23rd May 1940
Heavy fighting around Boulogne. Units of the German 6th Army cross the Scheldt river at Oudenarde in Belgium. Sir Oswald Mosley and other British fascists arrested. 76 IRA men arrested in Northern Ireland.
24th May 1940
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 of Maubeuge surrenders, while 6th Army captures Ghent and Tournai in Belgium and St Omer in North-eastern France. The first British civilian bomb casualties are reported. Luftwaffe sink destroyer Wessex off Calais.
25th May 1940
The British garrison of Calais rejects a German call for surrender. 15 French generals relieved of their commands. Trade Union executives accept Nye Bevan’s manpower mobilisation plan, setting up Labour Supply Board and Production Council.
26th May 1940
Operation 'Dynamo' the evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from Dunkirk begins. Under the command of Admiral Bertram Ramsay, hundreds of naval, commercial and private vessels participate in this most desperate rescue attempt. Calais falls to the Germans as they advance towards Dunkirk after Hitler's stop order is rescinded. 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 national day of prayer. Coastal towns from Great Yarmouth to Folkestone are declared evacuation areas.
27th May 1940
British position in Flander’s worsens as King Leopold of Belgium surrenders the remnants of his Army. The British sugar ration is reduced from 12oz to 8oz per head. Japanese Premier Admiral Yonai forms ‘Inner Cabinet’ with ministers for Foreign Affairs, War and the Navy.
28th May 1940
Belgium formally surrenders to the Germans. The British and French reject capitulation and continue the evacuation and rearguard actions at Dunkirk. French mountain troops capture the port of Narvik, forcing the German defenders (Gebirgsjäger units and crews of sunk destroyers) into the surrounding hills and towards the safety of the Swedish border and internment.
29th May 1940
German 6th Army takes Lille, Ostend and Ypres in western Flander’s, Belgium. Luftwaffe activity increases as Hitler orders the Panzers to be switched south ready for main battle of France. 47,300 British and French troops are evacuated from Dunkirk today. 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 begins 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.