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  • England, United Kingdom
    Jun, 1940
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill ordered the formation of both the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Commandos

    England, United Kingdom
    Jun, 1940

    In other initiatives through June and July 1940, Churchill ordered the formation of both the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Commandos. The SOE was ordered to promote and execute the subversive activity in Nazi-occupied Europe while the Commandos were charged with raids on specific military targets there. Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, took political responsibility for the SOE and recorded in his diary that Churchill told him: "And now go and set Europe ablaze".




  • France
    Saturday Jun 1, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle's rank of brigadier-general

    France
    Saturday Jun 1, 1940

    De Gaulle's rank of brigadier-general became effective on 1 June 1940.UTC (GMT -00:00)




  • Paris, France
    Sunday Jun 2, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle sent a memo to Weygand

    Paris, France
    Sunday Jun 2, 1940

    On 2 June he sent a memo to Weygand vainly urging that the French armored divisions be consolidated from four weak divisions into three stronger ones and concentrated into an armored corps under his command. He made the same suggestion to Reynaud.




  • Dunkirk, France
    Tuesday Jun 4, 1940
    Winston Churchill

    Operation Dynamo

    Dunkirk, France
    Tuesday Jun 4, 1940

    Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of 338,226 Allied servicemen from Dunkirk, ended on Tuesday, 4 June when the French rearguard surrendered. The total was far in excess of expectations and it gave rise to a popular view that Dunkirk had been a miracle, and even a victory. Churchill himself referred to "a miracle of deliverance" in his "we shall fight on the beaches" speech to the Commons that afternoon, though he shortly reminded everyone that: "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations". The speech ended on a note of defiance coupled with a clear appeal to the United States: We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.




  • Reynolds, Georgia, U.S.
    Friday Jun 7, 1940
    Samuel Little

    Little Birth

    Reynolds, Georgia, U.S.
    Friday Jun 7, 1940

    Samuel Little was born on June 7, 1940, in Reynolds, Georgia, to a mother he claimed was a prostitute.




  • France
    Saturday Jun 8, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle suggested fighting on

    France
    Saturday Jun 8, 1940

    On 8 June, de Gaulle visited Weygand, who believed it was "the end" and that after France was defeated Britain would also soon sue for peace. He hoped that after an armistice the Germans would allow him to retain enough of a French Army to "maintain order" in France. He gave a "despairing laugh" when de Gaulle suggested fighting on.




  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 9, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle flew to London and met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 9, 1940

    On 9 June, De Gaulle flew to London and met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for the first time. It was thought that half a million men could be evacuated to French North Africa, provided the British and French navies and air forces coordinated their efforts.


  • Italy
    Monday Jun 10, 1940
    Adolf Hitler

    Italy join forces with Hitler

    Italy
    Monday Jun 10, 1940

    These victories prompted Mussolini to have Italy join forces with Hitler on 10 June.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Jun 10, 1940
    Marcus Garvey

    Death

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Jun 10, 1940

    Garvey then suffered a second stroke and died at the age of 52 on 10 June 1940.


  • Italy
    Monday Jun 10, 1940
    Benito Mussolini

    Italy declared war on Britain and France

    Italy
    Monday Jun 10, 1940

    As the Germans invaded France in June 1940, Mussolini announced Italy’s entrance into the war. Italy declared war on France and Great Britain on June 10, 1940.


  • Italian-French Boarders
    Monday Jun 10, 1940
    World War II

    Battle of Alps

    Italian-French Boarders
    Monday Jun 10, 1940

    On 10 June, Italy invaded France, declaring war on both France and the United Kingdom. It was the first major engagement of the World War II.


  • Malta
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940
    World War II

    Siege of Malta

    Malta
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940

    In early June 1940 the Italian Royal Air Forces attacked and besieged Malta, a British possession. The siege lasted from June 1940 to November 1942, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of the British Crown Colony of Malta, which pitted the air forces and navies of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany against the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy. By May 1943, the Allied forces had sunk 230 Axis ships in 164 days, the highest Allied sinking rate of the war. The Allied victory in Malta played a major role in the eventual Allied success in North Africa.


  • France
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle offered General Hunziger as Commander-in-Chief

    France
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940

    On 11 June, Charles de Gaulle drove to Arcis-Sur-Aube and offered General Hunziger (Commander of the Central Army Group) Weygand's job as Commander-in-Chief.


