. British troops from Aden, land at and capture Berbera in Italian occupied British 16/03/1941 Somaliland. The 11th African Division captures Jijiga in central Abyssinia, having advanced 744 17/03/1941 miles up the Italian built Strada Imperiale in just seventeen days. The Berbera force and elements of the 11th African Division meet at Hargeisa 20/03/1941 inside British Somaliland. Rommel, conducts a limited offensive to recapture El Agheila from the British, 24/03/1941which succeeds with startling ease. This encourages Rommel to push forward towards Mersa Brega. British Somaliland is now clear of Italians. British troops finally take Keren, although they suffer nearly 4,000 casualties in the process, while the Italians lose some 3,000 men. The Italians are forced to withdraw 27/03/1941 towards Asmara. The 11th African Division captures Harar in Abyssinia after the Italians have declared it an 'open town'. The 5th Light Division engages the British 2nd Armoured Division near Mersa 31/03/1941Brega, as it attempts to capture the town. The battle rages all day and results in the British withdrawing towards Agedabia. General Platt and his 'Northern Force' capture Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. A pro01/04/1941 axis coup, led by Raschid Ali seizes power in Iraq. The 5th Light Division recaptures Agedabia from the British and fans out into three columns, two of which race across the desert in an attempt to cut off the retreating British, while the third pushes up the coast road towards Benghazi. Rear Admiral 02/04/1941 Bonnetti, the commander of the Italian Red Sea Flotilla orders his seven destroyers out on 'do or die' missions. All the destroyers are sunk or captured without achieving any worthwhile results. 03/04/1941A Pro-Axis coup in Iraq begins, led by Rashid Ali. 04/04/1941German and Italian troops enter Benghazi unopposed. Elements of the 5th Light Division capture Mechili and threaten to cut of the 9th Australian Division which is withdrawing at speed towards Tobruk along the coast. Haile Selassie's troops occupy the Italian forts at Debra Markos, after their epic 06/04/1941 march through the Abyssinian hinterland, relying on camels to carry all their supplies. The 11th African Division captures Addis Ababa, the capital of Abyssinia, taking 8,000 Italians prisoner. Derna is captured the 5th Light Division along with Generals Neame and O'Connor 07/04/1941 later in the day. The British 'Northern Force' captures Massawa, the last Italian stronghold in Eritrea. 08/04/1941 This removes any remaining threat to British convoys sailing through the Red Sea. 09/04/1941Rommel's forces take Bardia.
10/04/1941The 9th Australian Division withdraws into Tobruk. Rommel makes an attempt to capture Tobruk off the march. However, the 9th Australian Division repulses the attack, forcing the Germans to think again. By now 11/04/1941 the Germans are pretty exhausted after 3 weeks of continuous action and their vehicles in serious need of an overhaul. German armoured units complete the encirclement of Tobruk and push on up the 12/04/1941 coast road towards the Egyptian frontier. German advance spearheads capture Sollum. Rommel receives orders from Berlin that he is to consolidate on the Egyptian frontier and concentrate of capturing 13/04/1941Tobruk. Only then will he be allowed to push into Egypt. The result of this order is that Rommel decides to rest his exhausted troops and wait until the 15th Panzer Division arrives at the end of May before making a major assault against Tobruk. 18/04/1941Britain warns Italy that if Cairo is bombed, then the RAF will attack Rome. 19/04/1941A Brigade from the British 10th Indian Division land at Basra in southern Iraq. The Italian fortress of Dessie, south of Amba Alagi is captured by South African 26/04/1941 forces. German troops cross the Egyptian border and capture the Halfaya Pass, forcing the British to pull back to defensive a line running from Buq Buq on the coast to Sofafi, 27/04/1941 some 50km in to the desert. The British also begin construction of a major defensive line in front of Mersa Matruh. Another Brigade from the British 10th Indian Division lands at Basra, ignoring 29/04/1941Iraqi's protests. The Iraqi Army lays siege to The RAF base at Habbaniyh, although RAF planes fly numerous air strikes against them. The Afrika Korps second attempt to capture Tobruk is again repulsed by the 30/04/1941 Australians. 02/05/1941The Iraqi's attack the British base at Habbaniya, but are repulsed. Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa 5 years after his country was 05/05/1941 occupied by the Italians. The last Brigade of the British 10th Indian Division arrives at Basra with its 06/05/1941commander Major General Bill Slim. Axis aircraft begin to land at the Mosul airfield in northern Iraq. A British Brigade sized column (Habforce), moves across the Iraqi border from 09/05/1941 Palastine. German aircraft begin to operate over Iraq in support of the rebellion by anti-British 13/05/1941 Iraqi forces. British aircraft launch attacks against airfields in Syria which have been put at axis 14/05/1941 disposal by the Vichy French authorities. The British Army under Auchinleck, launch an offensive, operation 'Brevity' against 15/05/1941 the Afrika Korps and manage to recapture Halfaya Pass, Sollum and Capuzzo. The Afrika Korps counter-attack against the British and retake Sollum and Capuzzo, although the Halfaya Pass remains in British hands. Berlin orders Rommel to leave 16/05/1941Tobruk to the Italians and to concentrate the Afrika Korps near the Egyptian border. The Italian forces under the Duke of Aosta surrender to British forces at Amba Alagi in Abyssinia. 18/05/1941General Dentz tells the French Army in Syria to "match force with force". The 5th
Indian Division captures the Italian fortress of Amba Alagi after 18 days of fighting. The British column from Palastine (Habforce), arrives at Habbaniyah and relieves its garrison. The British capture Fallujah in Iraq after fierce fighting. They also bomb Baghdad 19/05/1941 airport. Churchill announces the end of Abyssinian campaign as the Duke of Aosta signs the 20/05/1941formal Italian surrender. The British took just 94 days to win the East African campaign. 22/05/1941British forces capture the last Italian stronghold in southern Abyssinia. King George VI makes South African Premier, General Smuts a Field Marshal, the 24/05/1941 first man born in an overseas dominion to attain that rank. Having been reinforced by the 15th Panzer Division, Rommel retakes the Halfaya 27/05/1941Pass on Egyptian border. The 10th Indian Division begins to advance north from Basra towards Baghdad. The revolt in Iraq collapses as the British near Baghdad. The Iraqi leader Rashid Ali 30/05/1941 flees in to Persia (Iran). British forces enter Baghdad and an armistice is signed. The terms of the armistice 31/05/1941require that all axis personnel in Iraq are to be interned and that Iraq support the British cause against the axis. 01/06/1941British forces enter Baghdad and reinstate the Regent. 02/06/1941A Greek government-in-exile is formed in Egypt. 03/06/1941New Iraqi government is formed. Luftwaffe bombers carry out a night raid on the port of Alexandria in Egypt, killing 04/06/1941 100 people. The Egyptian Cabinet resigns. British, Commonwealth and Free French forces invade Syria and the Lebanon ('Operation Explorer') with air and naval support. The British offer Syria 08/06/1941 independence in an effort to stimulate Syrian revolt against their Vichy rulers. Vichy France protests vigorously at these British proposals. British advance 40 miles into southern Syria and the Lebanon capturing Tyre in the 09/06/1941 process. 10/06/1941British advance breaks through Vichy opposition in Syria. The British Army begins 'Operation Battleaxe to relieve Australian held Tobruk 15/06/1941and then advance towards Derna. However, they meet fierce counter attacks by the Afrika Korps and are unable to make any headway. The British attempt to continue their offensive, but suffer heavy tank losses to 16/06/1941 German 88mm Flak guns. The Afrika Korps beats back the British attack at Sollum causing the British to call 17/06/1941off Operation Battleaxe with 1,000 British casualties and 91 tanks lost, for German losses of just 12 tanks. Free French troops occupy Damascus in Syria. Germany and Turkey sign a ten-year 18/06/1941 non-aggression pact. British forces occupy Damascus, but Vichy forces continue to fight on. In light of 21/06/1941 this, British forces from Iraq invade Syria in order to crush their resistance.
General Wavell is relieved of his command as C-in-C of the Middle East, by 05/07/1941 General Sir Claude Auchinleck. 06/07/1941Axis aircraft bomb Tobruk and Sidi Barrani. 09/07/1941General Dentz sues for peace in the Middle East. 11/07/1941Vichy government rejects Syrian armistice terms but Dentz accepts. 12/07/1941The last Vichy French troops in Syria surrender to British and Free French forces. An armistice is signed at Acre between Vichy and British/Free French forces. This requires all French material to be handed over to the British and gives the Vichy 14/07/1941French the choice of joining the Free French or returning to France. Most opt for the latter. During the campaign the Vichy French suffered 3,350 killed or wounded, while the British and Free French lost about 2,400 men. 15/07/1941British forces enter Beirut. General Sir Claude Auchinleck flies to London for talks about future offensive 26/07/1941 operations to relieve Tobruk. 01/08/1941Fighting flares up around the perimeter of Tobruk. A brigade of the 9th Australian Division which is besieged at Tobruk is relieved by 19/08/1941 sea, as Polish reinforcements arrive. British and Russian troops invade Iran against slight opposition after their initially 25/08/1941 friendly demands, had been rejected. 26/08/1941British troops complete the occupation of the vital Abadan oilfields in Iran. 27/08/1941The Iranian government under Ali Furughi orders a cease-fire. After demands from the Australian Prime Minister, the British agree to relieve the 28/08/1941 remainder of the 9th Australian Division from Tobruk. 31/08/1941British forces reach Hamadan, Iran and have now secured the Persian Gulf. General Sir Claude Auchinleck issues his first directive in respect to the forthcoming British Offensive, 'Operation Crusader', by ordering General Sir Alan 02/09/1941 Cunningham to produce a plan for the relief of Tobruk and the re-conquest of Cyrenaica. 05/09/1941British release General Dentz, after Vichy releases British POWs in Syria 10/09/1941The British and Russians demand that Iran expels all Axis nationals with 48 hours. Rommel launches a probing operation with the 21st Panzer Division towards Sidi 14/09/1941Barrani in the belief that a British fuel dump was located there. The British forces begin to fall back. The Shah of Iran abdicates and his son, Crown Prince 'Mohammad Reza Pahlavi' 16/09/1941 takes over. British and Russian troops occupy Teheran, after Iran failed to comply with their 17/09/1941 demand to expel all Axis nationals. Rommel, having discovered that their wasn't a British fuel dump at Sidi Barrani and 25/09/1941believing that that British had taken up a purely defensive posture, withdrew the 21st Panzer Division back to the Libyan-Egyptian border. The British Eighth Army is formed in Egypt in preparation for 'Operation Crusader' 26/09/1941and now includes both XIII and XXX Corps. At the same time the British Ninth Army is created in Palestine and the Tenth Army in Iraq and Iran to guard against
Turkey entering the war on the Axis side. After more than 3 months of fighting, British forces in Abyssinia capture the 27/09/1941Wolchefit Pass, thereby opening the route to Gondar, the last Italian held town in East Africa. General Cunningham's plan for 'Operation Crusader' is approved by General Auchinleck to be launched on the 11th November. The aim is for XXX Corps, which includes the bulk of the British Armour to draw the 15th and 21st Panzer Division into combat and destroy their tank strength. Then, XIII Corps, having contained the axis forces on the frontier, would envelop them from the south and 03/10/1941advance on Tobruk, whose garrison would break out at an opportune moment and link up. While all this was happening, a smaller element called 'Oasis Force' would advance further west in to Libya than the main force, in order to deceive Rommel as to where the main effort was to be made. Further smaller operations were to be mounted by the SAS on Axis airfields in Libya in an attempt to destroy aircraft on the ground. It is decided that British forces should make their main approach on Gondar in 23/10/1941 Abyssinia, from the direction of Adowa due to the better road conditions. The RAF's Mediterranean raids continue, with Benghazi being bombed 14 times and 31/10/1941 Tripoli 10 times. General Auchinleck is forced to postpone 'Operation Crusader' for 1 week so as to 03/11/1941enable the 1st South African Division, which had recently arrived from Abyssinia to under go more training. A British night commando raid on what is thought to be Rommel's HQ at Breda Littoria in the Jebel Akhdar in Libya, fails when it is found to be only a logistical 17/11/1941 HQ and that Rommel is away on a visit to Rome. Also, the SAS raid on axis airfields fails when the transport aircraft are blown off course by a sandstorm. At 6am 'Operation Crusader, the British Eighth Army's offensive to relieve Tobruk begins. Rommel, who arrives back from Rome that day, is caught by surprise, 18/11/1941allowing the British XXX Corps to advance 50-miles and capture the axis airfield 10 miles south of Sidi Rezegh. The Germans, believing that the British are about to encircle Bardia, send the Afrika Korps on a wild goose chase in that direction. The British garrison is ordered to break out and link up with XXX Corps. However, 20/11/1941 Rommel, now realizing the threat sent the Afrika Korps to attack at Sidi Rezegh. A confused battle continues around Sidi Rezegh, with XXX Corps being forced to stop it advance towards Tobruk after the loss of many tanks and for the Tobruk 22/11/1941 break-out to be halted. Better news for XIII Corps though as it captures Sidi Omar and Capuzzo. Axis forces destroy the 5th South African Brigade after days of tank battles round 23/11/1941 Tobruk. Rommel gives orders for his tanks to cut off the British supply routes by thrusting towards the Egyptian frontier, or as it became known, the 'dash for the wire'. By the 24/11/1941 end of the day Rommel's tanks had reached the frontier and caused complete confusion in the rear of the Eighth Army.
25/11/1941Rommel continues his attacks at the rear of the Eighth Army. Due to Rommel's bold move, General Cunningham wants to halt the offensive and 26/11/1941fall back to the frontier. General Auchinleck overrides him on this and replaces him as commander of the Eighth Army with General Ritchie. The Tobruk garrison links up the the New Zealand Division of the Eighth Army at El Duda. Rommel forces, now under constant attack by the RAF is forced to turn his forces around in order to deal with this new development. Gondar, the last Italian 27/11/1941 held town in East Africa surrenders to British forces after a tough battle. The Italian commander, General Nasi surrenders 23,500 men, while the British suffer 500 casualties. In order to mount a final attack on the British forces around Bir El Gobi, Rommel 05/12/1941 orders the evacuation of the eastern part of the Tobruk perimeter, but the attack fails. 07/12/1941The German and Italian forces withdraw to a defensive position at Gazala. 08/12/1941The Eighth Army officially relieves the Tobruk garrison. The Eighth Army attack the German and Italian positions at Gazala. Rommel, 15/12/1941 fearful that the British will outflank him, orders the retreat. 19/12/1941British retake Derna from axis forces. 21/12/1941British successes continue in North Africa. Under continuous pressure, Rommel and his Afrika Korps start to evacuate 23/12/1941 Benghazi. 25/12/1941The British retake Benghazi. War in the Desert! 01/01/1942British forces take Bardia, along with 8,000 Axis prisoners. Rommel's battered forces reach the Tripolitanian frontier having evaded all British 06/01/1942 attempts to cut them off. 12/01/1942British capture Sollum. The last German garrison at Halfaya in Cyrenaica surrenders, with about 5,500 17/01/1942 prisoners taken. Two Axis transports, the Mongevino and Ankara land 45 German tanks at Benghazi 19/01/1942 as reinforcement, while axis forces evacuate the city. 20/01/1942British troops capture Benghazi. Without consulting higher authority, Rommel launches a counter-offensive against the 8th Army. The 21st Panzer Division quickly seizes Mersa Brega, while the 15th 21/01/1942 Panzer Division advances to Wadi Faregh and swings north towards Agedabia, brushing aside the attempts by the 1st Armoured Division to stop them. Rommels command is redesignated as Panzer Army Afrika. German panzers 22/01/1942capture Agedabia and trap part of the British 1st Armoured Division in the Antelat Sannu area, destroying about 70 of its tanks. General Cavallero, C in C, Italian High Command and Field Marshall Albert Kesselring, German C in C, South, fly to Rommel's advanced HQ. The Italians want 23/01/1942Rommel to stop his offensive and withdraw to his start line, but Rommel rejects this demand. The Italians therefore refuse to allow their troops to advance any further east, but undeterred, Rommel presses on with just the Afrika Korps.
German troops capture Msus, which threatens the 4th Indian Divisions position at Benghazi. Lieutenant General Ritchie, orders the 4th Indian Division to withdraw to 25/01/1942a line running from Derna to Mechili, but this order is countermanded by General Auchinleck who wanted the 8th Army to counter-attack. However, the 8th Army was to widely dispersed and Rommels forces were advancing too quickly. German troops launch a feint attack from Msus, towards Mechili. This successfully deceives the British in to believing that the Germans will attempt cut the coast road 27/01/1942 far to the east of Benghazi and so they begin to hurriedly evacuate the 4th Indian Division from Benghazi along the coast road. 29/01/1942German forces capture Benghazi, along with a large quantity of supplies. 30/01/1942The 4th Indian Division continues to withdraw along the coast road towards Derna. The commander of the British XIII Corps, Godwin-Austen, resigns as a result of 02/02/1942Lieutenant General Ritchie bypassing him and dealing direct with his divisional commanders. The Afrika Korps recaptures Derna. Hahas Pasha forms a new Egyptian Cabinet, 04/02/1942 becomes the Military Governor and dissolves Parliament the next day. After just over 2 weeks of frenetic action, Rommel's counter-offensive comes to a halt in front of the Gazala line, a series of self supporting fortified boxes running 07/02/1942south from Gazala for a 100 miles to Bir Hacheim. Although not complete, it presents too much of an obstacle for the Afrika Korps who by this time are running low on fuel and reserves. Churchill exhorts General Auchinleck to launch an offensive against the German and Italian forces that are gathering in front of the Gazala line. He reminds Auchinleck that the longer he waits, the more time Rommel will have to rebuild his 26/02/1942strength. To this General Auchinleck reply's that his intention is to first build up an armoured striking force as quickly as possible and strengthen the defenses of the Gazala line. Only then would he mount a major offensive, which he advised Churchill would be in early June.
06/04/1942Axis bombers attack the port of Alexandria in Egypt. British forces land at Diego Suarez and Antsirene on Vichy French held Madagascar 05/05/1942 in an pre-emptive strike to stop the Japanese from using it as an advanced base. 07/05/1942Vichy French resistance ends in Madagascar. The battle for the Gazala line begins (Operation Venezia), as the Afrika Korps thrusts south with 560 tanks and around the southern end of the Eighth Army's 26/05/1942 defensive positions towards Tobruk. However the Free French forces at Bir Hacheim manage hold up this advance. The Afrika Korps, having pushed round the British defenses, move northeast. They 27/05/1942 are engaged by elements of the British 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions. Many tank
losses were taken by both sides, although as the battle went on the British armour became increasingly scattered. The Italian Ariete Armoured Division continued to meet stiff resistance from the Free French at Bir Hacheim, while the Italian Trieste Motorised Division further north, found itself grinding through minefields under heavy fire as a result of a navigation error. Heavy fighting continues at the southern end of the Gazala line, although by now Rommel's forces are beginning to run out of fuel and his tanks are becoming 28/05/1942 scattered. In order to shorten his supply lines he decides to punch a hole through the Gazala line. The Afrika Korps take up defensive positions in the 'Cauldron' in readiness for their 30/05/1942 attempt to punch through the Gazala line. The battle of the 'Cauldron' begins as Rommel attacks the fortified box in the Gazala line that is held by the 150th Brigade of the British 50th Division. The Italians attack from the west as elements of the Afrika Korps attack from the east. Meanwhile 31/05/1942Rommel's anti-tank gunners, repulse a number of British armoured counter-attacks against his position in the 'Cauldron'. However, Lieutenant General Ritchie is hampered by his inability to concentrate his armour and so is unable to relieve the 150th Brigade. Rommel takes the fortified box that is held by the British 150th Brigade in the Gazala defensive line and secures the 'Cauldron'. This enables him to get much needed supplies flowing. Rommel now turns the German 90th Light Division and 01/06/1942 the Italian Ariete Armoured Division against Bir Hacheim in an attempt to wipe out the Free French garrison which still holds out. He also distracts the British by sending the 21st Panzer Division northeast to operate nearer to Tobruk. The Eighth Army launches a counter-attack against the Afrika Korps forces that are inside the 'Cauldron. This is codenamed 'Aberdeen', but went disastrously wrong from the start, with an infantry tank brigade being destroyed in minefields and an Indian infantry brigade attacking the wrong positions. This left the remainder of the force, the 22nd Armoured Brigade to be repulsed easily by the untouched German 05/06/1942defenses. British losses for this operation were 150 tanks, 133 guns and 6,000 troops. At this point in the battle, the British forces in the northern part of the Gazala line (1st South African and the remainder of the British 50th Division), were still in a strong position and so General Auchinleck and Lieutenant General Ritchie decide to hold the line facing south from the Knightsbridge defensive box to El Adem with the remainder of their infantry and tank forces and wait for Rommel's next move. German and Italian troops finally captures Bir Hacheim from the Free French, 10/06/1942 which had been totally cut off since the 26th May 1942. Rommel, having now brought up tank reserves, could now muster 124 tanks against 12/06/1942the 248 British tanks. He therefore attacked the British positions between Knightsbridge and El Adem, trapping much of the British armour. German tanks and anti-tank batteries destroy 138 British tanks in and around the Knightsbridge pocket. This left the Eighth Army with only 75 armoured vehicles 13/06/1942operational and threatened the main British supply route along the Trigh Capuzzo, which in turn threatened the 1st South African and British 50th Division which were still defending the northern part of the Gazala line. Lieutenant General Ritchie,
