On 1 August Hitler decreed that the date for the invasion of Britain would be Sunday 15 September. German raids continued in the Channel and towns, cities and airfields across the UK were bombed, including Norwich and the Forth Bridge, while British ships laid down mines around the coast of England and Scotland. The cost… Read more »Read more

On 23 July the Local Defence Volunteer force, or LDV, was officially renamed the Home Guard. Meanwhile, in the Battle of Britain, a coal convoy suffered such heavy losses from German dive-bombers on 25 July that the Admiralty ordered future convoys to take place at night. And, following the French bombing of Gibraltar last week,… Read more »Read more

On 16 July, Hitler ordered his military forces to prepare for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain. Meanwhile, the German air force continued to engage the RAF over the Channel, attacking convoys and raising coastal towns; on 18 July the Goodwin lightship was sunk. On 18 July Vichy France, in retaliation for the… Read more »Read more

On 10 July the Battle of Britain began, the coordinated effort by the Luftwaffe to overcome the Royal Air Force and achieve air superiority over Britain prior to an invasion. The first phase ran from 10 July to 11 August and was known as the “Channel Battles”, a series of running fights over convoys in… Read more »Read more

BOMBS DROPPED ON NORTHERN TOWN  Day Attack by Enemy ‘Plane  Over Thirty Casualties – Fifteen Dead. Two bombs dropped by a lone enemy raider on a north-east of Scotland town on Monday afternoon caused over 30 casualties among the civilian population, and did considerable damage to property. Fifteen people lost their lives, a few were… Read more »Read more

During this week German forces completed their invasion of the Channel Islands and Hitler ordered plans for the invasion of Britain to be drawn up, code-named Operation Sea Lion. The French Government relocated to Vichy from where it governed south-east France, while German forces occupied the rest of the country. On 4 July the Royal… Read more »Read more

After the signing of the armistice between Germany and France the previous Sunday, France officially surrendered at 01:35 on Tuesday 25 June. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union continued its advances in Eastern Europe by occupying Romanian Bessarabia and part of Bukovina. The week ended with German forces invading the British Channel Islands. This week a notice… Read more »Read more

After a week of negotiations Prime Minister Petain of France finally signed an armistice on Sunday, ceding all but two-fifths of France to Germany. Meanwhile, on Monday 17 June General Charles de Gaulle and some other French officers escaped to Britain (where within a fortnight he would be recognised as leader of the Free French)…. Read more »Read more

Now that the war in Europe had essentially been won by Germany, on Monday 10 June Italy opportunistically declared war on Britain and France; three days later German troops occupied Paris. The French cabinet moved to Bordeaux and voted for an armistice with Germany. In desperation Britain proposed a full political union with France, but… Read more »Read more

In the early hours of 4 June “Operation Dynamo”, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk, finally ended as German forces finally overcame the mostly French troops defending the beachhead. Later that day Winston Churchill gave his famous, “We shall fight on the beaches” speech to Parliament, and, while celebrating the success of the operation,… Read more »Read more