  • France
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle attended the meeting of the Anglo-French Supreme War Council at the Chateau

    France
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940

    Later on, 11 June de Gaulle attended the meeting of the Anglo-French Supreme War Council at the Chateau du Muguet at Briare. The British were represented by Churchill, Anthony Eden, John Dill, General Ismay, and Edward Spears, and the French by Reynaud, Pétain, Weygand, and Georges.


  • Egypt and Libya
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940
    Winston Churchill

    Western Desert campaign

    Egypt and Libya
    Tuesday Jun 11, 1940

    Churchill was determined to fight back and ordered the commencement of the Western Desert campaign on 11 June, an immediate response to the Italian declaration of war. This went well at first while the Italian army was the sole opposition and Operation Compass was a noted success.


  • Norway
    Jun, 1940
    The Holocaust

    Norway was completely occupied

    Norway
    Jun, 1940

    By June 1940, Norway was completely occupied.


  • France
    Thursday Jun 13, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle attended another Anglo-French

    France
    Thursday Jun 13, 1940

    On 13 June de Gaulle attended another Anglo-French conference at Tours with Churchill, Lord Halifax, Lord Beaverbrook, Spears, Ismay, and Alexander Cadogan. This time few other major French figures were present apart from Reynaud and Baudoin.


  • Tangier, Morocco
    Friday Jun 14, 1940
    Francisco Franco

    Occupied Tangier

    Tangier, Morocco
    Friday Jun 14, 1940

    On 14 June 1940, Spanish forces in Morocco occupied Tangier (a city under the rule of the League of Nations) and did not leave it until the war's end in 1945.


  • Paris, France
    Jun, 1940
    Eiffel Tower

    The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired

    Paris, France
    Jun, 1940

    Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was closed to the public during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb the tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground.


  • Bordeaux, France
    Friday Jun 14, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle arrived at Bordeaux

    Bordeaux, France
    Friday Jun 14, 1940

    De Gaulle arrived at Bordeaux on 14 June and was given a new mission to go to London to discuss the potential evacuation to North Africa.


  • Paris, France
    Friday Jun 14, 1940
    World War II

    Surrender of Paris

    Paris, France
    Friday Jun 14, 1940

    German soldiers marched past the Arch de Triomphe after the surrender of Paris.


  • Bordeaux, France
    Jun, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    Reynaud had resigned as prime minister

    Bordeaux, France
    Jun, 1940

    De Gaulle landed at Bordeaux at around 22:00 to be told that he was no longer a minister, as Reynaud had resigned as prime minister after the Franco-British Union had been rejected by his cabinet.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 16, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle talked about Jean Monnet's mooted Anglo-French political union

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 16, 1940

    On the afternoon of Sunday, 16 June de Gaulle was at 10 Downing Street for talks about Jean Monnet's mooted Anglo-French political union. He telephoned Reynaud – they were cut off during the conversation and had to resume later – with the news that the British had agreed.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Jun 17, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle escaped to London

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Jun 17, 1940

    At around 09:00 on the morning of 17 June, he flew to London on a British aircraft with Edward Spears. The escape was hair-raising.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Jun 18, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    British Cabinet was reluctant to agree to de Gaulle giving a radio address

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Jun 18, 1940

    British Cabinet was reluctant to agree to de Gaulle giving a radio address, as Britain was still in communication with the Pétain government about the fate of the French fleet. Duff Cooper had an advance copy of the text of the address, to which there were no objections.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Jun 18, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle's Appeal to continue to resist the occupation of France

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Jun 18, 1940

    De Gaulle's Appeal of 18 June exhorted the French people not to be demoralized and to continue to resist the occupation of France. He also – apparently on his own initiative – declared that he would broadcast again the next day.


  • Cameroon
    Wednesday Jun 19, 1940
    Francisco Franco

    Wanted to enter the war

    Cameroon
    Wednesday Jun 19, 1940

    On 19 June 1940, Franco pressed along a message to Hitler saying he wanted to enter the war, but Hitler was annoyed at Franco's demand for the French colony of Cameroon, which had been German before World War I, and which Hitler was planning on taking back for Plan Z.


  • London
    Wednesday Jun 19, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle denied the legitimacy of the government at Bordeaux

    London
    Wednesday Jun 19, 1940

    In his next broadcast on 19 June de Gaulle denied the legitimacy of the government at Bordeaux. He called on the North African troops to live up to the tradition of Bertrand Clausel, Thomas Robert Bugeaud, and Hubert Lyautey by defying orders from Bordeaux. The British Foreign Office protested to Churchill.


