world war 2 Archives - Page 3 of 7 - World War 2 Collection

This Week in WWII: 1st Week of September

1939
Great Britain, France, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia declare war on Germany. Prime Minister Chamberlain was reluctant but capitulated to the necessity for the war declaration.

U.S.A. proclaims neutrality in the war in Europe.
1943
British troops land on mainland Italy, beginning the Allied campaign in Italy.
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This Week in WWII – 4th Week of August

By Shawn Janes |

1940
Luftwaffe hammers airfields in Britain. Major night-time attack on Liverpool…Heavy raids on London, Midlands and North East Coast. Heavy raids on targets in the Midlands.
1941
Another U-boat is forced to surface off Ireland and its Enigma machine is captured.
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This Week in WWII – 3rd Week of August

By Shawn Janes |

1939
Nazis (Hitler) and Soviets (Stalin) sign a pact.
1940
Britain’s heavies losses to date = 83 fighters and bombers lost. First German air raids on Central London. Luftwaffe accidentally bombs London. Brits retaliate. Churchill retaliates bombing of London by instituting the first British air raid on Berlin.
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This Week in WWII: 2nd Week in August

By Shawn Janes |

1940
Bismark is commissioned. Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class battleships built for the German Kriegsmarine.
1945
Bockscar B-29 piloted by Charles W. Sweeney drops Atomic Bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki, Japan.
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This Week in WWII – 4th Week of July

By Shawn Janes |

1935
First flight of the B-17.
1940
Hitler tours Paris. Nazi attacks on Dover lead to the near destruction of the entire Defiant Squadron. Assassination attempt on Hitler: Count Fritz-Dietlof von def Schulenberg planned to shoot Hitler from a reviewing stand at a parade honoring Hitler.
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This Week in WWII – 2nd Week of July

By Shawn Janes |

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.
1942
Barbarossa: Nazis move toward Stalingrad USSR. Germans move toward Stalingrad.
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This Week in WWII: 1st Week in July

By Shawn Janes |

1940
British ships attack French Navy
1942
First European mission made by the 8th Air Force. Japanese troops take Guadalcanal.
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This Week in WWII – 3rd Week of June

By Shawn Janes |

1940
About 2,500 British troops perish when five Luftwaffe bombers attack the Lancastria, a Cunard luxury liner being used to transport troops. Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich. Winston Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech.
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This Week in WWII – 1st Week of June

By Shawn Janes |

1940
Evacuation of allied troops from Dunkirk ends. Nazi planes strike airfields, industrial sites, and buildings in Paris. This successful German effort to damage France’s economy, reduce its military, and create terror…
1941
The provisional French government is established.
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This Week in WWII – 4th Week of May

By Shawn Janes |

1935
First flight of the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
1940
Evacuation of allied troops from Dunkirk begins. The 27th is the worst day at Dunkirk. Churchill reprimands King Leopold of Belgium for seeking a separate peace with Germany. Conflict between Halifax and Churchill over Italy and the overall conduct of the war effort.
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