Posted on 05/31/2010 5:48:50 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Part I (5/24/40, reply #3)
Part II (5/26/40, reply #3)
Part III (5/30/40, reply #3
To be continued.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/may40/f31may40.htm
Evacuation of Dunkirk peaks
Friday, May 31, 1940 www.onwar.com
On the Western Front... This is the most successful day of the Dunkirk evacuation, with 68,014 men being taken to Britain. The ships lost include one destroyer and six more are damaged. General Gort returns to Britain after handing over command of the remnant of the BEF to General Alexander as ordered. There are considerable air battles over the beaches at various stages during the day in which the RAF claim to shoot down 38 German aircraft for the loss of 28. In fact the figures are nearer equality.
In Norway... The British blocking force is evacuated from Bodo.
In Britain... A series of measures, including the removal of all direction signs from crossroads, is taken to counter worries about fifth-column and parachute attacks.
In Washington... President Roosevelt introduces a “billion-dollar defense program” which is designed to boost the United States military strength significantly.
Ping
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/31.htm
May 31st, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
U-13 (Type IIB) is believed sunk in the North Sea north of Newcastle, in position 55.26N, 02.02E, by depth charges from the sloop HMS Weston. There are some survivors. (Alex Gordon)
RAF records show that Boulton Paul Defiants have shot down 65 enemy aircraft, mainly over Dunkirk against bomber formations.
RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. 21 Sqn. Attacks on pontoon bridges near Nieuport. 107 Sqn. Bombs MT at Oostvleteken, Flak intense, 1 Bf109 shot down and one turned away by a lucky shot from a Blenheims nose blister gun. Blenheims escorted by Hurricanes of 145 Sqn. which shot down two Bf109s. In the evening 24 crews from Wattisham bomb bridges in the Nieuport area and stop a German attack.
Signposts are removed from crossroads to confuse any invasion force.
Lieutenant General Alan Brooke arrives in Dover.
Detling, Kent: Cpl Joan Daphne Mary Pearson (b. 1911), WAAF, rescued the pilot of a burning bomber. She went back for the wireless operator, but found him dead. (Empire Gallantry Medal).
Minesweeping trawler HMS Blackthorn commissioned.
River Class destroyers HMCS St Laurent, Restigouche and Skeena arrived at Devonport and were assigned Western Approaches Command(.DS)
WESTERN FRONT: Operation Dynamo: Destroyer FS Sirocco sunk off Dunkirk by German MTBs S-23 and S-26. (Dave Shirlaw)
Lord Gort hands over the command of British troops still in France to Major-General Harold Alexander, and departs for Dover; 68,014 troops also leave today. In the air over Dunkirk the RAF looses 28 fighters, and claims 28 German fighters.
Nursing Sister Catherine Mary Butland, who was evacuated from Dunkirk after two weeks at a clearing station in Belgium, has accused the Germans of ignoring the universal Red Cross sign and bombing ambulance trains. She and seven other nurses were driven to Dunkirk in a truck by a colonel.
“We were being attacked from the air all the way down,” she said later: “The towns were being bombed constantly and the fact that we were an ambulance made no difference. It they wanted to bomb it theyd bomb it. If they wanted to come down and machine-gun while you were getting patients off the ambulances they came down and machine-gunned.” Sister Butland and her companions were taken aboard the converted hospital ship Worthing. “We got our bedding rolls down and we went to work because there were casualties being brought in all states of injury, wanting treatment” she added. “The whole way through the atmosphere was one of: I want to get back to the unit.”
Dunkirk: Capt. Harold Marcus Ervine-Andrews (b. 1911), East Lancs Regiment, led a delaying attack from a barn on vastly superior forces. (VC).
GERMANY: Germanys economy is being reshaped to bolster its military campaigns. The Ministry of Armaments and Munitions was set up under Fritz Todt in March to improve the flow of arms to the front line.
Unlike the other warring powers, Germany was preparing for war as early as 1936, when a four-year economic plan was introduced which included large-scale investment in armaments. Despite this, Germanys reserves are not geared to cope with a protracted war; this is one reason behind Hitlers Blitzkrieg strategy. With other heavy industries, armaments have been hit by shortages of labour and raw materials, although the latter should be eased by the occupation of areas rich in iron-ore, such as Norway and Luxembourg.
NORWAY: The British blocking force evacuates Bodo.