without informing General Auchinleck, who wanted to hold west of Tobruk, ordered these two divisions to pull back towards Tobruk. Auchinleck tells Ritchie that Tobruk must be held, a fact that Churchill reiterates to him. The Eighth Army now holds a line directly in front of Tobruk, running from 14/06/1942 the coast to Acroma, then southeast to El Adem and then directly south to Bir El Gobi. Rommel launches an attack against Eighth Army's new defensive line, but is 15/06/1942repulsed. However, General Norrie was worried that XXX Corps lacked sufficient tanks to defend this line for very long. Lieutenant General Ritchie gives General Norrie permission to withdraw XXX Corps past Tobruk and as far as Mersa Matruh to re-equip. General Gott's XIII is 16/06/1942ordered to take up defensive positions on the Egyptian frontier. This left the city exposed to another siege, for which its defenses were inadequate, having been allowed to deteriorate during the winter. The Eighth Army's withdrawal reaches the Egyptian frontier, leaving behind the 2nd 17/06/1942 South African Division to form the basis of a 30,000 strong garrison at Tobruk. Rommel isolates Tobruk by cutting the coast road at Gambut. The cities position is made worse after the desert air force loses its forward airfields as so is unable to 18/06/1942 give much assistance to its defenders. The Eighth Army evacuates Sidi Rezegh and El Adem. Rommel launches a surprise attack from the southeast against Tobruk. This throw's 19/06/1942the garrison into confusion which allows German troops to breach the outer defenses. Tobruk falls to the Germans, who capture 32,000 prisoners, 2,000 tons of fuel, 5,000 21/06/1942 tons of food and 2,000 vehicles. German advanced elements reach the Egyptian border. Rommel signals Kesselring 23/06/1942for permission to continue the advance in to Egypt, pointing out that at Tobruk his forces has captured large quantities of fuel and supplies. The Germans advance into Egypt as the British retreat continues. Sollum and Sidi 24/06/1942 Barrani are evacuated by the Eighth Army. The Germans capture Sidi Barrani, Sollum and the Halfaya Pass in Libya as the Eighth Army retreats to Mersa Matruh in Egypt. General Auchinleck relieves 25/06/1942Lieutenant General Ritchie and takes personal command of the Eighth Army, with plans to hold Rommel if he could at Mersa Matruh, but more definitely at the El Alamein line, or if that failed the Suez Canal. Rommel is made a Field Marshal and launches attacks against Mersa Matruh. Meanwhile, Kesselring, Cavallero (Italian Chief of Staff in Rome) and Bastico 26/06/1942 (Italian C-in-C in Libya) arrive at Rommel's HQ and give permission for him to continue his advance in to Egypt. German troops begin to outflank the British positions at Mersa Matruh. As this 27/06/1942happens the British start to withdraw towards the El Alamein line, confirming radio intercepts that had indicated they would. German advance units capture Fuqa and report increasing confusion in the retreating 28/06/1942 British units. Rommel takes Mersa Matruh after heavy fighting and captures 6,000 prisoners 29/06/1942 along with large quantities of supplies. British disarray increases as German advance
units mix with British rear units which are reatreating as fast as possible for the relative safety of the El Alamein defensive position. Mussolini arrives at Derna in Libya to prepare for the triumphal entry into Cairo. Alexandria is bombed. Rommel spearheads reaches El Alamein. The port facilities at Alexandria are prepared for demolition, should the axis forces not be stopped at El Alamein. In what became known as 'Ash Wednesday', British HQ is Cairo begins to destroy classified papers and prepares for evacuation to Palestine. A brave but disorganized 30/06/1942 Eighth Army is addressed by General Auchinleck, who tells them, that 'He (Rommel) hopes to take Egypt by bluff. Lets show him where to get off.' This comes as 'Ultra' interceptions told them that Rommel would attack their positions at El Alamein the following day. Rommel captures 2,000 prisoners from the El Alamein box but loses 18 of his 55 01/07/1942 remaining tanks. The British hold El Alamein despite heavy attacks, Rommel is now down to 26 02/07/1942 tanks. Due to exhaustion and lack of supplies, especially fuel for the armoured divisions, Rommel orders his German and Italian forces to suspend all offensive operations 03/07/1942 before El Alamein and begin constructing defensive positions. troops to after being reduced to 13 tanks in a final effort to break through. 05/07/1942Axis troops start laying minefields in front of their positions at El Alamein. Despite continuous attacks by the British Eighth Army, Panzer Army Afrika 06/07/1942 manages to hold on to its positions before El Alamein. Renewed German attacks against the British defenses at El Alamein bog down in 09/07/1942 the face of stubborn British resistance. 14/07/1942A British attack against axis positions to the South of El Alamein is repulsed. New Zealander troops attack Kidney Ridge in three days of fighting, which costs 15/07/1942 Rommel 2,600 prisoners and 115 guns captured. 20/07/1942Mussolini temporarily abandons his Victory March on Cairo and returns to Rome. Auchinleck musters 323 tanks against Rommels 92 in the second battle of Kidney 22/07/1942 Ridge, but loses 131 tanks and 2,600 men. 23/07/1942Fierce fighting continues along the El Alamein front. An Australian attack at Alamein fails and the Eighth Army goes over to the 26/07/1942defensive after taking 7,000 Axis prisoners. This concludes the first battle of El Alamein. 05/08/1942Churchill visits the Eighth Army at El Alamein and decides to replace Auchinleck. General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed as commander-in-chief of allied forces 06/08/1942 preparing to invade North Africa. The creation of the Palestine Regiment of the British Army is announced. General 07/08/1942Gott, the Eighth Army's commander designate, is shot down while en route for Cairo. Montgomery is chosen instead. 13/08/1942Montgomery takes command of Eighth Army, two days early. Alexander replaces Auchinleck as C-in-C of the Middle East. Montgomerys 18/08/1942 appointment officially announced.
Auchinleck announces the capture of 10,000 Axis troops in last two months of 19/08/1942 fighting in North Africa. Rommel begins his final attempt to break through at El Alamein in the battle of Alam Halfa. However, the 15th Panzer Division fails to break through the 8th 31/08/1942 Army's lines and sustains heavy casualties losing about 30 tanks forcing the Germans to withdraw back to their start lines. The RAF makes a record number of sorties in North Africa as desert battle rages. 03/09/1942 Rommels withdrawal is speeded up by heavy New Zealand pressure. Rommel is back to the positions held on the 31st August, having lost 51 tanks (out 06/09/1942of 515), 70 guns, 400 trucks and 2,865 men. The Eighth Army losses were 1,640 men and 68 tanks. The Eighth Army stabilizes its line at Alam el Haifa, after Montgomery suspends 07/09/1942 the battle. British desert raids reach Benghazi and Barer. A combined forces attack on Tobruk 13/09/1942 is also made. 16/09/1942The Governor General of Madagascar asks for an armistice. 17/09/1942Peace talks in Madagascar break down. 18/09/1942British forces land on the east coast of Madagascar and occupy Tamatave. Field Marshal Rommel takes a medical leave and hands over command to General 23/09/1942 von Thoma. British troops occupy the capital of Madagascar. Top-scoring Luftwaffe ace and Diamonds winner Hans-Joachim Marseille (158 30/09/1942 British aircraft) of 3./JG 27 is killed in a flying accident. Montgomery issues the final plan to senior commanders for the Second battle of El 06/10/1942 Alamein. 08/10/1942The final Torch (invasion of NW Africa) plans are issued. The Second Battle of El Alamein begins with a 1,000-gun bombardment. The 23/10/1942 Eighth Army gains ground on a 6-mile front and repulses Axis counter-attacks. Montgomery switches the attack to the North. Rommel breaks off his sick leave to 25/10/1942 take charge of the critical situation in which the axis forces now find themselves. The Eighth Army begins re-grouping its divisions at El Alamein for the final 26/10/1942 breakout. A counter-attack by the 21st Panzer-Division to push the attacking British forces 27/10/1942back into the German minefields fails, costing them 50 Panzer's. This leaves the axis forces with just 81 operational tanks. Operation 'Supercharge', the breakout at El Alamein gets under way. Rommel has 02/11/1942 only 32 Panzer's left intact. Rejecting out of hand Field Marshal Rommel's proposal to withdraw the Afrika 03/11/1942Korps, now down to about 40 tanks, to the Fuka line, Hitler orders him to stand and fight. The Italian 20th Motorised Corps is destroyed. Rommel re-issues his orders for 04/11/1942 retreat with only 12 tanks left. 10,724 Axis prisoners are taken by the British,
including nine generals. The British attack Rommels rearguard, which is now almost 100 miles to west of El 05/11/1942 Alamein. A peace treaty is signed in Madagascar with the Vichy French. Further progress made by the Eighth Army with 20,000 further Axis prisoners being 06/11/1942 claimed. Operation 'Torch' begins with Anglo-American forces under Lieutenant General 08/11/1942Eisenhower landing in Morocco and Algeria against minimal Vichy French resistance. Mersa Matruh is re-taken by British. US troops advance on both sides of Oran, taking 2,000 French prisoners after stiff 09/11/1942resistance. German paratroops are landed in Tunisia without opposition from the French. The Americans capture Oran. Petain takes command of all Vichy forces. British 10/11/1942 successes in Egypt continue with the capture of Sidi Barrani. The British 8th Army retakes Sollum and Bardia, while Panzer Army Afrika 12/11/1942 continues its withdrawal toward Tripoli. The Eighth Army captures Tobruk and Montgomery says: We have completely 13/11/1942 smashed the German and Italian armies. British paratroops engage German troops in Tunisia, while the first clashes occur 17/11/1942 between the newly landed U.S. and German forces. 18/11/1942Laval is given absolute power by Vichy in Africa. 19/11/1942British troops engage a German tank column only 30 miles from Tunis. 20/11/1942The Eighth Army reaches Benghazi. Retreating before the British 8th Army (Montgomery), Panzer Army Afrika reaches 23/11/1942 El Agheila. 24/11/1942Laval sets up Phalange Africaine, to fight allies in Africa. 27/11/1942British troops are only 22 miles from Tunis. 29/11/1942British paratroops drop south of Tunis. 04/12/1942German forces in Tunisia capture Tebourba. 08/12/1942German troops occupy the port of Bizerte in Tunisia. Rommel begins to retreat from his positions El Agheila, as the Eighth Army 13/12/1942 continues advance in to Libya. 24/12/1942Admiral Darlan is assassinated by a young Frenchman in Algiers. 26/12/1942The French authorities execute Admiral Darlans assassin. 27/12/1942General Giraud becomes the leader of French Africa. 28/12/1942General De Gaulle welcomes Girauds appointment and calls for French unity. War in the Desert! 05/01/1943US Fifth Army is set up in Tunisia under Lieutenant General Mark Clark. Gen. Leclerc drives the last Germans troops out of the Fezzan in Southern Libya 12/01/1943 with his Free French forces from Chad. Roosevelt and Churchill's summit Conference opens near Casablanca in Morocco 14/01/1943 with the Allied joint staff under General Dwight D. Eisenhower in attendance. 15/01/1943The Eighth Army begins a new push in Libya. 16/01/1943The Eighth Army destroys Rommels rearguard at Buerat, in Libya and is now just
300 miles from the Tunisian frontier. Iraq enters the war against all three Axis powers. The Germans counter attack in Tunisia. They gain ground against the Free French, 18/01/1943 but are repulsed by British forces. 19/01/1943The Eighth Army captures Homs and Tarhuna, near Tripoli. The Eighth Army triumphantly enters Tripoli. The Vice-Governor of Libya and 23/01/1943 prefect of Tripolitania offer a formal surrender. Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt end the Casablanca Conference 25/01/1943with their announcement of the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany and Italy. 26/01/1943The Eighth Army takes Zaula in Libya, less than 100 miles from Tunisian frontier. 29/01/1943Advance units of the Eighth Army cross the Tunisian frontier from Libya. 31/01/1943Eighth Army takes Zuara, near the Tunisian frontier. Rommel and Von Arnim's forces launch a counter attack against the American 2nd 12/02/1943 Corps in central Tunisia, forcing them back in some disarray. The 5th Panzerarmee under von Arnim, forces the retreat of the US 2nd Corps, 14/02/1943 inflicting very heavy losses in the battle of the Kasserine Pass. The Eighth Army occupies Medenine in southern Tunisia. 5th Panzerarmee's 17/02/1943 advance beyond the Kasserine Pass is temporarily suspended. Fierce fighting in continues in central Tunisia after the German breakout through the 20/02/1943Kasserine Pass, but further offensive operations by the Afrikakorps are halted in order for them to withdraw to the Mareth line. The RAF begins a round the clock bombing campaign in Tunisia, with 2,000 raids 25/02/1943 in the next 48 hours. Von Arnim launches a five-day counter attack in northern Tunisia, gaining some 26/02/1943ground. Montgomery issues the plan Operation 'Pugilist', which is to smash the Mareth defensive Line in southern Tunisia. Von Arnim replaces Field Marshal Rommel as C-in-C of the Axis forces in Tunisia 09/03/1943 and Rommel is ordered by Hitler to leave Africa, never to return. The British Eighth Army begins its offensive against German and Italian defenders 19/03/1943 of the Mareth line. 20/03/1943The Eighth Army continues its attacks against the Mareth line in southern Tunisia. The Eighth Army wins the battle of the Mareth line, forcing the axis troops to retreat 26/03/1943 to the North. 28/03/1943The British First Army goes onto the offensive in northern Tunisia. Elements of the Eighth Army break through at the Gabes Pass, over 100 miles into 30/03/1943 Tunisia and heads North. British and American forces in Tunisia launch an attack against the 5th 06/04/1943 Panzerarmee. Eighth Army joins up with the U.S. 2nd Corps in central Tunisia, while the British 07/04/1943 First Army makes progress in the North.
10/04/1943British forces take Sfax, 150 miles South of Tunis. 11/04/1943The British First Army takes Kalrouan, 100 miles South of Tunis. The Eighth Army take Sousse, to the East of Kairan and claim that 20,000 axis 12/04/1943 prisoners have been taken in Tunisia since the 20th March. The British First and Eighth Army's, the U.S. 2nd Corps and Free French forces 22/04/1943 begin the final offensive to destroy the axis bridgehead in Tunisia. Axis losses in Africa for first 3 months of 1943 are 66,000 killed, wounded and 26/04/1943 captured. 28/04/1943British forces repulse a last, desperate Panzer counter blow in Tunisia. 03/05/1943US troops take Mateur, less than 50 miles Northwest of Tunis. British forces break through the defences of the 5th Panzerarmee to the South of 05/05/1943 Tunis. 07/05/1943Tunis falls to British First Army. 09/05/1943The unconditional surrender of all axis troops in Tunisia takes at 11am. 10/05/1943The British First Army reaches Hammamet. Surrender of all German and Italian forces in Tunisia (130,000 German and 120,000 Italian prisoners). General von Arnim and 25 other axis generals are claimed 12/05/1943 captured, so ending the life of the once mighty 'Afrika Korps' and marking the end of the three-year North African campaign. 13/05/1943Marshal Messe, the Italian C in C of Tunisia, surrenders to Montgomery. King George VI lands in Morocco, only his second sanctioned visit of the war to 12/06/1943 forces overseas.
Iran, under pressure from the allies who occupy the country, declares war on 09/09/1943 Germany.
22/11/1943The Cairo summit opens between Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek. The Teheran summit conference opens with Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, who 28/11/1943 discuss the future of post-war Germany and Poland. 01/12/1943The Conclusion of the Tehran Conference, with the three Allies in substantial
agreement on the division of post-war Germany, the westward movement of the Polish eastern and western frontiers and the summary execution of 50,000 German officers. The second Cairo conference opens with Churchill, Roosevelt and the Turkish 04/12/1943 President Inonu. 07/12/1943The Cairo conference ends. De Lattre de Tassigny meets de Gaulle in Algiers before taking command of Army 20/12/1943 B, for liberation of France. The British military mission arrives in Turkey to discuss the supply of arms and 28/12/1943troops as agreed at Cairo. However, the Turks make surprising new demands, which cannot be met. Asia and the Pacific Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within the Asia and the Pacific region between the years 1939 and 1945.
"A gigantic fleet... has massed in Pearl Harbor. This fleet will be utterly crushed with one blow at the very beginning of hostilities...Heaven will bear witness to the righteousness of our struggle." Rear-Admiral Ito Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet November 1941
Japanese A6M Zero
Admiral Chester Nimitz
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a superlative fighter, being both fast and manoeuvrable. The Zero was to dominated the early air battles during the Pacific war.
Asian Mainland Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred on the Asia mainland between the years 1940 and 1945. The countries encompassed within the timeline are India, Burma, Malaya, Thailand, Indochina, China, Manchuria, Korea and the USSR.
"Singapore... could only be taken after a siege by an army of at least 50,000 men... its not considered possible that the Japanese...would embark on such a mad enterprise. Winston Churchill 1940
Japanese Type 95
Lt General Arthur Percival
General Tomoyuki Yamashita
The Type 95 light tank carried a four man crew and was armed with a 37mm main gun and a pair of machine guns.
24/06/1940 China protests to France over closure of Indo-Chinese border; Japanese request closure of Burma Road controlled by Britain and used to supply Chinese forces. 27/06/1940 Japanese troops occupy part of the Hong Kong peninsula. 30/06/1940 Governor General of Hong Kong orders evacuation of women and children to the Philippines as Japanese blockade colony. 17/07/1940 Under extreme diplomatic pressure, Britain agrees to close the Burma Road, a vital supply route for the Chinese army. 09/08/1940 British troops to be withdrawn from Shanghai and North China. 20/08/1940 Mao Tse-Tung launches 100 regiments guerrilla offensive against the Japanese in China. 29/08/1940 Vichy France agree to Japanese demands that they be allowed to station forces in northern Indochina. 30/08/1940 The Japanese military begins its occupation of ports, airfields and railroads in northern Indochina as agreed to by Vichy France. 01/10/1940 Japanese occupy British concessionary island off Wei-hai-wei, China. 08/10/1940 Churchill makes statement to Commons that the Burma Road is to be reopened. 18/10/1940 Britain reopens the Burma road, which had been closed for three months on the condition of progress being made towards peace between Japan and China. This hadnt happened.
Asian Mainland! French forces in Indochina launch an offensive against Thailand after numerous 16/01/1941 border provocations, but are unable to make much headway on land. The Japanese intervene in the conflict between Vichy France and Thailand, 31/01/1941 imposing an armistice on the French, which they are powerless to refuse. 18/02/1941Parts of the Australian 8th Division arrive in Singapore.
A peace treaty is signed between Vichy France and Thailand, which cedes back 09/05/1941 portions of Indochina that had been lost by Thailand 40 years earlier. 14/05/1941Large Royal Air Force reinforcements arrive in Singapore.
Wavell becomes C-in-C, India. The European Axis partners recognise the Japanese 01/07/1941 backed government of China. 02/07/1941China breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy. The Japanese extend their occupation across the whole of Indochina, as agreed with 23/07/1941 Vichy France. 28/07/194140,000 Japanese troops land in Indo-China.
17/11/1941Chiang Kai-shek urges the western democracies to take urgent action against Japan. 27/11/1941Japan rejects the USA's demand for their withdrawal of forces from China. 01/12/1941State of Emergency is declared in Malaya and Hong Kong is put on stand by. An RAF Hudson aircraft spots Japanese transports sailing west off Cape Cambodia towards Malaya. The British, having feared a surprise Japanese attack for a number of months now, had developed a plan codenamed 'Matador', to advance forces into 06/12/1941southern Thailand should the Japanese attack, in order to deny the Japanese use of the airfields and ports at Patani and Singora. However, the implications of violating Thai neutrality and more importantly the possible US reactions, dissuaded the British from launching 'Matador'. 07/12/1941The Japanese attack Thailand, Malaya, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Japanese aircraft bomb Singapore, which as yet has not blacked out. The raid inflicts about 200 casualties, mostly civilians. Japanese troops land at Singora and Patani on the Kra peninsula in southern Thailand, which surrenders the same day. Japanese 08/12/1941 make landings at Kota Bharu on the north eastern coast of Malaya, although troops of the 8th Indian Brigade put up strong resistance against these Japanese landings. However, rumours that the Japanese had broken through the defenders, caused the
RAF to evacuate Kota Bharu airfield and forced the 8th Indian Brigade to withdraw to the south after dark. Japanese troops launch an offensive against the new territories, a part of the British colony of Hong Kong. The Japanese overrun the US garrisons in Shanghai and Tientsin. Bangkok is occupied by Japanese troops as they to push through Thailand towards the Burmese border. The Japanese also continue to land troops along the Kra 09/12/1941 Isthmus in southern Thailand and at Kota Bharu in north eastern Malaya. China declares war on Germany and Italy. British forces that had pushed into southern Thailand begin to fall back along with 10/12/1941 those from northern Malaya after the Japanese capture Kota Bharu airfield. The British garrison in Hong Kong begin to withdraw from the mainland to Hong Kong Island itself. As a result of command and control problems, rumours and 11/12/1941many desertions, the 11th Indian Division withdraws from Jitra towards Alor Star in northern Malaya, even though the Japanese troops facing them were inferior in numbers. The US garrison in Peking is forced to surrender to the Japanese. The British Governor of Hong Kong rejects a Japanese demand for his garrisons 13/12/1941surrender. British troops in the southern tip of Burma begin to withdraw north towards Rangoon. 14/12/1941Thailand formally allies herself with Japan. Japanese troops move into southern Burmese territory on the Kra Isthmus and seize 15/12/1941Victoria Point, which had been vacated by the British two days earlier. Japanese artillery and aircraft pound Hong Kong in an attempt to soften it up. 16/12/1941Japanese troops land on Penang Island off the eastern coast of of Malaya. Japanese troops make gains in northern Malaya and are now only 10 miles from 17/12/1941 Penang, as British and Commonwealth forces begin to fall back to the river Perak. 18/12/1941Japanese troops force landings on Hong Kong island. 19/12/1941British troops evacuate Penang in Malaya. The Japanese launch their first bomber attack on Rangoon. They suffer heavy losses 23/12/1941to RAF fighters, but press home their attack, inflicting substantial damage to docks at Rangoon. Hong Kong surrenders after a 7 day siege, with more than 2,000 killed or missing 25/12/1941and 2,300 wounded. The RAF and American Volunteer Group shoot down 51 Japanese aircraft over Rangoon for loss of just 12 of their own number. Japanese troops cross the river Perak. The Japanese commander General Yamashita, senses that British resistance is weakening in Malaya and is determined to push 26/12/1941home his advantage and not allow the British any time to reorganise themselves. This he does by forcing the British troops back down the coast roads until he reaches a defensive position and then outflanks it through the jungle. General Wavell takes over command of the British forces defending Burma and 28/12/1941 India. The Congress Party in India supports the British war effort, while Gandhi resigns his 30/12/1941 leadership in protest. Asian Mainland! British troops are outflanked by the Japanese at Kampar in Malaya and begin to 02/01/1942 withdraw to the river Slim.
