June 17th, 1945 Day of Unity in West Germany, National Day 1944 French troops under Lattre de Tssigny conquer Elba 1944 Hitler secretly meets with von Rundstedt in Marjival Soissons 1944 Iceland declares independence from Denmark at Thingvallir, Iceland 1944 Resistance fighter/poet Col Blake arrives in London 1942 1st WW II American expeditionary force lands in Africa (Gold Coast) 1940 France asks Germany for terms of surrender in WW II 1940 General De Gaulle departs Bordeaux for London 1940 Germany occupiers ration bread in Holland 1940 U.S.S.R. occupies Estonia 1938 Japan declares war on China
June 18th 1945 William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) British radio traitor charged with treason 1944 - U-767 sinks 1943 SS Police in Amsterdam sentence 12 resistance fighters to death (Jewish, communists, homosexuality) at the census bureau 1942 - Bernard W Robinson, becomes 1st black ensign in US Navy 1942 Eric Nessler of France stays aloft in a glider for 38h21m 1941 Turkey signs peace treaty with nazi-Germany 1940 Gen Charles de Gaulle on BBC tells French to defy nazi occupiers 1940 German occupiers slaughter cattle, pigs and chickens 1940 Winston Churchill urges perseverance so that future generations would remember that "this was their finest hour"
On this day18 June. The war at sea. 1940 Off Whangerai the passenger liner Niagara 13,415 tons with a cargo that included £2m in gold and silver was sunk by mine. 1941 In the Straits of Gibraltar the destroyers Faulkner, Fearless, Forester, Foresight and Foxhound sank U 138. 1942 East of Port Limon the tanker Motorex 1,958 tons was sunk by U 172. 1943 _ _ _ _ 1944 Off the Dorset coast the cargo ship Albert C. Field 1,764 tons was sunk by German aircraft. Off Britanny an RAF Wellington sank U 441 and south-west of Guernsey the destroyers Fame, Inconstant and Havelock sank U767.
June 18th 1944. The 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards engaged in close fighting south of Perugia and are the first troops to enter the city. The 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards embarks at Tilbury and after being delayed off Southend pier by Channel gales lands near Courcelles, in the Normandy bridgehaed a week later. The morning of Sunday 18th June 1944 was hot and sunny as the (4th & 5th) Wiltshires boarded the slim white infantery landing ships in Newhaven Harbour. That morning the cliffs of Sussex disappeared behind the convoy and a gale sprang up as they sailed down-Channel. After sixteen hours of buffeting they arrived off Arromanches. After arriving back from Dunkirk about 270 strong the 2nd Bn Wiltshire Regt were sent to Aberdeenshire. On 18th June 1940 the Battalion moved North to Lossiemouth.
On this day 19 June 1940. Off the Faroes RN warships intercepted the destroyers Puke and Psilander the torpedo boats Remus and Romulus, the depot ship Patricia and the tanker Castor which had been sold by Italy to Sweden and were on their way to Gothenburg. They were taken to Scapa Flow but were allowed to proceed after the sale had been confirmed.
June 19th 1940 - German 7th Armour division under gen-maj Rommel occupies Cherbourg 1940 - Goering orders seizure of Dutch horses, car, buses and ships 1940 - French ships seek refuge in British ports 1941 - Romania orders Jews to evacuate Darabani 1941 - US President Roosevelt signs Two Ocean Navy Expansion Act 1944 - Battle of Philippines Sea (and 20th) 1944 - 300 Japanese aircraft shot down (Marianas Turkey Shoot) some figures are as high as 429. 1944 - French troops free Elba 1944 - Japanese troops conquer Changsha China 1945 - The Australians are now in control of both sides of the Brunei Bay entrance 19/06/1940
June 20th 1944 Congress charters Central Intelligence Agency 1944 Heavy storm hits the Channel (19th?) Mulberry's Smashed 1944 Nazi begin mass extermination of Jews at Auschwitz 1944 Soviet forces conquer Wiborg 1944 U.S. attacks Japanese fleet in Philippines Sea 1944 U.S. troops occupy Biak 1944 In the East, the Red Army captures Viipuri on the Soviet-Finnish border. 1943 60 RAF bombers launch the first British shuttle raid: after bombing the radar works at Friedrichshafen, they fly on to Algiers to refuel and then return to England. 