15 June 1940 Following the events of 11-12 June, RAF Bomber Command aircraft in France mount their first operation against an Italian target. Vickers Wellingtons of No.99 and No.149 Squadrons take off from Salon en route to Genoa, however, due to violent thunderstorms only one aircraft attacks the target. The final attack by the Haddock force is mounted on the following night, 22 Wellingtons are despatched with fourteen aircraft bombing the target.
15 June 1941 The air defences of Malta are reinforced by Hawker Hurricanes flown off the aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Victorious and of the 47 aircraft despatched, 43 arrive safely. A further 64 aircraft are flown in by the end of the month.
15 June 1943 The Royal Air Force 's first Autogiro Squadron, No.529 Squadron, is formed at Halton from No.1448 Flight.
June 16, 1940 Marshal Petain becomes premier of occupied France On this day in 1940, Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain, World War I hero, becomes prime minister of the Vichy government of France. As Germany began to overrun more French territory, the French Cabinet became desperate for a solution to this crisis. Premier Paul Reynaud continued to hold out hope, refusing to ask for an armistice, especially now that France had received assurance from Britain that the two would fight as one, and that Britain would continue to fight the Germans even if France were completely overtaken. But others in the government were despondent and wanted to sue for peace. Reynaud resigned in protest. His vice premier, Henri Petain, formed a new government and asked the Germans for an armistice, in effect, surrendering. This was an ironic position for Petain, to say the least. The man who had become a legendary war hero for successfully repelling a German attack on the French city of Verdun during the First World War was now surrendering to Hitler. In the city of Vichy, the French Senate and Chamber of Deputies conferred on the 84-year-old general the title of "Chief of State," making him a virtual dictator-although one controlled by Berlin. Petain believed that he could negotiate a better deal for his country--for example, obtaining the release of prisoners of war--by cooperating with, or as some would say, appeasing, the Germans. But Petain proved to be too clever by half. While he fought against a close Franco-German military collaboration, and fired his vice premier, Pierre Laval, for advocating it, and secretly urged Spain's dictator Francisco Franco to refuse passage of the German army to North Africa, his attempts to undermine the Axis while maintaining an official posture of neutrality did not go unnoticed by Hitler, who ordered that Laval be reinstated as vice premier. Petain acquiesced, but refused to resign in protest because of fear that France would come under direct German rule if he were not there to act as a buffer. But he soon became little more than a figurehead, despite efforts to manipulate events behind the scenes that would advance the Free French cause (then publicly denying, even denouncing, those events when they came to light). When Paris was finally liberated by General Charles de Gaulle in 1944, Petain fled to Germany. He was brought back after the war to stand trial for his duplicity. He was sentenced to death, which was then commuted to life in solitary confinement. He died at 95 in prison. The man responsible for saving his life was de Gaulle. He and Petain had fought in the same unit in World War I and had not forgotten Petain's bravery during that world war.
16 June 1940 The Night Interception Committee decides to form a ground radio interception unit, to work in collaboration with specialist aircraft to investigate German navigation aids, with a view to developing radio counter-measures (RCM). This decision marks the beginning of RCM development in the United Kingdom.
16 June 1`944 A total of 144 V1 flying bombs cross the English Channel, 21 are shot down by fighters or anti-aircraft fire and 73 reach the London area. During the next 10 days, an average of 100 V1 Flying Bombs fell on England every 24 hours
USS TWIGGS (June 16, 1945) While on radar picket duty off Okinawa, the Twiggs was hit by a torpedo from a low flying Japanese plane. Her number two magazine exploded enveloping the destroyer in flames. The torpedo plane circled and attacked again, this time on a suicide mission crashing into the burning ship. In less than thirty minutes the Twiggs sank beneath the waves, her ammunition exploding as she did so. Her captain, Cmdr. George Phillip and 152 of his crew were killed. Survivors rescued from the oily waters numbered 188. (In all, 13 American destroyers were lost off Okinawa, the 13th was the destroyer USS Callaghan sunk by a kamikaze at 0041 hrs on July 29, 1945 and killing 47 of her crew. The day before, the crew were informed that the Callaghan was to proceed to San Francisco upon being relieved by the USS Laws at 0200 hrs on the 29th).
16 June 1943 South-east of Chagos Island, the tanker San Ernesto Australia to the Persian Gulf was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-37. The derelict drifted 2,000 miles, drifting ashore on Pulua Nias Island.