HMS Ark Royal et al arrive in Scapa 0529 and commence refueling operations. At 0830, the two carriers depart, HMS Ark Royal still flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Wells. Escort is provided by five DDs, HMS Acasta, HMS Arden, HMS Acheron, HMS Highlander, and HMS Diana. The first task at sea is to embark aircraft. On this trip, the two carriers will carry the following aircraft:
HMS Ark Royal:
800 Squadron: 12 Skuas
803 Squadron: 12 Skuas
810 Squadron: 12 Swordfish
820 Squadron: 9 Swordfish
HMS Glorious:
802 Squadron (-): 6 Sea Gladiators
823 Squadron (-): 6 Swordfish
On this, the last trip to Norway, Admiral Wells mission is three-fold.: First, to cooperate with the forces ashore to cover the evacuation of all ground forces in the Narvik are. Second, to cover the movement of all troop convoys to the British Isles. Finally, HMS Glorious is to re-embark the surviving Gladiators of 263 Squadron, RAF as well as the Walrus amphibians of 701 Squadron, FAA. At this point, the belief is that the surviving Hurricanes of 46 Squadron will have to be destroyed. (Mark Horan)
JAPAN: Launching a bombing campaign against south-east China, Japan says that it will bomb Chungking until the Nationalist spirit breaks.
CANADA: Patrol vessel HMCS Moose (ex-US yacht Cleopatra) commissioned.
Yachts Cleopatra and Conseco purchased by RCN and were converted to patrol craft HMCS Moose and Otter respectively in Quebec City.(Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Washington: Roosevelt asks Congress to authorise an extra $1,300 million in defence spending, for “acceleration and development of our military and naval needs as measured in both machines and men” .
Boston: A US team achieves the first successful automatic tracking of an aircraft in elevation and azimuth using a prototype centimetric radar on the roof of the MIT Radiation Lab. (Cris Wetton)
The motion picture “Buck Benny Rides Again” is released in the U.S. This western musical comedy directed by Mark Sandrich, stars Jack Benny, Ellen Drew, Andy Devine, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Ward Bond, Fred Allen and Don Wilson. The plot has New Yorker Jack Benny going to a ranch in Nevada and trying to convince singer Drew that he is 100% cowboy. (Jack McKillop)
Destroyers USS Nicholson and Wilkes launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC: U-boats start returning to the Western Approaches. As they do, one of the first ‘Flower’ class corvettes, HMS Arabis, attacks one of their number in defence of a Gibraltar/UK convoy.
With the closure of the Mediterranean to Allied shipping, the trade routes around Africa and the ports to sustain them take on a new importance. Particularly vital is the West African base at Freetown Sierra Leone.
Losses. 10 ships of 55,000 tons.
MERCHANT SHIPPING WAR:
Losses. 90 ships of 231,000 tons.
At 1402, the Orangemoor in Convoy HGF-31 was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-101 and sank within a short time southwest of Roches Doures. 18 crewmembers were lost. The master and 21 crewmembers were picked up by the Brandenburg and landed at London. (Dave Shirlaw)
bump
Date |
From the beaches |
From Dunkirk Harbour |
Total |
Running Total |
Monday 27 May |
|
7,699 |
7,699 |
7,699 |
Tuesday 28 May |
5,930 |
11,874 |
17,804 |
25,473 |
Wednesday 29 May |
13,752 |
33,558 |
47,310 |
72,783 |
Thursday 30 May |
29,512 |
24,311 |
53,823 |
126,606 |
Friday 31 May |
22,942 |
45,072 |
68,014 |
194,620 |
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_dynamo.html#5
Probably the greatest retreat in history.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 274 May 31, 1940
Operation Dynamo. After the carnage of German bombing of the last 2 days, cloudy weather restricts Luftwaffe activity & the Admiralty returns the modern destroyers to Dunkirk. Despite the clouds, French destroyer Leopard and British destroyers HMS Express, Icarus, Keith & Winchelsea are damaged by German bombing. The evacuation continues in full swing embarking 68,014 Allied troops including General Lord Gort, commander of the BEF (45,072 from Dunkirk harbour & 22,942 off the beaches). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/10169745.stm
In addition to the British small craft, 39 Dutch coasters (that escaped the German occupation) assist the evacuation, saving a total of 22,698 men during the whole operation.
French destroyer Sirocco and Cyclone are torpedoed by German Schnellboote. Sirocco is then sunk by German bombing with 180 crew and 700 men of the 92nd French Infantry Regiment on board (59 crew and over 600 French troops die). Sirocco goes down flying the 92nd Regiments colours.
14 miles Southeast of Lowestoft, England, Sloop HMS Weston sinks U-13 with depth charges (all 26 crew, are rescued and taken prisoner).
At 2 PM, U-101 attacks convoy HG-31F and sinks British SS Orangemoor carrying 8150 tons of iron ore 25 miles West of Guernsey (18 crew lost). 22 survivors are rescued by the Brandenburg and landed at London. U-101 is then attacked for 8 hours with 41 depth charges by the convoy escorts, but survives. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/332.html
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