  • U.S.
    Thursday Jun 20, 1940
    Salvador Dali

    Able to Escape

    U.S.
    Thursday Jun 20, 1940

    In 1940, as World War II tore through Europe, Dalí and Gala retreated to the United States, where they lived for eight years splitting their time between New York and Monterey, California. They were able to escape because on June 20, 1940, they were issued visas by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, France. Salvador and Gala Dalí crossed into Portugal and subsequently sailed on the Excambion from Lisbon to New York in August 1940.


  • Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California, U.S.
    Jun, 1940
    Richard Nixon

    Marriage

    Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, California, U.S.
    Jun, 1940

    In January 1938, Nixon was cast in the Whittier Community Players production of The Dark Tower. There he played opposite a high school teacher named Thelma "Pat" Ryan. Nixon described it in his memoirs as "a case of love at first sight" for Nixon only, as Pat Ryan turned down the young lawyer several times before agreeing to date him. Once they began their courtship, Ryan was reluctant to marry Nixon; they dated for two years before she assented to his proposal. They wed in a small ceremony on June 21, 1940.


  • Compiègne, France
    Friday Jun 21, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    Armistice was signed

    Compiègne, France
    Friday Jun 21, 1940

    The armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed.


  • Compiègne, France
    Saturday Jun 22, 1940
    Adolf Hitler

    France armistice

    Compiègne, France
    Saturday Jun 22, 1940

    France and Germany signed an armistice on 22 June.


  • Bordeaux, France
    Sunday Jun 23, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    The Bordeaux government declared that De Gaulle compulsorily retired from the French Army

    Bordeaux, France
    Sunday Jun 23, 1940

    The Bordeaux government declared him compulsorily retired from the French Army (with the rank of colonel) on 23 June 1940.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 23, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    British Government denounced the armistice

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 23, 1940

    On 23 June the British Government denounced the armistice as a breach of the Anglo-French treaty signed in March and stated that they no longer regarded the Bordeaux Government as a fully independent state. They also "took note" of the plan to establish a French National Committee (FNC) in exile, but did not mention de Gaulle by name.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 23, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    Jean Monnet broke with de Gaulle

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Sunday Jun 23, 1940

    Jean Monnet broke with de Gaulle on 23 June, as he thought his appeal was "too personal" and went too far, and that French opinion would not rally to a man who was seen to be operating from British soil.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Jun 24, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle broadcast again

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Jun 24, 1940

    De Gaulle broadcast again on 24 June after Monnet soon resigned as head of the Inter-Allied Commission and departed for the US.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Jun 26, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle wrote to Churchill demanding recognition of his French Committee

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Wednesday Jun 26, 1940

    On 26 June de Gaulle wrote to Churchill demanding recognition of his French Committee.


  • Hathazari, Chittagong, Bengal Presidency, British India (Now Bangladesh)
    Friday Jun 28, 1940
    Muhammad Yunus

    Born

    Hathazari, Chittagong, Bengal Presidency, British India (Now Bangladesh)
    Friday Jun 28, 1940

    The third of nine children, Yunus was born on 28 June 1940 to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Bathua, by the Kaptai road in Hathazari, Chittagong in the Bengal Presidency of the British Raj, present Bangladesh.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Friday Jun 28, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    The British Government recognized de Gaulle as leader of the Free French

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Friday Jun 28, 1940

    On 28 June, after Churchill's envoys had failed to establish contact with the French leaders in North Africa, the British Government recognized de Gaulle as leader of the Free French, despite the reservations of Halifax and Cadogan at the foreign office.


  • Bessarabia; northern Bukovina (Present Day Moldova)
    Friday Jun 28, 1940
    World War II

    The Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina

    Bessarabia; northern Bukovina (Present Day Moldova)
    Friday Jun 28, 1940

    Romania and Hungary would make major contributions to the Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union. The Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina took place during June, 28–July 4, 1940 as a result of the Soviet Union ultimatum given to Romania on June 26, 1940, under the threat of the use of force.


  • France
    Sunday Jun 30, 1940
    Charles de Gaulle

    Admiral Muselier joined the Free French

    France
    Sunday Jun 30, 1940

    On 30 June 1940 Admiral Muselier joined the Free French.


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