04/01/1942Chiang Kai-shek is appointed as Supreme allied commander in China. British forces continue to retreat south through central Malaya as the Japanese force 07/01/1942a crossing of the river Slim. The British commander, General Arthur E. Percival, hopes to be able to hold at Johore until at least mid February. The Japanese 5th Division enters Kuala Lumpur, which is the main supply base for the Indian 3rd Corps. By this time Japanese forward elements are coming in to 11/01/1942contact with the 8th Australian Division, which puts up fierce resistance, although Japanese amphibious landings to their south force them to retreat and ends British hopes of a protracted defence of Johore. The Japanese begin their invasion of Burma from Thailand, attacking up the Kra 15/01/1942Isthmus. They quickly capture the British airfields around Tenasserim, enabling Japanese fighters to now escort bomber attacks against Rangoon. General Wavell warns Churchill that Singapore cannot be held as little had been done to prepare the landward facing defences. Churchill replies that Singapore must be defended and that 'no question of surrender be entertained until after protracted 19/01/1942 fighting among the ruins of Singapore city'. General Wavell orders General Percival to prepare Singapore Island for a siege. Japanese troop capture Tavoy as their advance continues in Burma. The Japanese 55th Division crosses the Thai-Burmese border from Raheng. They 20/01/1942quickly threaten Moulmein in Burma, using the same tactics as in Malaya of outflanking British forces through the Jungle. 21/01/1942General Joseph W. Stillwell is appointed as Chief of Staff to Chiang Kai-shek. 22/01/1942Reinforcements reach Singapore as an Indian Brigade is landed. More reinforcements arrive at Singapore to boost its defenses as the British 18th 24/01/1942 Division is landed. 25/01/1942Thailand declares war on Britain and the US. The Japanese capture Moulmein and its airfield in Burma as the British forces 30/01/1942 evacuate and withdraw across the river Salween. British and Commonwealth forces complete their evacuation of Malaya and withdraw to Singapore Island across the causeway with the Japanese only 8 miles 31/01/1942away. Singapore now has the equivalent of four divisions to defend it, but morale is low and there are serious shortages of weapons. An additional Indian Brigade is landed at Rangoon and sent to join the 17th Indian Division. The British refuse to surrender at Singapore, heavy bombardment by the Japanese 04/02/1942 continues for 4 days. Lt. General Percival, the commander at Singapore, says city will be held to the last 07/02/1942man. The Japanese launch a feint landing on Pulua Ubin Island to the east of Singapore. The Japanese land on the western side of Singapore Island, encountering only 08/02/1942 minimal resistance. By dawn the Japanese 5th and 18th Divisions have firmly established themselves on 09/02/1942 the island and begin to advance south-east towards Singapore city. Wavell makes his last visit to Singapore, but by now there was nothing he could do 10/02/1942 to alter the outcome. 11/02/1942Japanese troops cross the river Salween in Burma. This caused concern for the
commander on the 17th Indian Division, Lieutenant General John Smyth, who felt that his troops might be cut off. He urged Burma Army commander, Lieutenant General Hutton to allow him to withdraw across the river Sittang. However, he was ordered to hold firm on the river Bilin. Singapore surrenders to the Japanese, a decision prompted as much as anything by the plight of the 1,000,000 civilian inhabitants of the island. 9,000 British, 15/02/1942Australian and Empire troops are killed and 130,000 captured, many of which will find themselves working as slaves on the notorious Burma-Thai Railway. The Japanese casualties amount to around 9,000 killed or wounded. The Australian Prime Minister Curtin, calls the surrender of Singapore Australias 16/02/1942 Dunkirk. Under increasing threat of being outflanked by the advancing Japanese, the 17th 19/02/1942 Indian Division is finally given permission to withdraw across the river Sittang. While the 17th Indian Division is withdrawing across the river Sittang, the Japanese launch an attack to capture the Bridge. Lieutenant General Smyth, orders the bridge to be blown, even though more than half his division has still to cross. The remnants 23/02/1942of the 17th Indian Division, withdraw to Pegu, where they are joined by the 7th Armoured Brigade, which had recently arrived from the Middle East. For prematurely blowing up the bridge on the river Sittang, Lieutenant General Smyth is removed from command of the 17th Indian Division by General Wavell. 28/02/1942Japanese are only 50 miles north of Rangoon. General Wavell reassumes post as C-in-C India and Burma. Burma is now cut off 02/03/1942 from the Southwest Pacific. 03/03/1942General Chiang Kai-shek meets General Wavell in Burma. General Sir Harold Alexander arrives at Rangoon to take over command of Burma Army from Lieutenant General Hutton. Wavell had given Alexander orders to hold Rangoon at all costs. Immediately, orders were issue for the 1st Burma Division to 05/03/1942counter-attack the Japanese from the north and 17th Indian Division which had be reinforced was to attack east of Pegu. Both attacks failed and Alexander realised that Rangoon could not be held. He ordered that Rangoon be evacuated and his troops withdraw north to the Irrawaddy Valley to regroup. 06/03/1942Japanese cut all roads north of Rangoon, trapping the British at Pegu. Rangoon falls to the Japanese as the British forces escape to the north. The 17th Indian Division was now holding the Irrawaddy area and the 1st Burma Division the 08/03/1942upper Sittang valley. The Chinese Expeditionary Force were farther north, with the Fifth Chinese Army defending Mandalay and the 6th Chinese Army was at Toungoo and defending the Burmese province of Shan. 09/03/1942US General Stilwell becomes Chiang Kai-sheks Chief of Staff. The British evacuate their garrison from the Andaman Islands, just off the Burmese 12/03/1942 coast south of Rangoon. General Bill Slim is appointed as commander of the 1st Burma Corps, which covers 19/03/1942all British, Indian and Burmese troops in Burma. This left General Alexander to concentrate on co-ordination with the Chinese. Japanese troops, reinforced by the 18th and 56th Division which had arrived by sea 20/03/1942 at Rangoon a few days earlier, attack the 6th Chinese Army near Toungoo in Burma.
23/03/1942Japanese troops capture the Andaman Island. The British Government refuses to hold an inquiry into the loss of Singapore during 24/03/1942 a Lords debate. In response to General Stilwell's request for a British counter-attack to relieve the 28/03/1942pressure on Chinese forces around Toungoo, Alexander orders the 1st Burma Corps to attack at Paungde and Prome in the Irrawaddy valley. The 6th Chinese Army abandons Toungoo, and fails to destroy the bridge over the river Sittang as well. This leaves the way to the Chinese border wide open for the 30/03/1942Japanese Army. The abandonment of Toungoo also exposed 1st Burma Corps left flank, whose attacks in the Prome area had been turned back by the Japanese. It was therefore forced to withdraw towards the Yenangyuang oilfields. 01/04/1942The Japanese force the Chinese out of Toungoo, north of Rangoon. 02/04/1942British retreat from Prome, upper Burma. Japanese aircraft bomb Mandalay in central Burma, killing 2,000. They met no 03/04/1942 opposition from the RAF as all its aircraft had by now been withdrawn to India. 09/04/1942Mahatma Gandhi arrested in India. 10/04/1942British negotiations in India break down. Japanese troops capture Migyaungye in Burma, which exposes the western flank of 12/04/1942 1st Burma Corps at put the oilfields at Yenangyuang under threat. The British begin to destroy the oil wells at Yenangyuang. The 1st Burma Division 15/04/1942with the help of the 38th Chinese Division, manages to extricate itself from a pocket south of Yenangyuang, before being completely surrounded. 23/04/1942Churchill tells the House of Commons of disasters in Japanese war. Japanese troops capture Lashio, thereby cutting the vital 'Burma Road' supply route 29/04/1942 into China. The British 1st Burma Corps completes its withdrawal over the Irrawaddy at 30/04/1942 Mandalay in Burma. The Japanese capture Monywa and Mandalay. The fall of Monywa was especially serious as this threatened to cut off the British withdrawal towards India. This turned 01/05/1942 a reasonably well organised withdrawal, in to a headlong retreat as British troops tried to avoid being cut off. 04/05/1942Akyab on the Burmese coast is abandoned by the British. 05/05/1942The Japanese advance into China along the Burma Road. 08/05/1942Japanese troops capture Myitkyina in northern Burma. 11/05/1942British retreat across Chindwin completed. British forces retreating from Burma reach the Indian frontier. General Stilwell 15/05/1942 crosses the border in to Assam in India. The rearguards of the 1st Burma Corps cross the border from Burma into India. 20/05/1942 Once this is complete, the 1st Burma Corps is disbanded. 21/05/1942Japan allows International Red Cross representatives to visit British prisoners. 24/05/1942General Stilwell arrives in Delhi. The Chinese are defeated by Japanese forces at Kinhwa in Chekiang province south 29/05/1942 of Shanghai.
Chinese recapture Tsingtien in Eastern Chekiang, cutting off the Japanese at 30/07/1942 Wenchow. 01/08/1942Japanese establish a puppet government in Burma. Chinese claim the recapture of the whole of Kiangsi, which was captured in last 30/08/1942 Japanese offensive. British forces begin their first land counter-offensive against the Japanese in Arakan, 21/09/1942 western Burma.
20/12/1942The Japanese bomb Calcutta for the first time. British troops cross the Burmese border from India and head southeast towards 21/12/1942 Akyab.
12/02/1943 Wingates first Chindit guerrilla campaign begins behind the Japanese lines in Burma. 19/02/1943 The first Chindit action against Japanese occurs. 22/02/1943 Allied commando raid on Myebon, South of Akyab in the Arakan, western Burma. 13/03/1943 A Chinese counter-attack throws the Japanese back across the Yangtze River. 17/03/1943 The Japanese attack British positions in Arakan, western Burma. 18/03/1943 Chindit forces cross the Irrawaddy in Burma. 29/03/1943 British and Indian troops begin to withdraw from Arakan in western Burma, under heavy Japanese pressure. 14/04/1943 Lieutenant General William J. Slim takes over command in Arakan. 08/05/1943 British forces withdraw from Buthidaung, just inside Burma. 11/05/1943 The British evacuate Maumgdaw before the monsoon arrives in the Arakan. All ground gained since September 1942 for the loss of 5,000 battle casualties is lost. 18/05/1943 The Japanese launch a new offensive along the Yangtze river, 250 miles north east of the Nationalist capital of Chunking. 20/05/1943 The Chinese launch a counter offensive on Yangtze River. 31/05/1943 Chiang Kai-Shek claims three Japanese divisions have been surrounded on Yangtze River. 02/06/1943 Japanese forces are reported to be in full retreat on the Yangtze. 18/06/1943 Field Marshal Wavell is to become the Viceroy of India, with General Auchinleck becoming the C in C of India. A new East Asia Command is to be established. 25/08/1943 Lord Mountbatten becomes the supreme allied commander in South East Asia Command. 26/08/1943 US bombers hit Hong Kong. 13/09/1943 The Chinese Parliament at Kuomingtang, elects General Chiang Kai-shek as President of Chinese Republic. 03/10/1943 Japanese forces launch
the successful rice offensive in Central China. 25/10/1943 The Japanese open the infamous Burma to Siam railway, which was built with forced British and commonwealth POW labour. 05/12/1943 The first Japanese daylight raid on Calcutta is mounted with many reported killed. 09/12/1943 The Chinese retake Changteh in Hunan. 20/12/1943 The British reach the Maungdaw plain in Arakan, Burma. 31/12/1943 The Battle for Razabil in the Arakan begins between British and Japanese forces.
Asian Mainland! 09/01/1944British troops capture Maungdaw in Burma. 13/01/1944The Chinese strengthen their position in the Hukawng Valley in northern Burma. 24/01/1944Chinese forces make further advances in the Hukawng Valley. The British launch their main attack on the Japanese Golden Fortress in the 26/01/1944 Arakan, Burma. 30/01/1944British attacks on the Golden Fortress cease. 03/02/1944The Japanese open their counter-offensive against the British in Arakan, Burma. Chinese advances in Hukawng Valley, continue while the Japanese offensive on 04/02/1944 Arakan front gains strength in order to push the British back into India. The Chindits begin moving towards Indaw, 100 miles behind the Japanese lines in 05/02/1944 Burma. 06/02/1944The Japanese pressure in Arakan forces the British to retreat. 13/02/1944Another British counter-offensive begins in Arakan, Burma. Merrills Marauders (US 5307th Composite Unit) begins Stilwells Sino-American 23/02/1944 advance into northern Burma. 01/03/1944The 'Chindits' cross the Chindwin in Burma. 04/03/1944Merrills Marauders fight their first major action in Burma. Gliders and air-transport-borne 'Chindits' set up Broadway a stronghold behind 05/03/1944 Japanese lines, North East of Indaw. 06/03/1944Another 'Chindit' stronghold is established South of the Irrawaddy. The Japanese begin the Imphal-Kohima offensive from northern Burma into Assam, 07/03/1944 India. Some 12,000 Chindits are now behind Japanese lines in Burma. British forces 11/03/1944 capture Buthiduang on the Arakan front. 13/03/1944British troops take the Golden Fortress (Razabil) in Arakan, Burma. The British are forced to withdraw towards Imphal in Assam, while fighting a bitter 14/03/1944 rearguard action. 15/03/1944The Japanese begin crossing the Chindwin for an advance against Kohima. The 'Chindit' White City base at Mawla severs Japanese communications in 16/03/1944 northern Burma. 17/03/1944The British blow up the Manipur bridge South of Imphal. 22/03/1944British tanks rout a Japanese tank force at Tamu in India. 24/03/1944Wingate, leader of the Chindits is killed in plane crash. 28/03/1944Merrills Marauders begin a 10-day defensive action against 1,300 Japanese at
Nhpum Ga Ridge. 30/03/1944The siege of Imphal begins, as the Japanese cut the road to the North. The 17th Indian Division reaches the Imphal plain after a 20-day fighting retreat. 04/04/1944Japanese forces begin five weeks of attacks to reach Imphal from the South and begin their attack on Kohima, Assam. Fierce fighting across the District Commissioners tennis court at Kohima. The 09/04/1944 Japanese renew their struggle with the 17th Indian Division, South West of Imphal. 13/04/1944British troops retake Nanshigum Hill. 16/04/1944Three Japanese blow up a 300ft suspension bridge on the Silchar track. The first reinforcements for the British garrison at Kohima begin to arrive. Japanese 18/04/1944 forces launch a new offensive in central China. The last Japanese attack on Garrison Hill, Kohima is repulsed as the British left 23/04/1944 hook begins its advance to the North. 24/04/1944The British force the road to Kohima open. 25/04/1944The British right hook South of Kohima begins. 26/04/1944The 'Chindits' occupy Indaw. 27/04/1944Merrills 'Marauders' begin a march on Myitkyina. 28/04/1944Chinese forces retreat in central China. 04/05/1944The British counter-attacks at Kohima, are repulsed by the Japanese. 300,000 Japanese troops begin their preliminary moves prior to an offensive from 07/05/1944the Canton and Hankow area in eastern China, with the aim of capturing allied airfields. 11/05/194472,000 Chinese begin an advance along the Burma Road. 12/05/1944The Japanese attacks to the South East of Imphal are broken off. 13/05/1944Jail Hill and other key Kohima features are recaptured by the British. 15/05/1944A Japanese attack on Hunters Hill, North of Kohima is repulsed. 16/05/1944The 17th Indian Division counter-attacks South of Imphal. Merrills 'Marauders' take Myitkyina airfield after a three-week, 100-mile, Jungle 17/05/1944 march. Chinese forces counter-attack in central China, and also make ground along the 23/05/1944 Burma Road. 26/05/1944The Japanese launch a two-pronged attack from Canton and Hankow. 27/05/1944Start of the monsoon season bogs down operations in Burma. The British 2nd Division begins its advance to relieve Imphal as the Japanese renew 02/06/1944attacks on Bishenpur. The Chinese besiege Myitkyina, near the Chinese border in northern Burma. 03/06/1944The Japanese rearguard at Kohima retreats, ending a 64 day battle. 04/06/1944The first B29 (Superfortress) combat mission is made against the Bangkok railway. 07/06/1944The British 2nd Division is now only 55 miles from Imphal. 18/06/1944The British 2nd Division manages to advance 14 miles towards Imphal. 20/06/1944The Japanese retreat from Imphal in Manipur towards the Burmese frontier.
The British 2nd Division and 5th Indian Division meet on the Kohima-Imphal road, 22/06/1944which is now completely clear of Japanese, lifting the 88-day siege of Imphal. The 'Chindits' begin an offensive on Mogaung in northern Burma. 26/06/1944The Chindits take Mogaung, with Chinese help. 01/07/1944The Japanese Imphal-Kohima survivors are encircled at Ukrul. China enters the seventh year of The Double Seven War, which started on 07/07/1944 7/7/1937. The Japanese Fifteenth Army is ordered to retreat to the Chindwin after losing 08/07/1944 53,000 men and 17,000 horses since the 7th March. All Japanese resistance in the Ukhrul area on India-Burma border crushed by the 09/07/1944 British. General Stilwell's troops, the NCAC, with the help of reinforcements, succeed in 03/08/1944securing the town of Myitkyina in North Eastern Burma, but the 600 surviving Japanese are evacuated after holding out for 79 days. 05/08/1944The British capture Tamu, across the Burmese border. 16/08/1944Japanese resistance in Northeast India ends. 27/08/1944The last Chindits are evacuated from behind Japanese lines in Burma. The British 36th Division takes Pinbaw, in northern Burma, during a monsoon 28/08/1944 advance from Mogaung.
The British and Chinese begin an offensive from Myitkyina to Bhamo in northern 15/10/1944 Burma. 19/10/1944The British capture an important Japanese supply depot at Mohnyin in Burma. 06/11/1944The Chinese 22nd Division crosses the Irrawaddy in northern Burma. The British 11th East African Division takes Kalewa and advance to the Chindwin 02/12/1944 from India. 06/12/1944The Japanese capture Tushan, South of the Nationalist capital of Chungking. The Chinese finally take Bhamo itself in northern Burma after the Japanese evacuate 15/12/1944at night. The 19th Indian Division meets the British 36th Infantry Division at Indaw, making the first connected front in Burma. 18/12/1944Eighty-four B29s bomb Hankow, which remains alight three days after. 27/12/1944British troops reach Foul Point in Arakan. Asian Mainland!
03/01/1945British troops take Akyab in western Burma, unopposed. The British make further gains in central Burma and are now only 30 miles from 13/01/1945 Mandalay. The British 19th Indian Division crosses the river Irrawaddy, to the North of 14/01/1945 Mandalay. 21/01/1945British forces enter Monywa, 60 miles to the West of Mandalay. The land route from India to China through Burma is declared free of Japanese and 22/01/1945 now open to convoys. 28/01/1945The first convoy for three years reaches China through Burma. 31/01/1945U.S. planes sink the Japanese floating dock at Singapore. The British 20th Indian Division crosses the river Irrawaddy Southwest of 12/02/1945 Mandalay. The British Indian 4th Corps begins to cross Irrawaddy and strike into the Japanese 14/02/1945 rear. The first use of napalm is made in Burma. The British 2nd Division establishes another Irrawaddy bridgehead, while the 21/02/1945British 36th Division breaks through at Myitson, in northern Burma. Meanwhile further British forces cross the Irrawaddy in central Burma. The British Indian 4th Corps take Meiktila airfield in central Burma after an eight28/02/1945 day push from the Irrawaddy. 03/03/1945Japanese resistance ends in Meiktila. 06/03/1945The new Chinese First Army takes Lashio in north-eastern Burma. A surprise armoured thrust by the British in central Burma, cuts off 3,000 Japanese 13/03/1945 in Mandalay. 19/03/1945The Japanese evacuate Mandalay. 20/03/1945The British 19th Indian Division completes the capture of Mandalay. 24/03/1945Chinese forces link up on the Burma Road. 31/03/1945British 26th Division reaches the Burma Road, which ends eight months of fighting. The Chinese launch a new offensive in Honan and Hupeh provinces of Central 13/04/1945 China. 14/04/1945Yamethin falls to the British 4th Corps in the Race for Rangoon. The British take Taungup in Southwest Burma, thereby depriving the Japanese of 16/04/1945 their last coastal supply base. The British Fourteenth Army in central Burma captures the Chaulk oil centre on the 18/04/1945 Irrawaddy. The Japanese Burma Area Army C-in-C leaves Rangoon. The British Fourteenth 24/04/1945 Army takes Pyinmana in central Burma. Indian paratroops land to the South of Rangoon, as the Fourteenth Army captures 01/05/1945 Pegu. 03/05/1945SEAC announces the liberation of Rangoon in Burma.
SEAC announces that Rangoon was taken so quickly that the Japanese had no time 04/05/1945 to destroy the installations there. The Fourteenth Army moves South in central Burma and links up with troops from 10/05/1945 Arakan in the west, trapping all Japanese to the west of the river Irrawaddy. 27/05/1945Chinese troops are now 25 miles North of Foochow and take Loyaun. 28/05/1945The British Twelfth Army HQ is set up in Rangoon. Chiang Kai-Shek resigns the Chinese Premiership but remains as President and 31/05/1945 Generalissimo, with Dr. Soong succeeding him as premier. SEAC estimate that 108,240 Japanese have been killed in Burma since February 11/06/1945 1944. 30/06/1945The Chinese take Liuchow and capture towns on the Indo-Chinese border. The British capture secret documents concerning a planned breakout of Hondas 02/07/1945 33rd Army in Burma. 18/07/1945Hondas attempt to break out in Burma begins in earnest. 08/08/1945The Russians declare war on Japan. Soviet Army massed at the Manchurian border sweeps into northern China and 09/08/1945 northern Korea overwhelming the Japanese defences. 13/08/1945The Mongolian Peoples Republic declares a Holy War against the Japanese. 14/08/1945Chiang Kai-sheks representatives sign a treaty of alliance with the Russians. Three of the Emperors family are dispatched to China to carry the news of cease17/08/1945 fire to Japanese troops still fighting there. The Japanese forces in South China surrender to the Chinese 1st Army in Canton. 19/08/1945 The Russian Far Eastern Army captures Harbin and Mukden in Manchuria. As the Red Army now hold much of Manchuria, the Japanese Kwantung Army 21/08/1945 surrenders formally to Major General Shelakor at Harbin. The Japanese in Burma say they are now ready to surrender having clarified the 23/08/1945 position. 25/08/1945Chinese troops are reported to have entered the Republican capital of Nanking. 28/08/1945The Japanese sign the surrender agreement in Rangoon. The Russians announce the capture of 513,000 prisoners in the Manchurian 29/08/1945 campaign. A Royal Naval force takes Hong Kong as marine's clash with Japanese suicide 30/08/1945 detachments. Ghandi, Nehru, and the all-India Congress Party demands that all Southeast Asia 21/09/1945 should be free of imperialist domination. 13/10/1945French troops are fighting in Vietnam.
Pacific Islands Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred across the Islands of the Pacific between the years 1939 and 1945. The land areas encompassed within the timeline are Japan and her empire, plus British, Dutch and US possessions in the region, as well as the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand.
"Before we're through with them, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell.! Admiral Halsey December 1941
American LVT1
General Jonathan Wainwright Pacific Islands!
Lt General Masaharu Homma
Originally a civil design for use in the Florida swamps, the LVT1 was the precursor of a large number of vehicles for the Marine Corps. The assault version had a M3 tank turret to provide fire support in the initial stage of a landing.
The Australian Prime Minister, R.G. Menzies broadcasts that Australia is now at 03/09/1939 war with Germany. Australia passes the National Security act. Earl Page steps down as Australia's 08/09/1939 Country Party Leader, to be replaced by Archie Cameron. The Australian Government announces the creation of a 20,000 strong defense 15/09/1939 force.
27/11/1939Australia and Britain establish the Empire Air Training Scheme. 28/11/1939The Australian Cabinet agrees to the sending of Australian troops overseas. Pacific Islands! 04/01/1940The 16th Australian Brigade marches through the streets of Sydney.
11/03/1940A coal strike in New South Wales begins.