June 17, 1940 British and Allied troops continue the evacuation of France, as Churchill reassures his countrymen On this day in 1940, British troops evacuate France in Operation Ariel, an exodus almost on the order of Dunkirk. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offers words of encouragement in a broadcast to the nation: "Whatever has happened in France ... [w]e shall defend our island home, and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable until the curse of Hitler is lifted." With two-thirds of France now occupied by German troops, those British and Allied troops that had not participated in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk, were shipped home. From Cherbourg and St. Malo, from Brest and Nantes, Brits, Poles, and Canadian troops were rescued from occupied territory by boats sent from Britain. While these men were not under the immediate threat of assault, as at Dunkirk, they were by no means safe, as 5,000 soldiers and French civilians learned once on board the ocean liner Lancastria, which had picked them up at St. Nazaire. Germans bombers sunk the liner; 3,000 passengers drowned. Churchill ordered that news of the Lancastria not be broadcast in Britain, fearing the effect it would have on public morale, since everyone was already on heightened alert, fearing an imminent invasion from the Germans now that only a channel separated them. The British public would eventually find out-but not for another six weeks--when the news finally broke in the United States. They would also enjoy a breather of another kind: Hitler had no immediate plans for an invasion of the British isle, "being well aware of the difficulties involved in such an operation," reported the German High Command.
LANCASTRIA (June 17, 1940) The Cunard/White Star passenger liner Lancastria, the former Tyrrhenia (16,243 tons), is bombed and sunk off St. Nazaire, France. While lying at anchor in the Charpentier Roads on the estuary of the River Loire, five enemy planes dive bombed the ship which sank in twenty minutes taking the lives of around 2,000 troops and over 1,000 civilians. The Lancastria had been converted into a troopship and set sail from Liverpool on June 14th to assist in the evacuation of British troops and refugees from France (Operation Aerial) Her captain, Rudolf Sharpe, took on board as many troops and refugees as possible. She was about to sail to England after loading on board soldiers and RAF personnel from 73 and 98 Squadrons of the British Expeditionary Force, plus about a thousand of civilian refugees. One bomb exploded in the Number 2 hold where around 800 RAF personnel had been placed. About 1,400 tons of fuel oil spilled from the stricken vessel as the Dorniers dropped incendiaries in an attempt to set the oil on fire. The 2,477 survivors, including her captain, were picked up by HMS Havelock and other ships. The bomb which actually sank the Lancastria went straight down the funnel. The site of the sinking is now an official War Grave protected by The Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986. The loss of the Lancastria was the fourth largest maritime disaster of the war. Captain Rudolf Sharpe later lost his life when the ship he commanded, the Laconia, was sunk. Under the Official Secrets Act, the report on the Lancastria cannot be published until the year 2040. If it is proved that Captain Sharpe ignored the Ministry of Defence instructions not to exceed the maximum loading capacity of 3000 persons, grounds for compensation claims could be enormous. (A remembrance service is held in June each year in the St Catharine Cree Church in Leadenhall Street, London) The Cunard/White Star passenger liner Lancastria. During 'Operation Aerial' 28,145 British and 4,439 French, Polish and Canadian troops were evacuated from Brest. Among the French contingent were many German and Italian nationals, all members of the French Foreign Legion. At Lorient, the trawler La Tenche, was sunk with the loss of 218 lives. At Saint Nazaire, 57,235 troops and civilians were evacuated. From St. Malo, 21,475, from Cherbourg, 30,630 and from La Pallice, 2,303. Thousands of others were picked up from smaller ports, in total, 163,225 persons. (During the Dunkirk evacuation, 'Operation Dynamo' 338,226 troops were saved)
17 June 1940 The French Government asks for an armistice. The last British Army formations in France are evacuated via Cherbourg. When the last ship sails from the port at 1600hrs in the afternoon of 18 June, a total of 160,000 British and Allied troops and more than 300 guns have been embarked.
SS YOMA (June 17, 1943) Passenger/Cargo liner of 8,131 tons of the British and Burmese Steam Navigation Co., built 1928 in Scotland and now serving in the Mediterranean as an auxiliary transport. She was in convoy GTX-2 with the ships SS Amarapoora, Pegu, Kemmendineand Sagaing en route from Sfax to Alexandria when she was sunk at 7.33 am by two torpedoes from the U-81 near Derna. She was the only ship to be sunk during this convoy. On board were 1,793 troops of which 484 were lost. British Army men included 134 officers and 994 ratings. Free French Army men included 22 officers and 643 ratings. Capt. George Patterson and 32 crew members also perished. Survivors were picked up escort ships including the Australian minesweepers HMAS Lismore and HMAS Gawler.
