12 Apr 1940
  • The British Cyprus Regiment was established from volunteers from the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus. ww2dbase [AC]
Denmark
  • Seeadler arrived off the Danish coast and provided assistance for the damaged heavy cruiser Lützow. ww2dbase [Seeadler | CPC]
Germany
  • Luftflotte 5 was formed in Hamburg, Germany under the command of Generaloberst Erhard Milch for operations in Norway. Milch would soon establish his headquarters in Oslo, Norway. ww2dbase [Erhard Milch | Hamburg | CPC]
Norway United Kingdom
  • German submarine U-37 sank British ship Stancliffe with one torpedo 45 miles northeast of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0942 hours, killing 21. 16 survivors in one lifeboat would later make a landing at nearby Unst Island. ww2dbase [Shetland Islands, Scotland | CPC]
  • Corporal Jack H. Langridge of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, assigned to a Wellington bomber of No. 149 Squadron RAF, became the first of 1,670 New Zealanders to be killed while serving with RAF Bomber Command during the war. The aircraft took off from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, attacked Stavanger Airfield in Norway during daylight, and was shot down around 1610 hours by a Bf 110 fighter just off of the coast southwest of Stavanger. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | Mildenhall, England | AC]
Photo(s) dated 12 Apr 1940
German SdKfz. 223 armored radio car in Denmark, 12 Apr 1940

12 Apr 1940 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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