11/05/1940Allied troops land in Dutch West Indies. Japanese Premier Admiral Yonai forms Inner Cabinet with ministers for Foreign 27/05/1940 Affairs, War and the Navy. 11/06/1940Australia and New Zealand declare war on Italy. 13/06/1940The German raider Orion lays mines off Auckland, New Zealand. 15/06/1940The Communist Party of Australia is declared as illegal. 16/07/1940Japanese Cabinet resigns under army pressure. 18/07/1940Prince Konoye forms new Japanese Cabinet with Army and Navy nominees. Japan announces its plans for the creation of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity 27/07/1940 Sphere. An air crash in Canberra kills three UAP ministers and Chief of the Australian 13/08/1940 General Staff. Alter the voluntary dissolution of all political parties, President Konoye of Japan 28/08/1940 announces structure to unite the total energies of the state and people. Japan signs the tripartite pact with Germany and Italy, hoping to deter the USA from 27/09/1940interfering in its affairs. However, this step had the opposite affect as the USA now saw Japan as siding with the aggressors. 01/10/1940Petrol rationing is introduced in Australia. 19/10/1940The Australian 7th Division sets sail for the Middle East. 28/10/1940Cameron is replaced by Fadden as leader of the Australian Country Party.
11/03/1941 Japanese Foreign Minister to visit Rome and Berlin. 13/04/1941 Japan and Russia sign a non-aggression pact, which all but removes any military threat to its northern borders. 24/05/1941 The Australian Prime Minister, R.G. Menzies arrives back in Australia after his trip to Britain. 13/06/1941 Russo-Japanese trade agreement announced in Tokyo. 29/06/1941 Germany demands that Japan launches an attack against Russia. The Japanese consider this, but in the end only agree to strengthen their forces in this area. 10/07/1941 Germany urges Japan to enter war. 18/07/1941 The Japanese foreign minister, Yosuke Matsuoka is
replaced by a moderate. New Japanese Cabinet has four generals and three admirals. 25/07/1941 United States, UK and Dominions freeze all Japanese assets. 28/07/1941 Japan freezes all US and UK assets in retaliation. 24/08/1941 Churchill broadcast's and warns Japan that its aggression must stop. 28/08/1941 Menzies resigns as Prime Minister of Australia and is replaced McFadden, who under pressure from his political opposition demands from the British, the relief of the 9th Australian Division from Tobruk in Libya. 06/09/1941 The Japanese decide to be fully prepared for war by the end of October. 10/09/1941 Japanese begin war games at the naval college in Tokyo in order to develop their strategy for the Pacific. 13/09/1941 Japanese war games conclude. 03/10/1941 Australian Independents vote with the Labour to defeat McFadden government. 07/10/1941 Curtin becomes the Prime Minister of Australia. 16/10/1941 The Japanese government falls. Prince Konoye is replaced by Hideki Tojo, Japan's minister of war. 03/11/1941 Admiral Yamamotos plan to attack Pearl Harbour is approved. 05/11/1941 Japanese war plans agreed at an imperial conference, with a deadline of December 1941. The US ambassador to Tokyo, Joseph C Grew, warns that war might come very suddenly. 06/11/1941 The Japanese Southern Army is ordered to prepare detailed operational plans for the up and coming offensive. 10/11/1941 Churchills Mansion House Speech: Tells Japan that war on US means war on Britain. The Japanese Foreign Minister says their aim is to make the US and UK retreat from East Asia. 20/11/1941 Japanese issue attack orders, although no action is to be taken until the results of the latest diplomatic negotiations are known. 24/11/1941 US Army commanders across the Pacific are warned of the possible imminence of war. 27/11/1941 US Pacific forces put on war alert. 30/11/1941 Japan finally resolves itself to attack the USA, although portions of the governments are still unsure. 01/12/1941 Japan fixes the date of its attack against Pearl Harbour as the 7th December 1941. 06/12/1941 Roosevelt makes a personal appeal to the Japanese Emperor Hirohito for peace. 07/12/1941 At 6:15 Honolulu time, the first wave of Japanese aircraft take of from their carriers which are located about 200 miles north of Hawaii. At 7:50, 43 fighters, 51 dive-bombers, 70 torpedo-bombers and 50 ordinary bombers arrive over Hawaii. They launch attacks against the airfields at Wheeler, Kaneohe, Ewa and Hickham and against the American warships anchored at Battleship Row. Surprise was complete and within a few minutes 5 battleships and 2 light cruisers had been sunk and a large number of aircraft (180) destroyed on the ground. Within an hour, the second wave of Japanese strike aircraft (36 fighters, 80 dive-bombers, 54 bombers) had arrived over the target, sinking a further 3 destroyers and damaging another battleship. By 10:00 the attack was over and the casualties could be accounted for. The Americans lost 2,729 killed and 1,178 wounded, while the Japanese losses amounted to just 29 aircraft (59 airmen) and five mini-submarines. The Japanese launch air attacks against Manila. Japan declares war on Britain and the USA. 08/12/1941 Japanese aircraft attack Guam and Wake Islands in the central pacific. The Japanese bomb the US controlled Philippine islands of Luzon and Mindanao from their bases in Formosa. Britain, Australia and the USA declare war on Japan. 09/12/1941 Japanese troops land on Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert islands. 10/12/1941 Japanese troops land on and capture Guam. Japanese troops make landings on the northern tip of Luzon and the island of Camiguin in the Philippines. 11/12/1941 Japanese troops attempt to land on Wake Island, but US Marine gunners and airmen repulse the first landing attempt and sink two Japanese destroyers in the process. Further Japanese landings take place in the Philippines. 14/12/1941 Japanese troops continue to land throughout the Philippines. 16/12/1941 Japanese forces land in Sarawak and Brunei in Borneo. 17/12/1941 Japanese forces make landings in northern Borneo. 22/12/1941 The Japanese begin their invasion of the Philippines by landing 43,000 troops of General Homma's 14th Army in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, 150 miles north of Manila. Filipino troops here failed to prevent the beachhead from being established and their scouts, which had been sent forward in order to secure the defiles barring the way south were also unsuccessful. 23/12/1941 The Japanese launch another attack against Wake Island,
overwhelming the small US garrison. Immediately after its capture, the Japanese rename the Island as Bird Island. Rear-Admiral Frank J. Fletcher's task force is still more that 400 miles away and so is diverted to Midway. American and Filipino troops of the North Luzon Force, begin to fall back towards the River Agno under heavy pressure from the Japanese. 24/12/1941 Japanese troops make further landings on Luzon to the southeast of Manila in Lamon Bay. The Japanese 16th Division starts its drive north towards Manila in an attempt to link up with the North Luzon Force. General MacArthur announces his decision to withdraw his forces to Bataan. A supply base is to be setup on Corregidor with sufficient stock to carry on the fight for 6 months. 26/12/1941 The Philippine capital of Manila is declared an open city by the Americans. 27/12/1941 The Australian Prime Minister, Curtin, announces, "Australia looks to America". 31/12/1941 Lieutenant General George H. Brett takes command of US forces in Australia.
Pacific Islands! 02/01/1942Japanese troops enter Manila. Churchill and Roosevelt announce the unified ABDA (American, British, Dutch and 03/01/1942Australian) Command in the Southwest Pacific, under General Wavell, with Lieutenant General Brett as his deputy. 04/01/1942Japanese aircraft attack Rabaul in the Bismarck Archipelago. 80,000 US and Filipino troops successfully complete their withdrawal to the Bataan Peninsula, along with 26,000 civilians, although food stocks are only sufficient to 05/01/1942 sustain 43,000 men for 6 months. The Japanese quickly close up to the first defensive position, which is based on Mounts Santa Rosa and Natib. Japanese troops complete their capture of Sarawak and also take Jesselton in 07/01/1942 northern Borneo. Japanese troops launch an attack against the eastern side of the Santa Rosa-Natib 09/01/1942defence line on Bataan, making some gains, although US-Filipino counter-attacks forces them back to their start-line. The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies begins with landings at Tarakan 11/01/1942 (Borneo) and Manado (Celebes). 12/01/1942Japan formally declares war on the Dutch East Indies. A Japanese attack just to the east of Mount Natib, begins to pose a threat to the left 13/01/1942 flank of the US-Filipino 2nd Corps. General Wavell arrives at Batavia in Java to setup ABDA headquarters. The 14/01/1942Japanese launch an attack against the US-Filipino 1st Corps positions on the western side of Bataan. Heavy US losses on the Bataan Peninsula as the Japanese troops press the defenders 16/01/1942 back. 19/01/1942The Japanese have now secured all of British North Borneo. 21/01/1942The Japanese bomb New Guinea for the first time. General MacArthur orders the withdrawal of US and Filipino troops to the BagacOrion line, which is the final defensive position in Bataan. After dark the Japanese 22/01/1942make two Battalion sized landings at Quinauan Point and Longoskawayan Point to the rear of the US-Filipino positions in Bataan. However, US and Filipino reserves successfully contain these beachheads. Japanese troops make landings at Rabaul on New Britain and at Kavieng on New 23/01/1942Ireland. They also make a simultaneous landing on Bougainville Island in the Solomons. In the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese land at Kendari in Celebes.
Australia appeals to Britain and the US for immediate reinforcements. 24/01/1942Japanese troops land at Balikpapan in Dutch Borneo. Japanese troops begin landing at Lae in New Guinea. A court martial is announced 25/01/1942 later. Australia begins full mobilisation of all assets at its disposal. The US-Filipino withdrawal to the Bagac-Orion line is successfully completed. The 26/01/1942Japanese quickly followed up the withdrawal and made several penetration in to the defensive new line, although these were all contained and thrown back. 27/01/1942Japanese troops land at Pemangkat on the west coast of Dutch Borneo. Japanese forces capture the important naval base of Amboina between Celebes and 30/01/1942 New Guinea. 03/02/1942Japanese air raids on Port Moresby. President Quezon of the Philippines proposes to President Roosevelt that his country should be granted total independence from the USA so that it could declare itself neutral, but Roosevelt dismisses this idea. General MacArthur warns Roosevelt that 03/02/1942 the Bataan garrison has suffered over 50 per cent casualties and it was 'near done'. MacArthur was given permission by Roosevelt to surrender Filipino, but not US troops who were to fight until the end. First meeting of Pacific War Council in London with Dutch, New Zealand, 10/02/1942 Australian and UK representatives. 14/02/1942The Japanese being their invasion of Sumatra with airborne landings at Palembang. 19/02/1942In Australia, Darwin is attacked twice in one day by Japanese aircraft. Japanese forces land on the Portuguese Island of Timor. Japanese troops having suffered heavy casualties over the past few weeks from battle and disease, begin to 20/02/1942 slacken their pressure in Bataan. President Quezon of the Philippines leaves for Australia in a US submarine. 22/02/1942Roosevelt authorises the transfer of General MacArthur. Wavells ABDA HQ leaves Java for Australia, where upon its arrival it is disbanded. 23/02/1942Against the wishes of Churchill, the Australian Prime Minister, Curtin orders all Australian Divisions to return home. After the withdrawal of ABDA HQ from Java, Wavell himself now leaves for 25/02/1942 Australia. 28/02/1942Japanese land on Java. 02/03/1942The Dutch take supreme command of all allied forces in Southwest Pacific. 06/03/1942Japanese occupy Batavia in Java. 07/03/1942The Government of the Dutch East Indies flees Java for Australia. 08/03/1942Japanese make unopposed landings at Lae and Salamaua on New Guinea. The Government of the Dutch East Indies reaches Adelaide in Australia as all 09/03/1942 resistance on Java ceases and the island surrenders to the Japanese. Japanese troops make landings at Finschhafen in New Guinea. They also occupy 10/03/1942 Buka in the Solomon Islands. Japanese aircraft attack Port Moresby in Papua. General MacArthur leaves Corregidor and the Philippines for Australia, after being 11/03/1942ordered to assume command of the new South-West Pacific area, which in effect meant all Allied forces in the Pacific. MacArthur's last words before leaving were "I
shall return!". General M. Wainwright takes over command in the Philippines. 12/03/1942US troops occupy New Caledonia. 14/03/1942US troops arrive in Australia in force. 17/03/1942General MacArthur arrives in Australia from the Philippines. US forces occupy the New Hebrides in order to help protect Australia's west coast 18/03/1942 from direct Japanese invasion. 22/03/1942Japanese aircraft attack Darwin. 23/03/1942Port Moresby is again attacked by Japanese aircraft. The Japanese begin an intensive bombing campaign of Bataan and Corregidor. General Homma's 14th Army receives reinforcement ready for its final offensive 24/03/1942 against the Bataan and Corregidor. This takes the form of the Japanese 4th Division, which has been shipped from Shanghai. 25/03/1942US troops occupy the Society Islands. 26/03/1942General Blamey becomes the Commander-in-Chief of Australian Military Forces. 27/03/1942The Filipino Government arrives in Australia. The Australian War Cabinet implements a 'Total Denial' policy in northern Australia should the Japanese invade. This would involve the conduct of a fighting 29/03/1942withdrawal, with the evacuation or destruction of anything left behind. Already underway was a vast migration of sheep and cattle southwards, with those taking part being nicknamed 'Overlanders'. The Allies formally divide the Pacific theatre into two commands. General MacArthur takes control of the South-West Pacific Command based in Australia and covering the Philippines, new Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Dutch 30/03/1942East Indies. The second command covered the remainder of the Pacific and came under the control of Admiral Nimitz, who was based at Pearl Harbor. His Pacific Ocean Command was then sub divided in to three, which were the North, Central and South Pacific Areas. 01/04/1942Japanese begin landing in Dutch New Guinea. The final Japanese offensive on Bataan begins with a five hour artillery and air bombardment, after which the Japanese launch infantry attacks supported by some 03/04/1942 tanks, which allows them to make penetrations in to US-Filipino defensive positions. 06/04/1942The Japanese make landings on Manus Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. After 4 days of desperate fighting on Bataan, the Japanese have managed to 07/04/1942penetrate 4 miles in to the US-Filipino lines, bringing General Wainwright's forces to the brink of collapse. US-Filipino forces on Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines surrender. 78,000 troops are captured, including 12,000 Americans, but 2,000 escape to Corregidor. This is 09/04/1942 the largest capitulation in US History. Japanese aircraft sink the British carrier Hermes, the destroyer Vampire and three other warships in Indian Ocean. The 78,000 captured men from Bataan begin a 65 mile march under the hot sun from Mariveles to San Fernando, with little food or water. This was to become 10/04/1942 known as the 'Bataan Death March'. The Japanese begin landing troops on Cebu Island, which has a combined US-Filipino garrison of 4,500 troops. 13/04/1942Fighting continues on Cebu Island, as the US-Filipino garrison withdraws in to the
hills. Japanese Imperial GHQ Naval Order No.18 is issued. This orders Admiral Yamamoto, C-in-C of the Japanese Combined Fleet to draw up plans for Operation 'Mi', the capture of Midway and the Aleutian Island, a plan that had originally been 16/04/1942suggested by Admiral Yamamoto during March. The Japanese make landings on Panay Island. The US aircraft carrier Lexington, sets sail from Pearl Harbor, with orders to link up with the Yorktown in the Tonga Islands and then head, under the command of Admiral Fletcher to the Coral Sea. 18/04/1942The Headquarters of the southwest Pacific theatre are established in Melbourne. Resistance on Cebu Island ends as the US-Filipino garrison surrenders to the 19/04/1942 Japanese. As a result of the Doolittle raid on Japan, the Japanese decide that Operation 'Mi' 20/04/1942must take place as soon as possible, while plans to capture Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia are to be postponed. The Japanese continue to land reinforcements on Mindanao Island as the step up 29/04/1942attacks against the Filipino garrison. The shelling of Corregidor increases as the Japanese prepare to invade the Island. 02/05/1942The Australian garrison on Tulagi is evacuated. 03/05/1942The Japanese make landings on Tulagi. 04/05/1942The Japanese Port Moresby invasion force leaves Rabaul, in New Britain. Japanese troops make amphibious landings against the US-Filipino garrison on 05/05/1942 Corregidor. General Wainwright surrenders Corregidor to the Japanese, along with 15,000 07/05/1942 prisoners. General William Sharp, commanding the Central Philippines orders the surrender of 10/05/1942the remaining US and Filipino forces to the Japanese, thus ending resistance throughout the whole of the Philippines. Perth police arrest four Australians for planning to set up an Australia First Nazi25/05/1942 style government. 07/06/1942The Japanese make landings on Attu and Kiska Islands in the Aleutian Islands. 19/07/1942Japanese invasion fleet leaves Rabaul for Buna, New Guinea. The Headquarters of MacArthur's southwest Pacific theatre moves from Melbourne 20/07/1942 to Brisbane. 21/07/1942Japanese land at Buna. 30/07/1942Japanese capture crucial islands en-route to New Guinea. 07/08/1942US land on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. 08/08/1942US Marines take Henderson Airfield. 31 U.S. aircraft touchdown on the newly completed Henderson Field airstrip on 20/08/1942 Guadalcanal to help the Marines fighting over the control of the island.
22/08/1942First wave of Japanese reinforcements wiped out by US forces on Guadalcanal. According to some sources Japanese succeed in landing troops on Guadalcanal in the night from destroyers. Nauru, Gilbert Is. and Goodenough, off the SE coast of 25/08/1942 New Guinea are occupied by Japanese. Battle of Milne Bay, Papua, begins. Japanese Special Naval Landing Force of 1,200 men come ashore. Two thousand Japanese land at Milne Bay, South East of Port Moresby and advance 26/08/1942 up Kokoda Trail. 30/08/1942U.S. Naval and Army forces occupy Adad, Aleutian Is. for an air and naval base. 31/08/19421,200 Japanese reinforcements landed on Guadalcanal by Tokyo Express. Australians force total Japanese evacuation of Milne Bay, with just 1,000 troops 06/09/1942 surviving to be evacuated. 07/09/1942US Marines launch a surprise raid on the Japanese base at Talou, Guadalcanal. Japanese advance from Kokoda to the Owen Stanley Mountain Range in an 08/09/1942 overland drive for Port Moresby, New Guinea. 11/09/1942Japanese drive halted by Australians at loribaiwa, just 32 miles from Port Moresby. The US Navy Department claim 42 Japanese aircraft shot down in the Solomon 28/09/1942 Islands in last three days, with no US losses. Strong Japanese rearguard action against the Australians at Templeton Crossing on 08/10/1942 the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea. 15/10/19424,500 Japanese troops land as reinforcement for Guadalcanal as battle continues. The Japanese are forced back by Australians at Templeton Crossing, New Guinea. 16/10/1942 The shelling of Henderson Airfield continues. The land battle begins in earnest around Henderson Field, with the elite Japanese 24/10/1942 2nd Division being wiped out. The US retains control of all their positions on Guadalcanal. An Australian force 29/10/1942 completes the evacuation of the Templeton Crossing positions in New Guinea. 02/11/1942The Australians recapture Kokoda in New Guinea. US and Australian forces join up for the assault on the last Japanese stronghold in 16/11/1942 Northern Papua, the Buna-Gona bridgehead. 01/12/1942The Australians take Gona in New Guinea. 07/12/1942US make a beachhead South of Buna, cutting off Japanese forces there. 09/12/1942Fresh US troops relieve the besieged 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal. Australian troops capture Gona and now control the whole of the Gona area in New 10/12/1942 Guinea. 13/12/1942The Japanese make successful new landings North of Buna. 17/12/1942The Final US-Australian assault on Buna begins. 22/12/1942Chifley is appointed as Minister of Post-War Reconstruction in Australia. 24/12/1942US bomb Wake Island. 28/12/1942The Japanese withdrawal from Buna ordered.
30/12/1942The allies cut Japanese forces in two at Buna. Pacific Islands! 02/01/1943The allies finally take Buna. 04/01/1943The Japanese Navy orders the evacuation of Guadalcanal by the end of the month. 15/01/1943US forces launch their final offensive on Guadalcanal. 18/01/1943Australian troops capture Cape Killerton and Wye Point in Papua, New Guinea. Japanese forces are routed at Sanananda, putting paid to their resistance in Papua. 22/01/1943On Guadalcanal, the Americans make important gains in the battle round Henderson field. 24/01/1943Fighting in Papua is officially reported as over. 29/01/1943Japanese aircraft attack Wau airfield. 06/02/1943The Americans outflank the retreating Japanese on Guadalcanal. 08/02/1943Japanese complete their evacuation of Guadalcanal. The Australian 9th Division march's through Melbourne watched by more than half 31/03/1943 a million people. US fighter aircraft in planned raid, intercept Admiral Yamamotos plane over 18/04/1943 Bougainville and shoot its down, killing the Admiral. The Americans announce that their airmen captured in the Doolittle Raid on 20/04/1943 Tokyo were beheaded by Japanese.
US Marines land on Nassau beach near Lae in New Guinea during Operation 29/06/1943 'Cartwheel'. Operation 'Cartwheel' continues with the occupation of Rendova, north west of 30/06/1943Guadalcanal. The Trobriand and Woodlark islands between Solomon's and New Guinea are also occupied. 02/07/1943US troops land on New Georgia in the Solomon's. US troops from Nassau Beach link up with the Australians who are under heavy 03/07/1943attack at Mubo in New Guinea. Operation 'Cartwheel' continues with further advances in the Solomon's. The Japanese garrison of 6,000 troops are secretly evacuated from Kiska in the 28/07/1943 Aleutians.
U.S. bombers drop 153 tons of bombs on Kiska, Aleutian Islands, a new one-day 04/08/1943 record. 05/08/1943US forces capture Munda airfield in New Georgia. 15/08/194334,436 US and Canadian troops land on Kiska to find the island evacuated. Heavy US air attacks on the Japanese airfields at Wewak on the North coast of New 17/08/1943 Guinea, with 215 Japanese planes destroyed for loss of just six USAAF aircraft. 21/08/1943The Labour Party wins the Australian elections. US forces complete the capture of New Georgia in the Pacific. Japanese fall back to 25/08/1943Francisco River where it runs into Bayern Bay on New Guinea while being pursued by Australian and American troops. The Australians 9th Division lands in force to the East of Lae on North coast of New 04/09/1943 Guinea. US paratroops land behind the Japanese positions at Lae, surrounding about 20,000 05/09/1943 Japanese troops. 07/09/1943Japanese aircraft bomb Nanumea, Ellice Island. The Australian 7th and 9th Divisions capture Lae in New Guinea after very heavy 15/09/1943 fighting. 22/09/1943Troops of the 9th Australian Division land near Finschhafen in New Guinea. The first of two heavy air raids against Wewak are conducted by the 5th AAF, with 27/09/1943 64 Japanese planes and seven ships destroyed. The Australian Government releases men from the army and munitions industry for 01/10/1943 reallocation within the Australian war effort. 02/10/1943The Australians 9th Division captures Finschhafen on New Guinea. 350 allied bombers hit the Japanese base at Rabaul in New Britain. The damage 12/10/1943 reported includes 120 planes destroyed. The whole of the New Georgia group of islands in the Solomon's are reported in 13/10/1943 allied hands. Jose P. Laurel, a distinguished pre-war Filipino statesman, takes office as president of the Philippines after being elected by a Japanese puppet National 14/10/1943Assembly on Sept. 25. Surviving two assassination attempts by Filipino guerillas, Laurels government enjoyed little popularity. A general amnesty after the war spared him a treason trial. 17/10/1943The US and Japan exchange 3,000 civilian prisoners in Goa. A feint landing on Choisseul in the Solomon's is conducted by US forces. 26/10/1943 Meanwhile Treasury Island is occupied. The US 3rd Marine Division lands at Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville Island 01/11/1943 in the Solomon's. 03/11/1943Heavy USAAF air attacks begin on Rabaul. China's Wang Chingwei, Thailand's Wan Waithayakon, Manchukuo's Chang 05/11/1943Chinghui, Burma's Adipadi Ba Maw, India's Subhas Chandra Bose, and the Philippines Jose Laurel attend the "Greater East Asia Family Conference" of