17 June 1945 Australians land at Weston, North Borneo The Australian landings on Borneo were meant to deny the Japanese oil and to establish bases for naval operations. The value of these operations has been subject to continuing debate.
June 18, 1940 Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich On this day in 1940, Benito Mussolini arrives in Munich with his foreign minister, Count Ciano, to discuss immediate plans with the Fuhrer, and doesn't like what he hears. Embarrassed over the late entry of Italy in the war against the Allies, and its rather tepid performance since, Mussolini met with Hitler determined to convince his Axis partner to exploit the advantage he had in France by demanding total surrender and occupying the southern portion still free. The Italian dictator clearly wanted "in" on the spoils, and this was a way of reaping rewards with a minimum of risk. But Hitler, too, was in no mood to risk, and was determined to put forward rather mild terms for peace with France. He needed to ensure that the French fleet remained neutral and that a government-in-exile was not formed in North Africa or London determined to further prosecute the war. He also denied Mussolini's request that Italian troops occupy the Rhone Valley, and that Corsica, Tunisia, and Djibouti (adjacent to Italian-occupied Ethiopia) be disarmed. Ciano recorded in his diary that Mussolini left the meeting frustrated and "very much embarrassed," feeling "that his role is secondary." Ciano also records a newfound respect for Hitler: "Today he speaks with a reserve and perspicacity which, after such a victory, are really astonishing."
VAUQUOIS (June 18, 1940) French corvette, sunk while evacuating troops to England. Just prior to the fall of the French port of Brest the Vauquois put to sea carrying 115 soldiers, some coastal defence men and her crew. Soon after leaving harbour, when opposite the Vinotiere light at the entrance to the Chanel de Foire, the corvette hit a submerged aerial mine. The explosion cut the ship in half, the bow section sinking immediately and the stern section staying afloat for a few minutes more. The speed of the sinking left little time for survivors to be rescued and only 29 were saved. A total of 135 men lost their lives.
18 June 1940 The withdrawal of Allied Forces from Normandy is announced and Churchill says: "The battle of France is over.... The Battle of Britain is about to begin ... let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say 'This was their finest hour'." Royal Air Force Hurricane squadrons in France, having covered the evacuation of remaining British ground forces from the ports of Western France, are ordered back to the United Kingdom. The last out are the first in and the final squadrons to leave are No.1 and No.73 Squadrons, which had been the first Royal Air Force fighter squadrons to arrive in France in 1939. The campaign in France and the Low Countries cost the Royal Air Force 1,029 aircraft and over 1,500 personnel killed, wounded or missing.
You working on European time Peter Perhaps he's in the Pacific Ocean or has flipped one calendar page too many?
June 19, 1944 United States scores major victory against Japanese in Battle of the Philippine Sea On this day in 1944, in what would become known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The security of the Marianas Islands, in the western Pacific, were vital to Japan, which had air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. U.S. troops were already battling the Japanese on Saipan, having landed there on the 15th. Any further intrusion would leave the Philippine Islands, and Japan itself, vulnerable to U.S. attack. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, was on its way west from the Marshall Islands as backup for the invasion of Saipan and the rest of the Marianas. But Japanese Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo decided to challenge the American fleet, ordering 430 of his planes, launched from aircraft carriers, to attack. In what became the greatest carrier battle of the war, the United States, having already picked up the Japanese craft on radar, proceeded to shoot down more than 300 aircraft and sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, losing only 29 of their own planes in the process. It was a described in the aftermath as a "turkey shoot." Admiral Ozawa, believing his missing planes had landed at their Guam air base, maintained his position in the Philippine Sea, allowing for a second attack of U.S. carrier-based fighter planes, this time commanded by Admiral Mitscher, to shoot down an additional 65 Japanese planes and sink another carrier. In total, the Japanese lost 480 aircraft, three-quarters of its total, not to mention most of its crews. American domination of the Marianas was now a foregone conclusion. Not long after this battle at sea, U.S. Marine divisions penetrated farther into the island of Saipan. Two Japanese commanders on the island, Admiral Nagumo and General Saito, both committed suicide in an attempt to rally the remaining Japanese forces. It succeeded: Those forces also committed a virtual suicide as they attacked the Americans' lines, losing 26,000 men compared with 3,500 lost by the United States. Within another month, the islands of Tinian and Guam were also captured by the United States. The Japanese government of Premier Hideki Tojo resigned in disgrace at this stunning defeat, in what many have described as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