1943 German round up Jews in Amsterdam 1942 Adolf Eichmann proclaims deportation of Dutch Jews 1942 German troops conquer Tobruk, North Africa 1941 German U-203 fails on torpedo attack on U.S. battleship Texas the U.S. is not in the war yet, but is escorting convoys half way across the Atlantic to where England takes over the escort duty ( Neutrality Patrol ). The following is from a book "Hitler's U-Boat War" page 308. I can't reprint it here, but in brief the story goes as follows: While the new VIIC, U-203 commanded by Rolf Mutzelburg, was on patrol she came across the USS Texas at about midnight on June 20th 1941. The Texas was about 800 miles south southwest of Iceland and 10 miles inside a zone that Hitler had declared as authorized for attacks on Neutral Warships. The Captain ordered U-203 to battle stations and for the next sixteen hours pursued the zigzagging Texas to no avail. The Texas was going to fast for U-203 to reach. When the chase was over the Texas according to U-203 was 148 miles inside the "German Zone". 1941 President Roosevelt, in a message to Congress, denounces the sinking of the American merchant ship Robin Moor by U-69 (Kptlt. Metzler) as 'an act of piracy'. 1940 German troops capture Lyons. The German heavy cruiser Gneisenau is damaged by a torpedo from the British submarine Clyde. 1939 Test flight of 1st rocket plane using liquid propellants
On this day June 21. 21 June 1940. South of Iceland the former cargo ship Cape Howe that was being operated by the RN as a decoy, or Q-ship for submarines with the cover name Prunella was sunk by U 28. 21 June 1941. British troops occupied Damascus. 21 June 1942. In the western Atlantic the submarine P-514 was rammed and sunk in error by the minesweeper Georgian (RCN) 21 June 1944. RN chariots - human torpedoes attacked shipping at La Spezia, sinking the heavy cruiser Bolzano. 21 June 1945. All organised Japanese resistance on Okinawa ended after an 82-day campaign by US troops.
On this day 22 June 1941. The German submarine U 48 returns to Kiel after making her twelfth and last mission into enemy waters. On these missions under the command of Herbert Schultze (eight missions) Hans Rosing (two missions) and Heinrich Bleichrodt (two missions) she has in all, sunk one sloop and 54 ships of 322378 tons and damaged two ships of 11024 tons. She is therefore the most successful submarine of the Second World War.
On this day 23 June 1944. Six aircraft of No.248 Squadron were on patrol between Ushant and Lorient when Mosquito 'P' F/S. LC. Doughty (pilot) and F/S. R. Grime (Navigator) became seperated from the others in bad light. P/248 comtinued on along along the French coast and between Ile de Groix and the mainland he spotted a convoy of ships about to enter Lorient. Turning to take a look, having failed to contack the other aircraft by radio, Doughty flew along the starboard beam of the convoy, keeping claoe to the Garve Peninsula, which gave them cover. He made out one large and two smaller escort vessels and a U-boat. Flak was now coming up from the batteries north-east of the Ile de Groix and Doughty decided to attack the submarine, but now flak was also coming from the escort ships. He made his attack in a shallow dive and made a short sighting burst followed by a long burst of cannon and machine guns. Strikes were seen aii around the conning tower of the U-boat. Levelling out at 50ft he dropped two depth-charges in a salvo and commenced violent evasive action. He quickly flew out of the flak, so was unable to see any results, and in fact his Mosquito did receive slight damage fron two 20mm hits. U 155 a type IXC submarine was just returning from its ninth patrol, having left Lorient on 11 March for West Africa. It was damaged in this attack and was out of action until September.
On this day 24 June 1940. In the early hours British troops carried out a reconnaissance raid south of Boulogne. The first commando raid.
June 24th 1945 Schermerhorn government forms in the Netherlands 1943 Allies begin 10-day bombing on Hamburg 1943 The RAF launches a heavy raid on Elberfeld in the Ruhr. 1942 Admiral Ernest King orders Tulagi (Solomon Island) reconquered 1942 Africa Corps occupy Egypt 1942 First of a series of Luftwaffe night raids on Birmingham. In Yugoslavia, beginning of an offensive by German 1942 Italian and Croatian forces against Tito;s partisan army. 1941 Entire Jewish male population of Gorzhdy Lithuania, exterminated 1941 Germans advanced into Russia and took Vilna, Brest-Litovsk and Kaunas 1941 In the East, German troops of Heeresgruppe Nord capture Kaunas and Vilna in Lithuania. 1941 Hungary breaks off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. 1940 France signs an armistice with Italy during WW II 1940 An armistice is signed between France and Italy at Villa Indusa near Rome.