November 5-6, 1943 in Tokyo. The Filipino delegate urges the Asian quislings to "extend all possible material and spiritual support to Japan." 06/11/1943The Japanese land reinforcements North of Empress Bay. US Marines land on Makin and Tarawa atolls in Gilbert Islands, with fierce fighting 20/11/1943 reported. The US Navy Department announces that very few Japanese are left alive in the Gilbert Islands. On Tarawa, 1,090 Marines were killed and 2,193 wounded, with 25/11/1943 only 100 Japanese out of garrison of 4,836 being taken prisoner, with only 17 of them being soldiers. Sattelberg in New Guinea falls to the 9th Australian Division. 29/11/1943The Australians chase the retreating Japanese towards Wareo in New Guinea. 08/12/1943Australians troops capture Wareo in New Guinea. 15/12/1943US troops land on New Britain near Cape Gloucester, to the South West of Rabaul. 26/12/1943US Marines make further landings on New Britain, either side of Cape Gloucester. 29/12/1943US Marines secure Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain. Pacific Islands! 02/01/1944US Marines land at Saidor in northern New Guinea. 16/01/1944Japanese forces make their last counter-attack on New Britain. 23/01/1944Troops of the Australian 7th Division clear Shaggy Ridge in New Guinea. Australian advances in New Guinea are announced, with the Japanese cleared from 25/01/1944 the Shaggy Line. US forces attack the Marshall Islands, landing on Kwajalein, Roi and Namur. Land 31/01/1944 fighting begins in the Dutch New Guinea. 02/02/1944U.S. Marines complete the capture of Roi and Namur in the Marshall Islands. US forces take Kwajalein Island in Marshall's, losing 486 killed and 1,495 wounded, 04/02/1944 but inflicting 8,386 casualties on the Japanese. 08/02/1944The Australians complete the occupation of the Huon Peninsula in New Guinea. 10/02/1944Australian and Americans troops link at Saidor in New Guinea. 11/02/1944The Australians take Rooke Island between Huon and New Britain. The Americans announce that the Japanese remaining in Solomon's are now 14/02/1944 trapped. 16/02/1944The U.S. Navy pounds the Japanese base at Truk in the Caroline's. 18/02/1944U.S. Marines begin landing on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. 21/02/1944U.S. Marines complete the capture of Eniwetok Atoll, suffering 339 dead. 22/02/1944Heavy Japanese losses as the U.S. Navy bombards the Marianas in the Pacific. About 60,000 Japanese are reported to be trapped in New Britain and New Ireland, 27/02/1944 in the South West Pacific. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division lands at Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands, 29/02/1944 capturing an airfield. MacArthur pays a visit. 03/03/1944Japanese counter-attacks on Los Negros fail.
06/03/1944U.S. Marines land at Talasea in New Britain. 07/03/1944U.S. Marines secure Los Negros. 15/03/1944The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division lands on Manus in the Admiralty Islands. 24/03/1944The Japanese counter-attack on Bougainville is decisively beaten. 11/04/1944The majority of New Britain is now held by the Allies. 22/04/1944The allies land unopposed at Hollandia, on the northern coast of New Guinea. U.S. troops secure Hollandia and Aitape in New Guinea inflicting 9,000 Japanese 24/04/1944casualties, while only suffering 450 dead themselves. Australians troops enter Madang in New Guinea. 26/04/1944Australians troops occupy Alexishafen in New Guinea. The U.S. Army complete their capture of Hollandia's airfields and isolate 200,000 27/04/1944 Japanese for the duration of war. U.S. troops land on Wake Island and the northern coast of New Guinea, 125 miles to 17/05/1944 the West of Hollandia. 19/05/1944Wake is Island secured, during which 800 Japanese are killed. 12,000 U.S. troops land on Biak in the Schouten Island Group, 350 miles West of 27/05/1944Hollandia. MacArthur says, 'this marks the strategic end of the New Guinea campaign'. The first U.S. armoured battle of the pacific war occurs on Biak, with six tanks 29/05/1944being involved. The Japanese manage to force the partial re-embarkation of U.S. forces. 07/06/1944Mokmer airfield on Biak is captured by U.S. troops. U.S. Marines meet strong opposition to their Saipan Island landing despite the heavy 15/06/1944bombardment of the Marianas islands during past week. USAAF B-29s from China pound the Yawata steel works in the first land based air attack on Japan. 16/06/1944U.S. Marines repulse the Japanese counter-attacks on Saipan. Prime Minister Curtin returns to Australia after the Commonwealth conference in 03/07/1944 Britain. Vice-Admiral Nagumo and General Saito, commit suicide as the Japanese position 07/07/1944 on Saipan deteriorates. U.S. Marines defeat the Japanese on Saipan after a final Banzai charge. 27,000 09/07/1944 Japanese and 3,116 Americans were killed on Saipan. Buffeted by more than two years of military and naval defeats, Gen. Hideki Tojo is forced to resign his offices of prime minister, war minister and chief of the Imperial 18/07/1944General Staff. While Tojo's removal strengthens somewhat the elements of the Japanese government inclined to seek peace, Tokyo's official policy of fighting to the end remains unchanged. 21/07/1944U.S. Marines land on Guam, establishing beach-heads up to a mile inland. 22/07/1944The last organised Japanese resistance on Biak ends.
24/07/1944The U.S. 4th Marine Division (15,000 men) lands on Tinian. 25/07/19441,246 Japanese are killed in a Banzai charge in Tinian, another 3,000 die on Guam. President Roosevelt arrives in Hawaii for a conference on Pacific strategy with Gen. Douglas Macarthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz. FDR authorizes Macarthur's plan 26/07/1944 to liberate the Philippines instead of bypassing them, as desired by the Navy and Nimitz. 29/07/1944The Orote Peninsula is secured on Guam. The last Japanese counter-attack on Tinian is annihilated. U.S. forces make further 31/07/1944landings on the North West coast of Dutch New Guinea and begin a jungle push from Aitape. U.S. Marines complete the capture of Tinian Island losing 389 killed for 9,000 01/08/1944 Japanese. Organised Japanese resistance on Guam finally ends with them suffering 18,250 10/08/1944 killed and the U.S. more than 1,744 killed. U.S. Army forces supported by naval vessels land on Soepiori Island in the 07/09/1944 Schouten Is. off New Guinea. US Marines land on Peleliu Island in the Pacific, but suffer 1,100 casualties trying to 15/09/1944 establish a shallow beach-head. 21/09/1944U.S. planes hit Manila in the Philippines destroying 357 aircraft. 02/10/1944Martial law is lifted in Hawaii. Admiral Nimitz decides to invade the island of Iwo Jima, 700 miles to the South of 09/10/1944 Japan. U.S. B29 Superfortresses pound Formosa and Okinawa. The Formosa bombardment 10/10/1944 lasts seven days, during which over 650 Japanese planes are reported as destroyed. 13/10/1944The Australian Liberal Party is formed. 16/10/1944U.S. Rangers land on islands in an approach to Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines. The U.S. Sixth Army landings in the Philippines begin on the East Coast of Leyte, 20/10/1944 but the 60,000 men sent ashore encounter stiff Japanese resistance. U.S. planes pound the harbour at Manila in the Philippines and also destroy 249 05/11/1944 Japanese aircraft. USAAF B29s from Saipan Island in Pacific, bomb Tokyo for first time, but to little 24/11/1944 effect. The last Japanese resistance in Peleliu ends. 14,000 Japanese are killed or captured 25/11/1944 for 9,300 U.S. casualties. B29 bombers from Saipan again pound Tokyo, but this time the Japanese reply with 27/11/1944 raids against the U.S. airbases on Saipan. 08/12/1944A second Japanese airborne counter-attack on Leyte achieves some success against
US airfields. The USAAF begins a 72-day bombardment of Iwo Jima Island 700 miles to the South of Japan. The U.S. 77th Infantry Division captures Ormoc on Leyte. Japanese make their last 10/12/1944 seaborne reinforcement of Leyte. 13/12/1944The USAAF make the first damaging raid on Japanese industrial targets. U.S. troops capture an important Japanese supply post on Leyte, at the southern tip 14/12/1944 of the Yamashita defence line. 15/12/1944A U.S. task force lands on Mindoro Island in the western Philippines without loss. 17/12/1944U.S. troops capture San Jose airbase on Mindoro. The last Japanese port on Leyte is captured and MacArthur proclaims that Leyte is 25/12/1944 secure. Pacific Islands! 05/01/1945Australian troops land at Saposa to engage Japanese forces at Waitavolo. U.S. troops land at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon. 100,000 men are ashore in a single 09/01/1945 day, which is the largest Pacific operation so far. 11/01/1945U.S. troops establish a firm hold on the Luzon beachhead. 15/01/1945U.S. troops now hold 45 miles of the Lingayen Gulf coast. 19/01/1945USAAF B29 bombers destroy the Kawasaki aircraft works near Kobe, in Japan. 24/01/1945U.S. troops capture Clark Field, the main Japanese airbase on Luzon. 01/02/1945U.S. troops land unopposed to the Southwest of Manila. MacArthur orders a containment in the northern Philippines, as the main effort is 05/02/1945directed to the capture of Manila. The Australians land on the Japanese stronghold of New Britain, East of New Guinea. 13/02/1945U.S. troops capture the last Japanese naval base and airfield on Luzon. Japanese forces are now trapped in the Manila rectangle, which is just 5,000yds by 15/02/1945 2,000yds. U.S. forces begin the intensive bombardment of Iwo Jima, 600 miles South of 16/02/1945Japan. U.S. paratroops land on Corregidor Island, a Japanese stronghold in Manila Bay. U.S. troops capture the whole of the Bataan Peninsula, which commands Manila 17/02/1945 Bay in Philippines. After a heavy bombardment, 30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima, but suffer 2,420 19/02/1945 casualties on the first day. US paratroops spring 2,146 detainees from a Japanese camp South of Manila in surprise attack, during which 243 Japanese are killed for loss of just two U.S. killed 23/02/1945 and two injured. U.S. Marines storm Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima and raise the U.S. flag. 24/02/1945U.S. Marines capture a second airfield on Iwo Jima. 26/02/1945U.S. Marines land on Verde Island, to the Southeast of Manila. U.S. Marines take Motoyama on Iwo Jima after a bloody battle. Corregidor is 28/02/1945 reported as clear of Japanese troops.
01/03/1945The fighting ends in Manila. In an attempt to break the Japanese morale and wear away resistance to surrender, the USAAF begins the firebombing of Japans major city's with a raid by 334 B-29 Superfortress bombers on Tokyo, saturating the city's crowded downtown 09/03/1945 residential district. 16 and a half acres of Tokyo are burnt out and 100,000 people killed in a single night. The attacks by the USAAF continue against Tokyo for 10 days, before switching to Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe. U.S. troops begin mopping up on Iwo Jima and launch heavy attacks in the North of 14/03/1945 the island. 15/03/1945U.S. troops report slow progress on Luzon in the Philippines. 24/03/1945U.S. Marines seize islands off coast of Okinawa in Pacific. The last organised Japanese troops on Iwo Jima make a suicide attack. Total U.S. 26/03/1945killed on Iwo Jima is 6,891, with more than 20,000 Japanese being killed and only 216 captured. The U.S. Tenth Army, with 1,457 ships in support, invades Okinawa which is 325 01/04/1945 miles from Japan. 60,000 troops land unopposed and establish an 8-mile bridgehead. 03/04/1945MacArthur is appointed as C-in-C of land forces in the Pacific. A U.S. military government is established on Okinawa. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov summons Japanese Ambassador Sato to inform him of the Soviet Unions 05/04/1945intention to renounce the 1941 neutrality pact between the two countries, thus signaling the failure of Japans increasingly strenuous efforts to ensure ongoing Soviet neutrality as the wars tide turned against Japan. 07/04/1945The first land-based U.S. fighters from Iwo Jima overfly Japan. 16/04/1945U.S. landings begin on Le Island and three airfields are taken. U.S. troops encounter very stiff resistance by the Japanese at Bloody Ridge on Ie 19/04/1945 Island. 21/04/1945U.S. troops take Bloody Ridge on Okinawa. The U.S. campaign in the central Philippines officially ends with the capture of 22/04/1945 Cebu Island. The Mexican Air Force's 201 Squadron arrives at Manila. In operations from 4 June, 1945 to the end of the war, the 201 flies 96 combat missions, mostly in support of 30/04/1945 ground troops. The 201 will be the only Mexican unit to see overseas combat in the country's history. 01/05/1945The Australians land on Tarakan Island off Borneo. In a new offensive, the U.S. Tenth Army reaches the suburbs of Naha, the capital of 11/05/1945 Okinawa. Wewak is captured by the 6th Australian Division. Very heavy fighting continues on Okinawa, with 125 Japanese aircraft being 12/05/1945 reported as shot down. U.S. troops capture Del Monte air base on Mindanao. The Australians clear the 13/05/1945 Wewak peninsula in New Guinea. USAAF B29's firebomb Nagoya, the heaviest raid on the Japanese homeland so far, 14/05/1945 with 3,500 tons of bombs being dropped, which destroys the Mitsubishi works. 15/05/1945The U.S. Tenth Army is now within 2,000 yds of Naha docks.
Heavy fighting continues on Okinawa, as the U.S. 77th Division takes Chocolate 16/05/1945 Drop Hill. The Japanese begin the evacuation of Shuri, on Okinawa. Their losses so far are 21/05/1945 estimated at 48,000 killed out of a garrison of 85,000. Sugar Loaf Hill on Okinawa is finally taken by U.S. troops after changing hands 11 22/05/1945 times in the last few days. The heaviest air raid so far on the Japanese homeland, see USAAF bombers drop 23/05/19454,500 tons of incendiaries on Tokyo. 21% of the city is now burnt out, but the firebombing continues for next four days. 24/05/1945Japanese paratroops drop on the US airbases on both Okinawa and Ie. The U.S. Joint Chiefs complete the plan for Operation 'Olympic', which sets the date 25/05/1945 to invade the Japanese mainland as no later that the 1st November 1945. 27/05/1945The U.S. Sixth Army takes Santa Fe on Luzon. 30/05/1945A White Paper on full employment is tabled to the Australian Parliament. 31/05/1945Osaka is totally burnt out by U.S. incendiaries. U.S. troops make new landings on Okinawa as forces from the East and West coasts 01/06/1945 link up South of Shuri. 04/06/1945U.S. troops land on the Oriko peninsula of Okinawa. 06/06/1945Naha airbase on Okinawa is now being used to hit Japan. The Japanese on the Oroku peninsula are reported as trapped. Tokyo radio says that 09/06/1945 4.93m Japanese have been displaced by the bombing in the last three months. 10/06/1945The Australian 9th Division makes two landings in Brunei Bay, Borneo. 13/06/1945U.S. and Australian troops enter Brunei, in Borneo. 18/06/1945The USAAF begins the fireblitzing of 58 smaller Japanese cities. 19/06/1945The Australians are now in control of both sides of the Brunei Bay entrance. Australians troops land at Lutong on Sarawak and gain 25 miles to the Seria 20/06/1945 oilfields. Organised resistance on Okinawa ends after 82 days of the bloodiest fighting in the 21/06/1945Pacific, during which 98,654 Japanese have been killed and 6,922 captured. U.S. loses were 6,990 killed and 29,598 wounded. 27/06/1945The U.S. Sixth Army reaches Aparri, effectively ending the campaign on Luzon. The Japanese casualty figures on Luzon are 113,593 killed and U.S. loses are just 28/06/1945 3,793. The Australian 7th Division lands at Balikpapan on South East coast of Borneo after 01/07/1945 a 15-day bombardment. MacArthur announces the liberation of the whole of the Philippines, although sporadic fighting continues until after the Japanese surrender. U.S. losses total 05/07/1945 11,921 dead and 42,970 injured or captured. The Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin, dies. Further allied landings are reported on Borneo. The Australians capture Maradi in 12/07/1945 the west of the island. 13/07/1945Chifley is elected leader of Labour Party and becomes Prime Minister of Australia. 15/07/1945The Australians take Prince Alexander Range in Borneo after an eight-week
struggle. A Proclamation to the Japanese people is issued by UK, U.S and China from 25/07/1945Potsdam, which warns of devastation from the final blows and calls for Japans unconditional surrender. The Japanese reject the Potsdam ultimatum, so the Joint Chiefs order the plans for 30/07/1945 Japanese surrender to be drawn up. U.S. B-29 "Enola Gay" drops a 3 metre long atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear 06/08/1945 weapon in warfare and wiping out 10 square kms. The U.S. First Army arrives on Luzon to prepare for final assault on Japan. U.S. B-29 "Bocks Car" drops atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan. Two09/08/1945 thirds of the city of 250,000 inhabitants is destroyed and 113,000 people die. 13/08/1945Surrender documents are sent to MacArthur in Philippines. The Japanese Cabinet decide at a morning meeting in Imperial Palace to surrender to allies. An 8.10 pm reply to the allied ultimatum is handed to the Swiss Foreign 14/08/1945Minister by the Japanese Minister in Berne. Truman calls a Press Conference at midnight to announce the 'Unconditional Surrender' of Japan. USAAF B29's launch the last air raid of the war against Kumagaya. The Japanese Government resigns and the war minister commits suicide. MacArthur 15/08/1945 becomes the Supreme Commander for Allied Powers in the Pacific. 16 Japanese surrender envoys arrive on Ie and are taken to Manila for a 5 and a half 19/08/1945hour discussion with MacArthur and his staff. Japanese troops on Java receive the cease-fire order. Further negotiations in Manila. The Japanese leave at 1pm. MacArthur says that 20/08/1945U.S. troops will land on the Japanese mainland within 10 days of signing the surrender. The Japanese announce that the first U.S. landings will be on the 26th August. A 21/08/1945 non-fraternisation rule with the Japanese is to be enforced by the U.S. 22/08/1945MacArthur says the surrender will be signed in the Tokyo area on the 31st August. The Japanese official casualty figures from air raids including A-bombs are 260,000 23/08/1945killed, 412,000 injured, 9.2 million homeless, along with 44 cities being completely wiped out. The Japanese news agency says that all Japanese troops are to be out of the U.S. 24/08/1945 landing area by tomorrow. Tokyo radio reports large numbers of people committing Hari-kiri in front of the 25/08/1945 Imperial Palace. 29/08/1945U.S. Marines and troops of 11th Airborne Division land in Tokyo Bay. U.S. occupation of Japan begins, 11th Airborne Division lands at Atsugi airfield and 30/08/19454th Marine Regiment lands at Kurihama naval base at Yokosuka and report obsequious bows and smiles from soldiers and civilians. As U.S. troops release POW's, many reports of systematic degradation are heard. 31/08/1945Tokyo is reported as 85% bomb damaged, although this is not as bad as Berlin. Japanese garrison at Marcus Island surrenders to the Americans.
02/09/1945The formal Japanese surrender takes place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. 04/09/1945Emperor Hirohito asks his people to co-operate in setting up a peaceful state. 06/09/1945Japanese forces in Southwest Pacific surrender aboard HMS Glory. 08/09/1945The first American troops enter Tokyo itself. Forty prominent Japanese are arrested for war crimes. Tojo, who ordered the raid on 11/09/1945 Pearl Harbour attempts suicide. 12/09/1945Mountbatten accepts the surrender of all Japanese troops in Southeast Asia.
The official Hiroshima and Nagasaki casualty figures are announced as between 28/11/1945 110,000 and 165,00 dead. 02/12/194559 Japanese are arrested on suspicion of war crimes. 15/12/1945MacArthur orders the end of Shinto as official religion of Japan. Pacific Naval War Timeline! This timeline covers all the Naval engagements that occurred in the Pacific, Philippine Sea and Indian Ocean between the years 1941 and 1945.
"Our citizens can now rejoice that a momentous victory is in the making. Perhaps we will be forgiven if we claim we are about midway to our objective." Admiral Chester Nimitz June 1942
American USN Wasp
Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
The aircraft-carrier Wasp was built in 1936 to use up the remaining 15,000 tons left after the Washington Treaty. She operated briefly in the Mediterranean in 1942 before returning to the Pacific where she was later torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese Submarine I-19.
Pacific Naval War!
16/01/1941French inflict a naval defeat on Thai forces at Koh-Chang.
14/05/1941Large Royal Navy reinforcements arrive in Singapore.
30/07/194117 Japanese spy fishing boats seized by US in Hawaiian waters.
The cruiser HMAS Sydney and German raider Kormoran sink each other off 19/11/1941 Western Australia. There are no survivors from HMAS Sydney. Japanese 1st Air Fleet sets sail for Pearl Harbour, from its anchorage in the Kurile Islands. Commanded by Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, its consists of 6 aircraft carriers, 26/11/1941 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers and 8 oil tankers and has strict orders to observe strict radio silence. 02/12/1941The Battleship Prince of Wales and the Battle Cruiser Repulse arrive in Singapore. 05/12/1941Japanese fleet is officially reported moving south. At 6:15 Honolulu time, the first wave of Japanese aircraft take of from their carriers which are located about 200 miles north of Hawaii. At 7:50, 43 fighters, 51 divebombers, 70 torpedo-bombers and 50 ordinary bombers arrive over Hawaii. They 07/12/1941launch attacks against the airfields at Wheeler, Kaneohe, Ewa and Hickham and against the American warships anchored at Battleship Row. Surprise was complete and within a few minutes 5 battleships and 2 light cruisers had been sunk and a large number of aircraft (180) destroyed on the ground. Within an hour, the second wave
of Japanese strike aircraft (36 fighters, 80 dive-bombers, 54 bombers) had arrived over the target, sinking a further 3 destroyers and damaging another battleship. By 10:00 the attack was over and the casualties could be accounted for. The Americans lost 2,729 killed and 1,178 wounded, while the Japanese losses amounted to just 29 aircraft (59 airmen) and five mini-submarines. The British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse, set sail from Singapore in an attempt to intercept and destroy the Japanese landings that are taking place at Kota 08/12/1941 Bharu on the north eastern coast of Malaya, while the RAF manages to damage three of enemy's transports. Due to the RAF's heavy losses, the British Battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse 10/12/1941are attacked and sunk of the north eastern coast of Malaya by Japanese aircraft flying from occupied French Indo-China. A US naval task force under Rear-Admiral Frank J. Fletcher sets sail from Pearl 13/12/1941 Harbour with orders to relieve Wake Island. 31/12/1941Admiral Chester W. Nimitz is appointed to command the US Asiatic Fleet. Pacific Naval War! Four US destroyers and some submarines attack a Japanese convoy in the Macassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes, sinking 1 destroyer and four transports, while 24/01/1942 only suffering damage to one of their destroyers. This action delays the impending Japanese invasion of Java. The US enquiry in to the disaster at Pearl Harbour finds Admiral Kimmel, then the 25/01/1942C-in-C of the US Fleet, guilty of dereliction of duty. A court martial is announced later. The battle of Lumbok Strait results in a Japanese victory, as an Allied naval squadron attempts to prevent the Japanese landing on Bali. The Allies lose 1 Dutch 19/02/1942 destroyer sunk and 2 Dutch cruisers and a US destroyer damaged. Japanese Carrier based planes raid Darwin in northern Australia, inflicting severe damage to the port. The Battle of the Java Sea begins and continues for three days, during which the 27/02/1942Allies, under the command of the Dutch Admiral, Karel Doorman lose five cruisers and six destroyers, while the Japanese lose just 4 transports. The heavy cruiser USS Houston and light cruiser HMAS Perth, along with 1 British, 1 Dutch and 2 US destroyers, fleeing from the debacle at the Battle of Java Sea, surprise an IJN landing force at Bantam Bay near the Sundra Strait, and are sunk by 01/03/1942torpedoes and gunfire. The Japanese force, comprising 2 heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, 9 destroyers, and various transports, manage to sink a minesweeper and a transport of their own, and seriously damage 3 more transports, through the unprecedented firing of 87 torpedoes. Aircraft from the American Aircraft Carriers Lexington and Yorktown make attacks 10/03/1942 against the Japanese at Lae and Salamaua.
