This Week in WWII – 2nd Week of July

1940

Churchill tells Beaverbrook that, “we have no continental army that can defeat the German military machine.” The Battle of Britain begins as Luftwaffe begins attacking shipping in the English Channel. Luftwaffe begins to attack ports, harbors, and coastal areas. Areas attacked include Portland, Dover, Lands End, Poole, and Dorset. Luftwaffe attacks Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

1942

Barbarossa: Nazis move toward Stalingrad USSR. Germans move toward Stalingrad. Hermann van Pels (Van Daan), Otto Frank’s partner, and his son Peter join the Franks in hiding.

1943

During the Nazi occupation of France, Resistance leader Jean Moulin dies following his arrest and subsequent torture by the Gestapo. He was sent by the Allies into France in 1942 to unite the fledgling Underground movement. In June of 1943, he was arrested in Lyon, tortured for eleven days but betrayed no one. He died aboard a train while being transferred to a concentration camp.

1944

Japanese troops on Siapan surrender.

Evacuation of Stalag Luft VI at Heydekrug in Lithuania begins, to Stalag Luft IV at Gross Tychow involving a force march and 60 hour journey by ship to Swinemunde, or by force march and cattle train to Stalag XX-A at Thorn in Poland.

1945

Eisenhower dissolves Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).

 

Recommended Resources

DVDs

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Books

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