On the night of the 23rd of June the assault on the Chateau de la londe took place. The battle was murderous in the extreme. We took it, but before we could get the anti tank guns in, the enemy counter attacked. And their tanks overran the foxholes, hand to hand fighting, out numbered and with no armour, we were driven out. Later to retake it. This battle was described at the time as: "The bloodiest square mile in Normandy" Those that took part were the all Eighth brigade, South Lancs with 246 Flfd Co RE up. Sapper
On this day 25 June 1940. The evacuation of Allied troops from French Channel and Biscay ports ended officially with the sailing of ships from Bayonne and St. Jean de Luz.
June 25th 1945 Allied landing at Ternate Molukkas (Indonesia) 1945 Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo announce fall of Okinawa 1944 British assault at Caen Normandy 1943 Crematory III at Birkenau is finished 1943 Arthur Seyss-Inquart orders mass arrests of Dutch physicians 1942 British RAF staged a 1,000 bomb raid on Bremen Germany (WW II) 1942 British PM Winston Churchill travels from U.S. to London 1942 Gen Dwight Eisenhower appointed commander of U.S. forces in Europe 1941 Russian counter attack at Rovno 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8802 forbidding discrimination 1941 Finland declares war on Soviet Union 1941 Germans invade Dubno Poland, giving permission to Ukrainians to do whatever they want to 12,000 Jews living there 1940 Adolf Hitler views Eiffel tower and grave of Napoleon in France
The Assault and the taking of Caen srarted on the night of the 7th of July with the Lancasters bombing Caen. We moved up by the right hand route that overlooked the Colombelles industrial estate. It was a joint 3rd div with the Canadians operation. I was one of the first 6 to enter the City. Let me rephrase that: I was one of the first half dozen to enter what was left of the City of Caen. Never had a chance to do much, we were immediately withdrawn to prepare for the Goodwood Operation, the left hook round Caen. Sapper
June 26th 1945 U.N. Charter signed by 50 nations 1944 2nd British army reaches Grainville-Mouen line 1942 German assault on British at Mersa Matruh 1942 Generaloberst Rommel, C-in-C of the Afrikakorps is promoted to Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal). 1941 Finland enters WW II against Russia 1941 Lithuanian fascists massacre 2,300 Jews in Kovno 1941 In the East, German forces of Heeresgruppe Nord capture Dünaburg in Latvia. 1941 The Luftwaffe carries out raids on Leningrad. 1941 Finland declares war on the oviet Union. 1940 End of U.S.S.R. experimental calendar; Gregorian readopted 6/27
June 27, 1945 Foundation 1940-45 established June 27, 1944 Cherbourg, France liberated by Allies June 27, 1942 FBI captures 8 Nazi saboteurs from a sub off New York's Long Island June 27, 1942 PQ-17 convoy leaves Iceland for Archangelsk June 27, 1941 Bialystok Poland falls to Germany June 27, 1941 Nazi manifest against the Jews in Amsterdam June 27, 1940 Soviet Army attacks Romania June 27, 1940 U.S.S.R. returns to Gregorian calendar
June 28th 1945 Polish Provisional Government of National Unity set up by Soviets 1944 In Normandy, Operation Epsom designed to break through the German defenses near Caen is halted by the fierce resistance of the I. and II. SS-Panzerkorps. 1942 Col-gen Von Hoth' 6th Pantser enters Voronezj 1942 Beginning of the first stage of Fall Blau (Operation Blue), the new German summer offensive on the southern front in Russia. 1942 From the area of Kursk, the German 2. Armee and 4. Panzerarmee, with 50 divisions, advance toward Voronesh on the upper Don. 1941 German and Romanian soldiers kill 11,000 Jews in Kishinev 1941 German troops occupy Galicia Poland 1941 German troops of Heeresgruppe Mitte capture Minsk. 1940 Romania cedes Bessarabia to Soviet Union 1940 Following an ultimatum to the Rumanian government, the Red Army occupies Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
On this day 2 July. 1940 Hitler ordered the planning of the invasion of Britian (Operation Sealion) 1941 The first battle of El Alamein began, with heavy damage being inflicted on German-Italian troops. 1944 Off the Normandy beach-head, the infantry landing ship Empire Broardsword was sunk by mine. Members of the French Resistance destroyed an ammunition dump at Jonzac; the ammunition was for the German ships at Brest.