180 Japanese planes from five aircraft carriers attack the Royal Navy's base at Colombo in Ceylon. These came from Admiral Nagumo's 1st Air Fleet under Admiral Kondo's Southern Force which was tasked with destroying the Royal Navy's Fleet in the Indian Ocean. However, the British received prior warning and 05/04/1942 sailed the bulk of their fleet to the Maldives, although the armed merchant cruiser Hector and destroyer Tenedos were sunk. Fifty-three Japanese carrier-aircraft did however locate and sink the Royal Navy's heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall, to the south east of Ceylon, in just 22 minutes. Colonel James H. Doolittle leads 16 US Army B25 bombers from the carrier Hornet in first ever air raid on Japan. They took of from the carrier Hornet, about 750 miles east of Tokyo. Escort fighters were provided by the carrier Enterprise. Bombs were dropped on Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, Nagoya and Yokosuka. Only one aircraft was 18/04/1942 damaged during the raid, although all 16 were lost on crash landings in China. The material damage inflicted by the raid was minimal, although the damage to Japanese prestige was considerable and gave the allies a boost when their fortunes in the Pacific were at a low ebb. The US aircraft carriers, Hornet and Enterprise set sail from Pearl Harbor for the 30/04/1942 Corel Sea under the command of Admiral William 'Bull' Halsey. The Lexington and Yorktown, link up 250 miles south-west of Espiritu Santo, and 01/05/1942 begin to refuel. Admiral Fletcher, leaves the Lexington and her escorts to refuel, taking the 02/05/1942 Yorktown and her escorts and steamed north towards Tulagi. The Japanese covering force at Tulagi, which consisted of the carrier Shoho and 03/05/1942 escorts leaves to act as cover for the Port Moresby landings. With its naval support stripped away, the Japanese invasion fleet at Tulagi is attacked by aircraft from the American carrier Yorktown. 1 destroyer is disabled, 04/05/1942while 3 minesweepers and 4 landing barges are sunk for the loss of just 3 US aircraft. Admiral Fletcher, now doubled back to meet up with the Lexington in the Coral Sea. The main Japanese striking force which is built around the carriers Shokaku and 05/05/1942 Zuikaku, enters the Coral Sea and bombs Port Moresby. B-17's from Australia spot the Port Moresby Invasion Fleet south of Bougainville. They attack the Japanese Carrier Shoho but miss. Admiral Fletcher is now 06/05/1942convinced that the main Japanese force would make for the Jomard Passage between Papua and the Louisiade Archipelago and so organises his forces for the coming battle. The Battle of the Coral Sea begins, as the Japanese Striking Force (Admiral Inouye), which consists of the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, 2 cruisers and 6 destroyers make the first strike. This is against the oiler Neosho and her escorting destroyer, which are on their way to rendezvous with Admiral Fletchers Task Force 17, which 07/05/1942includes the carriers Yorktown and Lexington, 8 cruisers and 11 destroyers. The Neosho takes serious damage and eventually has to be scuttled. Admiral Fletcher then orders a cruiser squadron consisting of HMAS Australia, Hobart, USN Chicago and 2 destroyers to attack the Port Moresby invasion force, but this soon comes under Japanese air attack, although it did divert Japanese attention away from the
American carriers. At the same time, Admiral Inouye orders the Invasion Force to turn away from the Jomard Passage until the American carriers have been dealt with. Admiral Fletcher now launched a strike from the Yorktown against what he thought was a major Japanese task force, but which turned out to be only 2 light cruisers and 2 gunboats. However, aircraft from the Lexington spotted the Japanese carrier Shoho and sank her. Later that afternoon the Japanese launched 27 aircraft against the US carrier Task Force, but they failed to locate their targets and only 6 returned safely. At midnight, Admiral Inouye decided to postpone the invasion of Port Moresby for two days. At about 0800 hours both the Japanese and American carrier groups spot each other and send out attack aircraft. The Japanese succeed in torpedoing the Lexington, which severely damaged and later abandoned, while the Americans disable the 08/05/1942 Shokaku, which is withdrawn to Truk. Later in the day, the Japanese launch more attacks to destroy the remainder of Admiral Fletchers force, but this had withdrawn out of range. Admiral Yamamoto issues his orders for Operation 'Mi'. 2nd Carrier Striking Force under Admiral Hosogaya (2 small aircraft carriers, 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers) was to mount an air-strike on Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians on the 3rd June, this was designed to decoy part of the American force northwards. If this happened then they would be met by a Guard Force of 4 battleships, 2 cruisers and 12 destroyers, which would position themselves between Pearl Harbor and the Aleutians. Then on the 5th June, the transports carrying the Japanese assault force would land on Attu and Kiska Islands on the 5th June. Meanwhile the 1st Carrier Striking Force under Admiral Nagumo, which included the Carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, plus 20/05/1942 2 battleships, 2 cruisers and 11 destroyers, would sail from Japan for Midway on the 4th June. Following this would be Transport Force which was commanded by Admiral Kondo with the invasion troops, additionally protected by 3 cruisers from Guam. Finally the Main Support force, commanded by Admiral Yamamoto onboard the super battleship Yamato and including a further 3 battleships, 4 cruisers and escorting destroyers would be ready to move up to engage the American Fleet if required. In order to be sure of the position of the American Fleet, 3 cordons of submarines were positioned north and west of Hawaii and 2 flying boats were stationed at French Frigate Shoal, about 500 miles north-west of Hawaii. Japanese Combined Fleet lifts anchor and sets sail for Midway. On the same day, Admiral Nimitz, having been for warned of the impending Japanese attack against Midway by US intelligence who were intercepting Japanese naval signals, issues 27/05/1942 orders for Task Force 16 (Admiral Spruance) with the carriers Enterprise and Hornet, plus 6 cruisers, 11 destroyers, 2 tankers and 19 submarines, to sail for Midway the next day. Admiral Nimitz orders for Task Force 17 (Admiral Fletcher) consisting of the carrier Yorktown, 2 cruisers and 6 destroyers, which had been refitting at Pearl 30/05/1942 Harbor after operations in the Coral Sea, to set sail for Midway and meet Admiral Spruance there. 31/05/1942A Japanese midget submarine enters Sydney Harbour. 03/06/1942Task Force 16 (Spruance) and 17 (Fletcher) meet 350 miles north-east of Midway.
Admiral Fletcher takes overall command of the joint task force, although the two would act separately. US land based aircraft from Midway spot the Japanese Transport Force about 600 miles from Midway. They launch attacks against this force, but without success. US reconnaissance aircraft spot the 2 carriers of the Japanese 2nd Carrier Striking Force, which were about 400 miles from Kiska in the Aleutians. At 4.30am aircraft of Admiral Nagumo's 1st Carrier Striking Force makes strikes against Midway. However, the American garrison received prior warning of this from a spotter aircraft. This raid fails to sufficiently neutralise US airpower on Midway and so Nagumo orders a second attack against Midway. However, his aircraft are in the middle of being rearmed with torpedoes for a strike against the US carriers, should they be spotted. The Admirals orders mean that the Japanese aircraft must first replace their torpedoes with bombs, before another strike against Midway can take place. At 8.20am Japanese reconnaissance aircraft reported sighting the American carriers and at 8.55am warned that US torpedo aircraft had been launched and were on their way towards the Japanese fleet. While this is going on, the Japanese aircraft which had been sent out on the second strike against Midway, begin to return and by 9am had all been landed. Crews were now swarming round the aircraft with fuel hoses and bomb racks in a desperate attempt to get them ready for a strike against the American Carriers. At 9.30am the torpedo bombers from the Hornet and Enterprise found the the Japanese carriers, but by 9.36am they had all been shot down. The Hornet's and Enterprise's dive-bombers failed to find the Japanese carriers and so turned for home, although many ran out of fuel on the way. A similar fate was suffered by all the fighters on this mission. The torpedo bombers of the Yorktown now found and attacked the Japanese carriers, but with the same result as the previous attacks and by 10am it all seemed to be over and Admiral 04/06/1942 Nagumo could prepare for his counter strike in what seemed total safety. However, because his fighters had been drawn down to sea level to deal with the Yorktown's torpedo-bombers, the sky above the Japanese carriers was left temporarily exposed to attack. At 10.25am a lost dive-bomber group from the Enterprise stumbled upon the undefended Japanese carriers. The 37 Dauntless dive-bombers plunged down in to the attack. With their decks cluttered with aircraft in the throws of being re-armed and refuelled, the Japanese carriers were in serious danger. Admiral Nagumo's flagship, the Akagi was the first to be hit and a bomb started a fire in the torpedo store. This fire was so fierce that the Admiral had to abandon the Akagi and shift his flag to a destroyer. The carrier Kaga was hit next by four bombs, which set ablaze the ships aviation fuel and forced her also to be abandoned. The Soryu was hit as well, this time by 3 bombs. These started a fire on deck amongst the parked aircraft and also caused her engines to stop. In just five 5 minutes 3 Japanese carriers had been put out of action, but the agony was not yet over. At noon an American submarine found the stricken Soryu and sank her by torpedo. The Hiryu, which so far was undamaged, was ordered to withdraw at speed from the area in order to save herself. During her withdrawal the Hiryu managed to launch two strikes against the Yorktown at noon and 2.40pm, which caused severe damage to the Yorktown. At 3.30pm Admiral Yamamoto gave the order for the Akagi to be scuttled by torpedo as it had not been possible to save her. By 5pm the Kaga had also succumbed to her
wounds and sank. At the same time the Hiryu's luck ran out when she was spotted and attacked by dive-bombers from the Enterprise. Hit by four bombs, the Hiryu was set on fire from stem to stern and had to be scuttled by her crew. Farther north, aircraft from the Japanese 2nd Carrier Strike Force bomb Dutch harbor in the Aleutians as planned, damaging the islands fuel tanks and a US ship. US efforts to locate this force are unsuccessful. During the early hours, Admiral Yamamoto orders the withdrawal of the Japanese invasion fleet and abandons his efforts to capture Midway. The US fleet loses 05/06/1942 contact with the Japanese later in the day. The US destroyer Hammam is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. The US carrier Yorktown, having been damaged on the 4th June, is torpedoed and 07/06/1942 sunk by a Japanese submarine whilst enroute to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
08/08/1942Japanese naval counter-attack beaten off in Solomon Islands. Battle of Savo Island begins as 7 Japanese cruisers and a destroyer approach undetected west of Savo Island, Solomon Islands and sinks the U.S. heavy cruisers, 09/08/1942Quincey, Vincennes and Astoria and the Australian cruiser Canberra. They also damage 1 cruiser and 2 destroyers. The allied ships depart leaving the Guadalcanal area is in the control of the Japanese forces. Japanese send 4 transport ships with an close escort of a cruiser and 4 destroyers to 19/08/1942strengthen their land forces on Guadalcanal, Solomon Is. Movement is covered by 3 carriers, 2 battleships, 5 cruisers and 17 destroyers. Battle joined in the Eastern Solomons with the Japanese trying to land 24/08/1942reinforcements on Guadalcanal. US forces beat off the Japanese Combined Fleet sinking the carrier Ryujo, but suffering damage to the carrier Enterprise. Battle of Eastern Solomon's continues with a Japanese destroyer being sunk off 25/08/1942 Santa Isabel. 29/08/1942Japanese warships begin to evacuate Milne Bay. The US aircraft-carrier Saratoga is attacked and damaged by a Japanese submarine 31/08/1942 near Santa Cruz.
The US Navy surprises a Japanese naval squadron in the night 'Battle of Cape 11/10/1942Esperance', off Savo Island in the Solomons. The Japanese lose one cruiser and a destroyer, while the US Navy loses just a single destroyer. Battle of Santa Cruz, with US forces attacking the large Japanese supporting fleet 26/10/1942near Guadalcanal and shooting down 100 aircraft, damaging two carriers, a battleship and three cruisers. 29/10/1942The Japanese fleet forced to retreat in the Solomons.
13/11/1942First sea battle off Guadalcanal in the Pacific begins in confusion. Another night action off Guadalcanal costs the US Navy three destroyers for 15/11/1942 Japanese battleship Kirishma.
01/02/1943 Twenty Japanese destroyers begin the evacuation of 13,000 troops from Guadalcanal. 02/03/1943 The battle of the Bismarck Sea opens Northeast of New Guinea. A Japanese convoy is attacked by USAAF B25 bombers, which sink 12 ships. 07/04/1943 The Japanese air force begins a 10-day, round-the-clock bombing offensive against US shipping in the Solomon's. 15/06/1943 The German raider Michel sinks 2 ships off the west coast of Australia. 16/06/1943 93 out of 94 Japanese planes are destroyed during a massive attack on allied shipping round Guadalcanal. 05/07/1943 A Naval battle erupts in Kula Gulf, North of New Georgia. The US Navy loses the cruiser Helena, but claims eight or nine Japanese ships have been sunk. 13/07/1943 The Japanese sink the US destroyer Gwin and severely damage three cruisers for loss of cruiser Jintsu in Kula Gulf. 20/07/1943 HMAS Hobart is put out of action by a torpedo attack from a Japanese submarine west of New Hebrides. 01/08/1943 The Japanese destroyer Amagiri sinks USN PT-109 in the Solomon's, which is commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy. 06/08/1943 Battle of Vella Gulf : 4 Japanese destroyers attempt to bring troops and supplies to Kolombangara, Solomon Is. and are attacked by 6 U.S. destroyers. 3 Japanese destroyers are sunk and 1 damaged. U.S. destroyers suffer no damage. 31/08/1943 A U.S. carrier task force bombs Marcus Island, Micronesia. 05/10/1943 The first of two heavy raids by a US Navy Task Force against Wake Island, with 61 Japanese aircraft being reported as destroyed. 12/10/1943 350 allied bombers hit the Japanese base at Rabaul in New Britain sinking three destroyers. 01/11/1943 A confused naval battle begins around Bougainville Island in the Solomon's. 05/11/1943 US Navy carrier planes cripple a Japanese squadron at Rabaul, forcing six cruisers to withdraw North to Truk for repairs. 25/11/1943 A Destroyer action off Cape St. George results in the Japanese being routed to the north west of Bougainville and losing three destroyers out of five in the process. 10/02/1944 The Japanese combined fleet leaves Truk for Palau. 15/02/1944 The USAAF decimate a Japanese convoy off New Ireland. 19/02/1944 A Japanese convoy is smashed by allied aircraft in the Bismarck Archipelago. 13/03/1944 A U.S. submarine, Sandlance sinks a Japanese troopship convoy en route to the Marianas. 29/03/1944 The U.S. Navy bombards the Palau Islands to the East of the Philippines, destroying 150 planes, six naval vessels and 100,000 tons of shipping. 29/04/1944 The US Navy pounds the Japanese base at Truk, destroying 120 planes. 21/05/1944 An accidental explosion on board an LST unloading ammunition in West Loch, Pearl Harbor sinks 6 LST's killing 121 and injuring 380. 19/06/1944 The 'Battle of the Philippine Sea' begins. 08/07/1944 The U.S. Navy shells Guam in the Pacific. 17/07/1944 Admiral Shimada, the Japanese Navy Minister is sacked, Nomura takes over. 25/07/1944 The British Eastern Fleet pounds the Japanese airfields and port at Sabang on Sumatra. 04/08/1944 Aircraft from a U.S. carrier task group, cruisers and destroyers attack a Japanese convoy and other shipping in the Chichi Jima area, Bonin Is. Simultaneously, aircraft from a second carrier task group bomb airfield facilities on Iwo Jima. 05/08/1944 U.S. Aircraft from two carrier task groups, cruisers and destroyers bombard Japanese installations on Chichi Jima and Haha Jima, Bonin Is. 18/08/1944 A Japanese escort carrier is sunk by a U.S. submarine off northwestern Luzon, Philippine Is. A Japanese cruiser is sunk by a U.S.
submarine east of Samar, Philippine Is. 23/08/1944 U.S. destroyer and smaller naval vessels start a bombardment, repeated daily for 4 days, on Japanese installations and positions on Aguijan Island, Northern Mariana Islands. 31/08/1944 Aircraft from a U.S. carrier force (Task Force 38) commence a 3day attack on Iwo Jima and the Bonin Island in the western Caroline's and Visayas Archipelago, which is the next step to the Philippines. 03/09/1944 Wake Island and other strategic targets in Pacific are strafed by U.S. Navy aircraft for two days, during which 13 Japanese ships are reported sunk. 10/09/1944 The U.S. Navy begins a two-day bombardment of the Palau Islands in the Pacific. 21/09/1944 U.S. planes hit Manila in the Philippines, sinking 40 ships and damaging 35. 23/10/1944 The decisive three-day battle of Leyte Gulf begins. The Japanese lose four carriers, three battleships, six heavy and four light cruisers, 11 destroyers, one submarine and some 500 planes, with approximately 10,000 sailors killed. The first organised use of Kamikaze's by the Japanese are reported. 15/12/1944 A third Japanese prison ship is mistakenly sunk by US planes off the Philippines, with less than half of POWs surviving, to be recaptured.
Pacific Naval War! The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm carrier planes destroy the Japanese oil refinery near 24/01/1945 Palembang, on Sumatra. 16/02/1945A USN Task Force reports pounding targets around Tokyo. 19/03/1945The USN hit Kure naval base in the Inland Sea, Southwest of Tokyo. The U.S. Navy begins the pre-invasion bombardment of Okinawa firing more than 25/03/1945 half a million shells and rockets in a week. 03/04/1945Admiral Nimitz is appointed as C-in-C of all naval forces in the Pacific. The U.S. fleet off Okinawa is hit by the first suicide raid, code named Floating 06/04/1945Chrysanthemum I. During this attack, three destroyers are sunk, while 116 Japanese aircraft are destroyed. The battle of East China Sea begins as U.S. aircraft from Task Force 58 sink the Japanese super-battleship Yamato in a three-hour battle, 60 miles to the Southeast of 07/04/1945 Japan. Japanese casualties are reported as 2,488 sailors killed, four destroyers sunk, 58 aircraft destroyed. 13/04/1945The U.S. Fleet begins the pre-invasion bombardment of Ie Island in the Pacific. 04/05/1945Kamikaze flyers sink 17 U.S. ships in 24 hours off Okinawa. 07/06/1945The first allied cargo ship for three years enters Wewak harbour, in New Guinea. The U.S. submarine Trenchant sinks a Hagura Class Japanese cruiser in the 02/07/1945 Southwest Pacific.
14/07/1945The U.S. Third Fleet shells Kamaishi, 275 miles north of Tokyo. The U.S. Third Fleet shells the steel centre on Hokkaido Island in the Japanese 15/07/1945homeland. It is reported that 108,000 tons of shipping has been sunk in last two days attacks. Allied carrier planes hit Japanese naval forces in Tokyo Bay, sinking 12 ships and 18/07/1945 damaging nine, including the battleship Nagato. The Allies launch a massive 36-hour air and sea bombardment of Kure naval base and other ports on the Japanese coast from Osaka to Nagoya, sinking and escort 23/07/1945 carrier and 12 other warships, as well as 84 cargo vessels sunk or damaged and over 200 planes destroyed or damaged. The remnants of Japanese battle fleet are destroyed in three days of attacks over the 28/07/1945Japanese Inland Sea, as the Americans deploy 2,000 carrier-planes and bombers in action. A British midget submarine attack on Singapore sinks the Japanese heavy cruiser 31/07/1945 Takao. The USN announce on Guam, that the complete blockade of the Japanese homeland 03/08/1945 has now been achieved. U.S. carrier aircraft from a naval task group strike Japanese shipping in Tinghai 06/08/1945 Harbour, China. U.S. carrier aircraft bomb Wake Island, Micronesia. One of the greatest international armadas ever assembled, enters the Bay of Sagami, 27/08/1945 Tokyo. Two Japanese submarines, the largest in the world (5,500 tons), surrender in Sagami 30/08/1945 Bay after completing their first and only operational trip. The Americas Timeline! This timeline covers all the political and military events that occurred within both North and South America between the years 1939 and 1945.
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. President F.D. Roosevelt 8th December 1941
American Mk.I 'Little-Boy' A-Bomb
General George Marshall
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
Little Boy as a gun-type device in which two masses of Uranium 235 were brought together to create the explosive critical mass. Fusing was by means of modified AN/APS13 tail-warning radar sets, the device being detonated approximately 1,900ft above the target.
The Americas! 05/09/1939The United States declares its neutrality in this war. 10/09/1939After a formal parliamentary debate, Canada declares war on Germany. American aviation hero Charles A. Lindbergh makes his first anti-intervention radio speech. The U.S. non-intervention movement is supported not just by Lindbergh, 17/09/1939 but by former president Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Henry Ford and a number of senators and congressmen as well.
Although President Roosevelt has declared American neutrality in the war in 04/11/1939Europe, a Neutrality Act is signed that allows the US to send arms and other aid to Britain and France.
11/05/1940 President Roosevelt expresses his dismay to King Leopold of Belgium about the German invasion. 30/05/1940 Roosevelt asks Congress for considerable funds to strengthen the US Armed forces. 10/06/1940 President Roosevelt announces a shift from neutrality to "nonbelligerency," while condemning Germany and Italy and promising material aid to both Britain and France. 15/06/1940 Roosevelt assures Reynaud that US aid will be redoubled. 28/06/1940 The Alien Registration Act (the Smith Act) passed by the US Congress requires aliens to register and be fingerprinted. The Act makes it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the US government. 05/07/1940 President Roosevelt lays down five fundamentals of freedom: freedom from fear, of information, of religion, of expression, and from want. 20/07/1940 President Roosevelt signs the 'Two Ocean Navy Expansion Act'. This was the first step in preparing America for war against either Germany or Japan, or both. 02/08/1940 Montreal mayor Camillien Houde publicly urges Quebecers to not sign up for national registration for war duty. 05/08/1940 U.S. and Vichy France reach Green-Slade-Robert Agreement, an understanding on the status of French warships and aircraft in the French West Indies. Montreal mayor Camillien Houde is arrested, and charged under the Defence of Canada Regulations. He is imprisoned at Camp Petawawa in Ontario until the end of the war. 13/08/1940 Roosevelt agrees to supply 50 First World War destroyers to Britain in return for the lease of naval bases in the Caribbean. Colonel E.L.M. Burns proposes developing a Canadian parachute force. The idea is rejected by the Director of Military Operations in headquarters. 17/08/1940 Duke of Windsor sworn in as governor-general of Bermuda. 21/08/1940 Leon Trotsky is assassinated by a Stalinist agent
