"My strength has now
been reduced to the equivalent of 36 squadrons...we should be
able to carry on the war single-handed for some time if not
indefinitely."
Sir Hugh Dowding
RAF Fighter Command
May 1940
"We must be very careful
not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory.
War's are not won by evacuations."
Winston
Churchill
To Parliament
4th June 1940
"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 |
|
4th July 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. In direct response to the devastating
British attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, the Vichy
French government of Marshal Petain breaks off diplomatic relations
with Britain. In the House of Commons,
prime minister Churchill declares,' I leave the judgment
of 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.' Italian bombers raid Malta.
German Stukas and MTBs attack a British convoy South of Portland,
sinking 5 merchant ships.
5th July 1940
The
RAF carries out night raids on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. Romania
announces its alignment with the Axis powers. 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. The British destroyer Whirlwind is sunk by U-34
off
Land’s End. President Roosevelt lays down ‘five fundamentals of freedom’:
freedom from fear, of information, of religion, of expression, and from want.
6th July 1940
After
spending 8 weeks in the west supervising the German offensive,
a triumphant Hitler returns to Berlin and is cheered wildly
by the population of Berlin. German aircraft and minesweepers
sink 4 British submarines, Narwhal, Spearfish, Shark and
Thames. The first German U-boat base in France is opened
at Lorient.
7th July 1940
Italy
allows French Mediterranean bases to remain armed. A French
naval squadron that has sought refuge at Alexandria is disarmed
and interned by the
British Navy.
8th July 1940
British
Metropolitan Police to be armed when guarding vulnerable
positions. The Swedish government agrees to transport German
war material across Sweden to Norway. Swordfish aircraft
damage the French battleship Richelieu at Dakar after the
French reject demilitarisation proposals.
9th July 1940
Commons
passed War Credits of £1,000,000,000. Tea rationing of 2oz
per head per week introduced in Britain. RAF begins night
bombing of Germany. 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. The British submarine Salmon
is lost south-west of Stavanger, Norway. The German raider
Komet leaves Bergen in Norway for operations in the Pacific
via the Northwest Passage in the Arctic Ocean assisted by
Russian icebreakers.
10th July 1940
Birthday
Honours list includes only service recipients. British Union
Party (Fascists) banned. 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. |
