Remembering History by day WW2

[Peter Clare]

11 Jun 1940 - The Fiat works in Turin are attacked by 36 Whitleys of No. 4 Group. The Italians make the first of seven attacks against Malta. The entire Maltese fighter defence of 4 Sea Gladiators only manages to damage one enemy aircraft. In North Africa, the RAF launches two raids against the Italian airfield at El Adem, Libya, destroying all 18 enemy aircraft on the ground.

[Peter Clare]

June 12, 1940
Paris on the verge of invasion

On this day in 1940, 54,000 British and French troops surrender to German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at St. Valery-en-Caux, on the northern Channel border, as the Germans continue their gains in France.
Even after the evacuation of Dunkirk by the British Expeditionary Force, tens of thousands of British and Allied troops remained in France. Overwhelmed by the German invaders, over 3,000 Allied troops attempted to escape by sea but were stopped by German artillery fire. Surrender was the order of the day; among those taken prisoner were 12 Allied generals.
But all was not lost, as Britain refused to leave France to German occupation. Prime Minister Winston Churchill had already ordered more British troops back into France, and British bombers were also attacking German lines of communication. British and Allied troops were still active in other parts of France-some 50 British fighters and 70 bombers were moving on German forces.
But despite the British reinforcements and encouragement (Churchill flew to France himself to encourage the French leaders), General Maxime Weygand ordered the French military governor of Paris to ensure that the French capital remained an open city-that is, there was to be no armed resistance to the Germans. In short, he was pushing for an armistice, in effect, capitulation. The enemy would be allowed to pass through unchallenged. Weygand addressed his cabinet with his assessment of the situation: "A cessation of hostilities is compulsory." He bitterly blamed Britain for France's defeat, unwilling to take responsibility for his own inept strategies and failed offensives. Paris was poised for occupation.

[Peter Clare]

12/13 Jun 1941 - Fourteen Beaufighters of Nos. 22 and 42 Sqns depart from their bases in Scotland to locate the German battleship Lutzow which had been sighted off the Norwegian coast by a No. 114 Sqn Blenheim. The vessel was sighted by Flight Sergeant RH Loveitt of No. 42 Sqn, and torpedoed during the night.

[Peter Clare]

12 Jun 1942 - A Coastal Command Beaufighter, piloted by Flt Lt K Gatward, makes a daylight flight to Paris and drops a French Tricolour over the tomb of the unknown soldier.

[Peter Clare]

HMS GROVE (June 12, 1942)

British destroyer, captained by Cdr.J.W. Rylands, was escorting supply convoy MW-11 from Alexandria to the island of Malta when the convoy was spotted by enemy aircraft and soon an intensive attack developed by bombers, submarines and units of the Italian Navy. The Grove was hit by two torpedoes from the U-77 (Kptlt. Heinrich Schonder) which blew off the bow of the ship which floated perpendicular in the water behind the main structure. With a list strongly to port and with her stern down, the Grove took only minutes to sink leaving an enormous oil slick on the surface. Two officers and 108 ratings went down with the ship. There were 65 survivors.
The enemy attack by submarine and aircraft was so severe that part of the convoy was compelled to return to Alexandria. Also sunk in this engagement was the light cruiser HMS Hermione which went down with eight officers and 79 ratings. Names of those lost on the Grove are engraved on the Naval Memorial overlooking the town of Chatham in Kent.
The U-77 was sunk by British aircraft off the coast of Spain on March 28, 1943. Thirty-eight crewmen were killed, only nine survived.

[Peter Clare]

June 13, 1944
Germans launch V-1 rocket attack against Britain

On this day in 1944, Germany launches 10 of its new V1 rockets against Britain from a position near the Channel coast. They prove to be less than devastating.
Mired in the planning stages for a year, the V1 was a pilotless, jet-propelled plane that flew by air-driven gyroscope and magnetic compass, capable of unleashing a ton of cruise missile explosives. Unfortunately for the Germans, the detonation process was rather clumsy and imprecise, depending on the impact of the plane as the engine quit and the craft crash-landed. They often missed their targets.
This was certainly the case against Britain. Of the 10 V1, or Reprisal 1, "flying bombs" shot at England, five crashed near the launch site, and one was lost altogether-just four landed inside the target country. Only one managed to take any lives: Six people were killed in London. The Germans had hoped to also mount a more conventional bombing raid against Britain at the same time the V1s were hitting their targets-in the interest of heightening the "terror" effect. This too blew up in their faces, as the Brits destroyed the German bombers on the ground the day before as part of a raid on German airfields.

[Peter Clare]

13 Jun 1944 - London is attacked for the first time by V-1 Flying Bombs launched from sites in and around Pas de Calais, France. Between 13 Jun and 5 Sep, when the sites where overrun, the RAF managed to destroy 1,771 of the bombs. The most successful type used against them was the Hawker Tempest.

[Peter Clare]

ESCANABA (June 13, 1943)

The U.S.C.G. Escanaba (WPG-77), was a 1,005 ton Algonquin Class U.S. Coast Guard gunboat escorting convoy GS-24 from Narsarssuak, Greenland, to Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, was sunk at 5.10am. The 165ft ship exploded and sank in just over three minutes taking 101 members of her crew with her. All died in the explosion or from hypothermia in the 39 degree cold water. Only 2 men survived the sinking, picked up by the tug Raritan some minutes later. A year earlier, on June 15, 1942 the Eacanaba had rescued twenty-two men from the SS Cherokee and on February 3, 1943, rescued 132 survivors from the SS Dorchester. It is not known what sunk the Escanaba, mine or torpedo. German sources records no U-boat attacks at that time. In its home port, Grand Haven, Michigan, the community raised enough money to build another vessel bearing the name Escanaba. A memorial service is held every year to honour the ship and its gallant crew.

[Peter Clare]

HMS BOADICEA (June 13, 1944)

British destroyer, 1,360 tons, commissioned in 1931 and sunk off Portland Bill, Dorset, by two torpedoes launched from a German Junker 88 aircraft. The Boadicea was operating ahead of Convoy EBC-8 on its way to Normandy. One torpedo struck near the forward magazine causing it to explode. The other exploded in its wake. Nine officers, including the captain Lt. Cdr. F.W. Hawkins, and 166 ratings died. There were only 12 survivors.

[Peter Clare]

June 14, 1940
Germans enter Paris

On this day in 1940, Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had tried for days to convince the French government to hang on, not to sue for peace, that America would enter the war and come to its aid. French premier Paul Reynaud telegrammed President Franklin Roosevelt, asking for just such aid-a declaration of war, and if not that, any and all help possible. Roosevelt replied that the United States was prepared to send material aid-and was willing to have that promise published--but Secretary of State Cordell Hull opposed such a publication, knowing that Hitler, as well as the Allies, would take such a public declaration of help as but a prelude to a formal declaration of war. While the material aid would be forthcoming, no such commitment would be made formal and public.
By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. In short order, the German Gestapo went to work: arrests, interrogations, and spying were the order of the day, as a gigantic swastika flew beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
While Parisians who remained trapped in their capital despaired, French men and women in the west cheered-as Canadian troops rolled through their region, offering hope for a free France yet.
The United States did not remain completely idle, though. On this day, President Roosevelt froze the American assets of the Axis powers, Germany and Italy