while in exile in Mexico City. 03/09/1940 The US Congress finally agrees to the handing over of 50 old destroyers in return for 99 year leases of British Naval bases in Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, British Guiana the Bahamas, Jamaica and Argentia. 12/09/1940 Canada's cabinet introduces Order In Council P.C. 4751, giving Canadian authorities power to imprison disobedient foreign seamen from non-Canadian ships in Canadian ports. 16/09/1940 President Roosevelt signs US Conscription Bill. 20/09/1940 The Canadian War Technical and Scientific Development Committee approves a request by Frederick Banting to begin bacterial warfare research. 25/09/1940 The US cryptanalyst, Harry L Clark, discovers the key to the Japanese top secret codes, allowing the US to read Japanese diplomatic, naval and military to top secret coded traffic. 26/09/1940 US President Franklin Roosevelt imposes an embargo on the export of aviation fuel, scrap iron, and steel to Japan, citing American defence needs. 12/10/1940 President Roosevelt in a fireside chat suggests the drafting of 18 and 19 year old men. 15/10/1940 16 million Americans already registered for National Service. 29/10/1940 Conscription begins in the U.S. It is the first military draft to occur during peacetime in American history. 05/11/1940 Roosevelt is elected as President of USA for an unprecedented third term with 54 percent of the popular vote. He defeats Republican Wendell L. Willke. 12/11/1940 Colonel Burns again proposes a Canadian parachute force to the Chief of General Staff. The idea is shelved, and no action is taken. 19/11/1940 The Canadian government approves initiation of mass production of war bacteria. 23/12/1940 Lord Halifax appointed British ambassador to Washington. 29/12/1940 Roosevelt tells Americans: "We must be the great arsenal of the democracies."
The Americas! In his annual message to Congress, President Roosevelt announces the "Five 06/01/1941 Freedoms". 08/01/1941US budget includes $17,500,000,000 defence appropriation. Roosevelt introduces his 'Lend Lease' bill to the House of Representatives as House Resolution 1776 (H.R. 1776), after recognising that neither Britain or China could 10/01/1941continue paying indefinitely for material supplied. This allowed the fighting allies to pay the USA back in kind, but after the war. He likened this to 'lending a neighbour a garden hose to put out a fire'. The USA informs the Soviet Union that the "moral embargo" imposed on it after its 21/01/1941 1939 attack on Finland no longer applies. In Washington, the US and British military leaders begin secret staff talks regarding 29/01/1941 co-ordination of a common war policy against Germany. The US Navy is reorganised in to the Atlantic, Pacific and Asiatic fleets and ordered 01/02/1941 to gradually bring ship crews up to war establishment. 08/02/1941The House of Representatives passes H.R. 1776 by a vote of 260 to 165. 08/03/1941The US Senate passes the 'Lend Lease' bill by 60 votes to 31. The US House of Representatives passes the 'Lend Lease' Bill by 317 votes to 71, 11/03/1941where upon it is immediately signed by President Roosevelt. Initial priority for war supplies was to be given to Britain and Greece. Roosevelt broadcasts to the nation announcing the end of compromise with 15/03/1941 tyranny.
After 2 months and 14 separate meetings, the US and British staff conference ends with a basic framework for US-British co-operation should the USA be drawn in to 29/03/1941 the war. Most importantly an agreement was made that Germany should be defeated first. A US scientific/military team arrives in the Danish colony of Greenland, to consider 31/03/1941 the establishment of military bases there. Roosevelt extends the Pan-American security zone in the Atlantic from 60W to 11/04/1941 26W. 12/04/1941US troops land in Greenland. 25/04/1941Roosevelt announces an indefinite extension of US Atlantic patrols. 06/05/1941US Secretary for War advocates US Navy protection for British supply convoys. Japan makes proposals to the USA in order to improve relations. They demand that the USA stop supplying war materials to China and that they normalise trade 11/05/1941 relations. These are rejected by the USA, although both sides agree to continue talks. 15/05/1941Roosevelt tells Vichy France to choose between Germany and US. German Navy Chief, Admiral Raeder warns that US convoying of British war 25/05/1941 supplies would be considered an act of war. President Roosevelt declares unlimited national emergency; calls upon all 27/05/1941 Americans to resist Hitlerism. 28/05/1941Roosevelt says Neutrality Act to be repealed. US House Appropriations committee introduces largest Army expenditure bill since 05/06/1941 the First World War at S10,000 million. President Roosevelt orders the freezing of all German and Italian assets, as well as 14/06/1941 those of occupied countries. The US State Department orders the closing by the 10th July of all German consular 16/06/1941 offices and tourist agencies in the United States. Italians closed down on 19th June. President Roosevelt, in a message to Congress, denounces the sinking of the 20/06/1941 American merchant ship Robin Moor by U-69 as 'an act of piracy'. 23/06/1941US Under-Secretary of State, backs Churchills aid-for-Russia policy. Vannevar Bush is named as director of the Office of Scientific Research and 28/06/1941 Development (OSRD), which has just been created by President Roosevelt. In and Independence Day broadcast, Roosevelt warns the American public that the 04/07/1941USA 'will never survive as a happy and prosperous oasis in the middle of a desert of dictatorship'. 15/07/1941A US airbase is established at Argentia in Newfoundland. 26/07/1941America freezes all Japanese assets in the US.
01/08/1941Roosevelt stops US oil supplies to the aggressors. 02/08/1941US and USSR agree on US aid. The Japanese foreign minister, Admiral Nomura, proposes to the USA a meeting 06/08/1941 between Roosevelt and Prime Minister Konoye. 07/08/1941US Senate extends National Service to 18 months. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, on board HMS Prince of Wales arrives in 09/08/1941Placentia Bay, Newfoundland to meet with President Roosevelt for the Atlantic Conference. Churchill and Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter, an eight-point declaration of 12/08/1941 peace aims. The USA reply's to Admiral Nomura's proposals of the 6th August, rejecting any 17/08/1941high level meeting until the present differences between Japan and the USA have been resolved. As a result of U652's attack on the US destroyer Greer, President Roosevelt warns 04/09/1941German and Italian vessels that from now on, if they enter the Pan-American security zone, they do so at there own risk. The US announce that it will provide escort for ships carrying Lend-Lease material 16/09/1941 up to 26W, which meant that clashes with U-boats would become more likely. The US allocates $100,000,000 to the Soviet Union for the purchase of war 17/09/1941 materials. 27/09/1941The first liberty ship, the 'Patrick Henry' is launched at Baltimore naval dockyard. In a letter to Stalin, President Roosevelt promises U.S. military aid to the Soviet 08/10/1941 Union. President Roosevelt in a message to Congress urges the repeal of Section 6 of the 09/10/1941Neutrality Act which would allow the arming of U.S. merchant ships against "the modern pirates of the sea", the U-boats. Admiral Harold R Stark, US chief of Naval Operations warns of potential hostilities 16/10/1941 between Japan and the USSR and possibly between Japan and the USA. 17/10/1941US House representatives allow merchantmen to be armed. Roosevelt claims America has been attacked. The shooting has started, when 27/10/1941 referring to German naval aggression during his Navy Day broadcast. President Roosevelt approves the appropriation by Congress of an additional $6 28/10/1941 billion in Lend-Lease aid to Britain and the Soviet Union. 06/11/1941US gives Russia $1,000m interest free loan. President Roosevelt announces the arming of American merchant vessels carrying 13/11/1941Lend-Lease cargo to Britain. The US Congress and Senate, vote by a small majority to repeal the 1939 Neutrality Act. 15/11/1941A Japanese special negotiator arrives in Washington. 26/11/1941U.S. secretary of state puts his final proposal to the Japanese.
01/12/1941US-Japanese talks continue, Roosevelt curtails holiday. The Japanese Embassy in Washington begins to leave, destroying code books and 04/12/1941 personal files in the process. 06/12/1941President Roosevelt sends a last minute plea to the Japanese Emperor for peace. 07/12/1941The US begins mobilisation. President Roosevelt addresses the U.S. Congress, saying that December 7 is "a date 08/12/1941that will live in infamy." After a vote of 82-0 in the U.S. Senate, and 388-1 in the House, in favor of declaring war on Japan, Roosevelt signs the declaration of war. In response to Germany and Italy's declaration of war, the US reciprocates and 11/12/1941declares war on both Germany and Italy. Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua also declare war on Germany and Italy. US declares war on Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria after receiving those country's 12/12/1941 declarations of war against the US. US Secretary of the Navy tells Congress that 2,729 were killed during the Japanese 15/12/1941 attack on Pearl Harbour. 19/12/1941Colombia severs diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy. Prime Minister Churchill arrives at the White House as the guest of President 22/12/1941 Roosevelt for the Washington Conference. Concerned about the safety of the founding documents of the United States in wartime Washington, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are removed from their display space at the National Archives and are transported in a 23/12/1941 special sealed container to temporary storage at the U.S. Gold Depository at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. On Oct. 1, 1944, with the danger to the mainland United States passed, the documents are returned to public display in Washington. Churchill addresses Joint Session of Congress and receives a rousing ovation, but 26/12/1941 says allied offensive must wait until 1943. The Americas! The United Nations of 26 allied countries, sign a UN Declaration in Washington of 01/01/1942 co-operation and no separate peace. 06/01/1942Roosevelt announces that US forces are to be based in UK. 07/01/1942Roosevelts first War Budget includes $13,250 million of defence expenditure. At the so called Arcadia Conference held in Washington, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill agree to concentrate the Allied war effort on the European 14/01/1942theatre. President Roosevelt also orders that all aliens are to register with the government. This is the beginning of a plan to move Japanese-Americans into internment camps in the belief that these people might aid the enemy. Congress appropriates $26.5 billion for the U.S. Navy, bringing total U.S. war costs 02/02/1942 since June of 1940 to more than $115 billion. Executive Order 9066 is signed by President Roosevelt, authorizing the transfer of more than 100,000 German, Italian and Japanese-Americans living in coastal Pacific 19/02/1942areas to concentration camps in various inland states (and including inland areas of California). Those interned lose an estimated 400 million dollars in property, as their homes and possessions are taken from them.
23/02/1942A Japanese submarine shells the Californian coast. 13/03/1942Three German spies in New York get a total of 117 years imprisonment. In one of the greatest "trading with the enemy" scandals of the war, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold announces that William Stamps Farish Sr. has pled "no contest" to charges of criminal conspiracy with the Nazis. Arnold discloses that Standard Oil of New Jersey (later Exxon) of which Farish is president and CEO has agreed to stop hiding patents from the U.S. for synthetic rubber, which the 25/03/1942 company has in its possession. Missouri Sen. Harry Truman later roasts Farish in front of his committee investigating home front wrongdoing, an event that raises Truman's profile and makes him a plausible running mate for FDR in 1944. The exposure of the scandal is widely believed to have contributed to Farish's sudden death from a heart attack in November of 1942. The Pacific War Council is set up in Washington, with representatives from Britain, 30/03/1942 Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands, Philippines and the the US. The Soviet Ambassador to the USA gives a speech in Philadelphia demanding an 10/04/1942 immediate second front in Europe. Coastal "dimouts" go into effect along a fifteen-mile strip on the Eastern Seaboard, 28/04/1942 in response to German U-boat activity of the U.S. Atlantic coast. The U.S. Congress establishes The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), 14/05/1942 under the direction of Oveta Culp Hobby, editor of the Houston Post. 15/05/1942Gasoline rationing goes into effect in the Eastern United States. 01/06/1942Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan. 05/06/1942USA warns Japan that she will retaliate in kind if gas is used. President Roosevelt authorizes the creation of the U.S. Office on War Information 13/06/1942 (OWI). The first director is Elmer Holmes Davis, a CBS commentator and novelist. Two German U-boats land teams of saboteurs on Long Island and near Jacksonville, 14/06/1942 Florida. However, all are captured with days and six are executed after a trial. Churchill and Roosevelt meet to discuss the number of conflicting offensive plans which might be launched against Germany in 1942. The main ones were 'Rutter', a 24-hour cross Channel raid on Dieppe. 'Sledgehammer' using six division to 19/06/1942establish a lodgement on the French coast at Cherbourg and 'Jupiter' which called for a lodgement in northern Norway. Discussion were also had on the up and coming operation 'Gymnast', which was the proposed Anglo-American landing in French North Africa later in the year. President Roosevelt orders the establishment of the OSS (Office of Strategic 13/07/1942 Services), with Colonel Donovan as director. 21/07/1942US losses since the war began are reported at 44,143 killed, wounded and missing.
Roosevelt agrees with Churchill that operation 'Gymnast' should proceed, whilst 24/07/1942 operation 'Sledgehammer' should be cancelled. The Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services (WAVES) is authorized 30/07/1942 by the U.S. Congress. 03/08/1942The FBI arrests 89 dangerous aliens in USA. Roosevelt says the perpetrators of barbarism in occupied countries will have to 21/08/1942stand in courts of law, in the very countries which they are now oppressing and answer for their acts. 22/08/1942Under heavy pressure from the US, Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy. A Japanese seaplane catapulted from submarine I-25 and drops firebombs on forests 28/08/1942 in Oregon, USA. 07/09/1942Roosevelt threatens to override Congress unless they take action to curb inflation. 09/09/1942Japanese bomb Oregon forests with incendiaries for second time. The Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) are established in the U.S.. The 16/09/1942armed forces will be supplied with more than 1000 auxiliary pilots through this organization. Wendell Willkie, 1940 Republican presidential candidate, confers with Stalin and 23/09/1942 calls for a second front at the earliest possible moment. The setting up of a UN commission to investigate war crimes is announced in 06/10/1942 Washington. President Roosevelt announces the breaking-off of diplomatic relations with Vichy 10/11/1942 France. The United States extends Lend-Lease aid to the Free French Forces under General 11/11/1942 de Gaulle. 01/12/1942Coffee joins the list of rationed items in the US. The first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is realized by Professor 02/12/1942Fermi and a team of scientists working under the name of the "Manhattan Engineering District." The US Navy launches the Battleship New Jersey and 11 other ships on the 07/12/1942 anniversary of Pearl Harbour. The Americas! President Roosevelt submits his budget to the U.S. Congress. $100 billion of the $109 billion budget is identified with the war effort. Left-wing Italian journalist 11/01/1943 Carlo Tresca is shot to death in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue in New York City. His death was mysterious at the time, but it now appears clear he was murdered by
organized crime elements seeking to curry favor with the Mussolini regime. Shoe rationing begins in the USA, limiting civilians to three pairs of leather shoes 07/02/1943 per year. 29/03/1943Meat rationing begins in the USA and is set at 28oz per week. Attempting to stem inflation in the USA, President Roosevelt freezes wages, 01/04/1943salaries, and prices. Meat, fats, canned goods, and cheese are now rationed in the US. Thousands of Korean-Americans petition to have their status converted from that of 08/05/1943 enemy aliens to friendly aliens. In December 1943, this is granted. 04/06/1943A Military coup takes place in Argentina, with the army occupying Buenos Aires.
The first Quebec summit opens with the allied plans for the invasion of France being 17/08/1943 approved by Roosevelt and Churchill. A conference of 48 Republican governors, senators and congressmen convene at the Mackinac Island resort between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan under 06/09/1943the chairmanship of Sen. Arthur Vandenberg to hammer out a post-war foreign policy for the party. The meeting discards the isolationist stance that Republicans adopted following World War I and adopts a cautious internationalism. Sumner Welles, friend and confidante of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, resigns abruptly as Undersecretary of State. Officially, the reason given is policy differences between Welles and Secretary of State Cordell Hull over relations with pro-Axis governments in Latin America. The actual reason was the threat by former 30/09/1943 ambassador William Bullitt who hungered for Welles (and Hulls) job - to expose Welles homosexuality. FDR never forgave Bullitt and even refused him permission to enlist in the U.S. Army afterward. (Bullitt ended up joining the Free French forces under de Gaulle.)
04/12/1943Bolivia declares war on all the Axis powers. 17/12/1943Roosevelt reveals a plot to assassinate him at Teheran. Roosevelt broadcasts about the Cairo and Teheran conferences and says plans have 24/12/1943 been laid for the invasion of Europe and its post-war reconstruction The Americas! The Peruvian Government announces its discovery of Axis backed conspirators 15/01/1944 plotting a coup. Total U.S. casualties so far are put at 19,499 killed, 45,545 wounded, 26,339 23/02/1944 missing and 26,754 captured. The Arabs protest to the U.S. over Senate statements about the creation of a Jewish 28/02/1944 State in Palestine. In reply to Arab protests, the U.S. says that the idea of a Jewish state has no official 07/03/1944 sanction. President Roosevelt issues a statement condemning German and Japanese ongoing 24/03/1944 "crimes against humanity." A U.S. Delegate hands the Swiss a cheque for $1m as reparations for the accidental 11/04/1944 bombing of Schaffhausen. 03/05/1944Meat rationing ends in the USA, except for certain selected cuts. The West Point Class of 1944, which includes John S.D. Eisenhower, son of the Allied commander in chief, graduates as the Allied landings are in progress in France. Young Eisenhower is immediately whisked to his father's headquarters in England, but his request to command a rifle platoon is turned down because of the risk that he might fall into enemy hands. Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, who was 06/06/1944 effectively functioning as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (a position that would not be formally created until after the war), visits his hometown of Hampton, Iowa on a well-publicized "sentimental journey" to see relatives and old friends. It is part of the deception effort to convince the Germans that the invasion of Europe would not take place while such an important officer was out of Washington. 15/06/1944Roosevelt outlines his plans for the post-war United Nations. President Roosevelt signs the GI Bill of Rights which promises to provide funds for 22/06/1944 housing and education after the war for returning US servicemen. 30/06/1944The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Finland.
The United States formally recognises the provisional French government of 11/07/1944 General de Gaulle in London as the de facto government of France. Two ammunition-laden transport ships explode whilst docked at Port Chicago, California. 320 sailors and other military personnel are killed in what is the worst stateside disaster of the war. Most of the sailors were African-Americans, who had received no training in ammunition handling. Many of the survivors refused to load 17/07/1944 any more ships until proper safety procedures were put in place. The so-called "Port Chicago Mutiny" resulted in numerous court martials and imprisonments, but the publicity surrounding the event led directly to the end of racially segregated assignments in the Navy two years later. Roosevelt and Churchill meet at Quebec where they initial the Morgenthau Plan that 14/08/1944calls for the division of post-war Germany and its transformation into a purely agricultural country. Representatives from the U.K., U.S. and USSR meet at Dumbarton Oaks in the 21/08/1944 U.S.A, to discuss post-war international security. Conclusion of the Quebec meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill who sign off 16/09/1944 on the Morgenthau Plan for the treatment of post-war Germany.
The first of 9,000 balloon bombs launched against US from Tokyo reach the U.S.A. 01/11/1944 One bomb kills six people near Lakeview in Oregon. President Roosevelt is elected for a fourth term and Harry S. Truman becomes the 07/11/1944 Vice-President. 09/11/1944Total U.S. war casualties are now reported to have passed the 500,000 mark. Congress passes and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law an act authorizing the creation of the ranks of General of the Army and Fleet Admiral, so that the highest American officers can attain a rank equivalent to that of Field Marshal. Over the next week, George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. 14/12/1944 Eisenhower and Henry Hap Arnold are promoted to the rank in the Army, while William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King and Chester Nimitz are made Fleet Admirals. Subsequent to the war, William F. Bull Halsey will be promoted Fleet Admiral and Omar N. Bradley will become the last General of the Army. The Americas! The USA issue's its casualty figures to the 21st December 1944 as 135,323 killed, 04/01/1945 362,824 wounded, 75,844 missing and 64,148 captured.
02/02/1945Ecuador declares war on Germany. 08/02/1945Paraguay declares war on Germany. 12/02/1945Peru declares war against Germany. 14/02/1945Uruguay declares war against Germany. 28/03/1945Argentina declares war against Germany. After suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage, President Roosevelt dies at Warm 12/04/1945Springs in Georgia, aged 63. Harry Truman is sworn in as 32nd President of the United States. Beginning of the San Francisco Conference convened to discuss the founding of the 25/04/1945 United Nations.
12/06/1945Eisenhower is awarded the Order of Merit and becomes the first U.S. recipient. 18/06/1945Eisenhower arrives in Washington to a heros welcome. The San Francisco Conference Co-ordination Committee, completes the text of the 23/06/1945 UN Charter. 25/06/1945The UN Charter is signed by representatives at San Francisco. 16/07/1945At 5.30 am, the first atomic bomb is exploded at a test site in Los Alamos, USA 09/08/1945Truman broadcasts from Washington about Potsdam conference and the atom bomb. 16/08/1945Rationing of gasoline and fuel oil comes to an end in the USA. U.S. War Office estimates that there are a quarter of a million POW's and civilian 22/08/1945 internees in Japanese hands at present. 7 U-boat men are executed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for the murder of a fellow 25/08/1945 U-Boat man, Werner Drechsler who they had judged as a traitor.
16/10/1945Peron returns to Argentine politics as a strong man. The United Nations formally comes into being with twenty-nine ratification's having 24/10/1945 been received. 23/11/1945Butter rationing comes to an end, leaving sugar as the only item that continues to be
rationed in the USA. The U.S. Senate votes to allow the USA to join the UN and to permit the UN to use 04/12/1945 American forces to preserve peace and security. 15/12/1945The Permanent Headquarters for UN are to be established in the USA. 17/12/1945The Senate votes for U.S. help in establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of the late President is appointed as one of first U.S. 19/12/1945 delegates to the UN.

