Chronology of the Second world war

April 1940 - May 1940 - June 1940

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• 1 {{er}}   May:

• Beginning of the evacuation of the task force free British with Namsos. The effort concentrates then on Narvik where the French managed to take foot.

• May 5th:

• the Norwegian government in exile settles with London.

• May 8th:

• the Polish of the autonomous Brigade of the hunters of Podhale unload on the Norwegian island of Hinnoy and prepare to attack Narvik.

• May 9th:

• the conscription with the the United Kingdom is prolonged until the 36 years age.

• May 10th:

• Offensive general allemande in the West against the Netherlands, the Belgium, the Luxembourg and the France: the Allies will name it the Bataille of France . As of the first day of combat, the armies and the fortified towns Belgian and Dutch are submerged. Belgium accepts, finally but too late, the intervention of the Franco-British forces: until the end, and in spite of the obviousnesses, Belgium had clung to the hope of the respect of its neutrality.
• the British elite of the forces free , stationed on the Belgian border, receives the order to go ahead, with like objective (already illusory!) to organize the defense along the Scheldt and of the Meuse.
• Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister, succeeding Arthur Neville Chamberlain, resigner. Its program: the war, only the war. He promises to the British, in a speech become famous “of the sorrow, blood, sweat and tears”.
• Swiss General mobilization in .

• May 11th:

• the Luxembourg is occupied.

• May 12th:

• the Germans reach the French Meuse, and cross it. All the following week will be characterized by one dismaying absence of reaction of the high command.

• May 13rd:

• the Dutch government in exile settles with London.
• British Unloading free with Narvik (May 13rd - June 7th). The Foreign legion takes foot on the heights of Bjerkvik.
• Bored of Sedan of the German armor-plated troops of the general Guderian. The general Rommel is distinguished.
• Collapse of the Belgian face.

• May 14th:

• the French face is inserted with Sedan;
• the creation of the local volunteers of defense (the Home Guard ) is announced by Anthony Eden.

• May 15th:

• Capitulation of the army Dutchwoman;
• Annexation of Eupen by the Germany;
• After fierce combats, Panzer Divisionnen finally exceeded Sedan. They oblique towards the North-West, to encircle the committed forces allied in Belgium, and with the contempt of the risk to be done themselves to encircle.
• the Britanniques refuse to make mount to the face their best fighter plans, the Spitfire. The British estimate that will not reverse the course of the events in France, whereas these forces are essential if France is overcome, which appears now probable.

• May 17th:

• the colonel Charles de Gaulle, very recent ordering the 4th division armoured, gains in Moncornet a small success, but, for lack of exploitation, it is significant only of what could have occurred if…

• May 18th:

• the general Władysław Sikorski places the first Polish pomegranate Division at the disposal of the French Army.
• the general Philippe Pétain becomes vice-president of the Council.

• May 20th:

• the general Maxime Weygand replaces the Gamelin general as commander-in-chief of the French Armies.
• the British make the decision to evacuate their troops towards the the United Kingdom (Opération Dynamo).

• May 21st:

• the towns of Arras and Amiens are taken. The Germans reach the English Channel; the French Army is cut into two, its best units encircled in Belgium. But Hitler prohibited Panzerdivisionen from supplementing surrounding by the capture of the ports and beaches.

• May 26th:

• Beginning of the Operation Dynamo, allied evacuation of Dunkirk towards the the United Kingdom. It will last until June 3rd, in spite of the Luftwaffe which will not manage to prevent it.

• May 28th:

• Capitulation of the Belgian army.
• the British government decides to accelerate the installation of the defense of London.
• Of the Norwegian and Polish troops pushes back the Germans to the Swedish border.

• May 29th:

• the Alliés take again Narvik with the Germans and destroy the harbor installations.

• May 31st:

• the Task force in Norway receives the order to evacuate.
• Rendering of Lille defended by the grouping of the general Molinié.