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General Omar Bradley German StuG III

Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge

General Dwight Eisenhower

Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch

Field Marshal William Ironside

Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess

German Fieseler 103 - V1

American M24 Chaffee

General George Patton

Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt

American M4A3E8 Sherman

Field Marshal Harold Alexander

Field Marshal Albert Kesselring

suspension unit fitted to earlier models.

Marshal Georgy Zhukov

Field Marshal Erich von Manstein

Finnish Bristol Bulldog Mk.IVa

Marshal Semen Timoshenko

Marshal Carl Mannerheim

German JU-87B Stuka

Air Marshal Arthur Harris

General Leutnant Adolf Galland

'JFO' Commander Mordecai Anielewicz The Holocaust!

SS Brigadier General Jurgen Stroop

British King George V Battleship

Admiral Bertram Ramsay

Grand Admiral Erich Raeder

German Type-II U-Boat

Vice Admiral John Tovey

Grand Admiral Karl Dnitz

Battle of the Atlantic!

British Fairy Swordfish

Admiral Andrew Cunningham

Admiral Inigo Campioni

German SdKfz 222

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

Japanese A6M Zero

Admiral Chester Nimitz

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Lt General Arthur Percival

General Tomoyuki Yamashita

General Jonathan Wainwright Pacific Islands!

Lt General Masaharu Homma

11/03/1940A coal strike in New South Wales begins.

American USN Wasp

Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher

Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo

Pacific Naval War!

16/01/1941French inflict a naval defeat on Thai forces at Koh-Chang.

14/05/1941Large Royal Navy reinforcements arrive in Singapore.

30/07/194117 Japanese spy fishing boats seized by US in Hawaiian waters.

American Mk.I 'Little-Boy' A-Bomb

General George Marshall

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