31 May 1915
  • The first airship raid was made on London, England, United Kingdom by German Army Zeppelin LZ 38. Bombs fell on the East End of the capital, killing seven civilians and injuring at least fourteen more.
31 May 1918
  • Quintin Brand was awarded the Distinguished Service Order award.
    » In-depth article
  • In Siberia, Russia, the Czech Legion captured Petropavlovsk and Tomsk.
31 May 1919
31 May 1923
  • Rudolf Höss and a group of Nazi Party members killed suspected communist Walther Kadow in Mecklenburg, Germany to avenge the death of fellow party member Albert Leo Schlageter.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1931
  • Cruiser Köln conducted training operation in the Baltic Sea.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1932
31 May 1933
  • The Tanggu Truce was signed between China and Japan to end the undeclared war between China and Japan, with terms extremely favorable to Japan.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1937
  • The Spanish Republicans began an offensive to capture Segovia, Spain. Three Republican Divisions, under the command of General Domingo Moriones, broke through the Spanish Nationalist front-line at San Ildefonso and captured La Granja. Nationalist troops, led by General José Varela, were detached from the Madrid front and used to mount a counter-attack which stopped any further Republican advance.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1939
  • Vyacheslav Molotov gave his first speech as the Soviet foreign minister before the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union. He called for the Soviet Union to guarantee the borders of neighboring countries in Eastern Europe as means to contain German aggression, but at the same time, friendly relations should be maintained with Germany and Italy as commercial agreements with them were still of interest to the Soviet Union.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1940
  • Poor weather clouded over Dunkirk, France and gave the British a chance to bring in the modern destroyers into the area to assist the evacuation with less fear of German air attacks; 68,014 (45,072 from harbor and 22,942 from beaches) were rescued on this date, including British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort. French destroyer Leopart and British destroyers HMS Express, HMS Icarus, HMS Keith, and HMS Winchelsea were damaged by German aerial bombing. German torpedo boats damaged French destroyers Sirocco and Cyclone; Sirocco was finished off by German aircraft, killing 59 crew and 600 troops.
    » In-depth article
  • UK Prime Minister Churchill traveled to Paris, France for a Supreme Allied War Council meeting.
    » In-depth article
  • British sloop HMS Weston sank German submarine U-13 with depth charges 14 miles southeast of Lowestoft, England. The entire crew of 26 were taken prisoner.
  • German submarine U-101 attacked Allied convoy HG-31F and sank British ship Orangemoor with 8,150 tons of iron on board west of Guernsey, killing 18. The convoy's escorts attacked U-101 with 41 depth charges over the course of 8 hours; the submarine survived the attack.
  • The US Marine Corps 14th Naval District dispatched Captain Samuel G. Taxis to survey Midway Atoll with a small reconnaissance party for the planning of building a US Marine Corps presence there.
  • US Ambassador to Argentina Norman Armour and US Minister in Uruguay Edwin C. Wilson met in Montevideo, Uruguay regarding the deteriorating political situation in Uruguay. They jointly requested Secretary of State Cordell Hull to ask President Roosevelt to sent 40 to 50 warships to the eastern coast of South America as a show of force to prevent Uruguay from partnering with Germany. Later in the day, Hull would inform them that heavy cruiser USS Quincy was dispatched for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil per their suggestion, and she would visit Montevideo on the journey. State Department official Laurence Duggan would suggest Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles to publicize USS Quincy's South American tour.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 May 1940
    Aerial view of the destruction at Rotterdam, circa late May 1940Troops of the Japanese 18th Infantry Regiment at the west bank of the Han River, Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang, China, 31 May 1940; note Type 11 light machine gunsOil tanks on fire in the port of Calais, France, set aflame by retreating Allied troops, at 1530 hours on 31 May 1940Sand dunes on the beaches near Calais, France, 31 May 1940; note grave of a soldier to the right
    See all photos dated 31 May 1940
31 May 1941
  • At 0200 hours, Dublin, Ireland was accidentally bombed by German bombers intending to hit Liverpool, England, United Kingdom; 28 were killed and 87 were wounded, while about 25 homes were destroyed and about 300 homes were seriously damaged. Germany would later offer compensation.
  • British destroyers HMS Napier and HMS Nizam embarked 1,510 troops at Sphakia, Crete, Greece and departed before dawn for Egypt; they were attacked by Axis aircraft en route, causing minor damage. At 0600 hours, British cruiser HMS Phoebe, minelayer HMS Abdiel, and destroyers HMS Jackal, HMS Kimberley, and HMS Hotspur departed Alexandria, Egypt for Sphakia to evacuate more troops. On the same day, 54 senior level Allied officers, including General Freyberg, were evacuated from Crete by aircraft.
    » In-depth article
  • The mayor of Baghdad, Iraq surrendered to British Ambassador Sir Kinahan Cornwallis at the Washash Bridge. As a sign of good faith, the British allowed the Iraqi Army to return to their barracks, and all captured equipment were returned. Both sides released captured prisoners of war with the exception of German and Italian troops captured by the British.
    » In-depth article
  • German submarine U-69 sank British ship Sangara at Accra harbor, Gold Coast at 0025 hours.
  • German submarine U-38 sank Norwegian ship Rinda off Liberia at 0024 hours; 13 were killed, 18 survived and were rescued by British anti-submarine trawler HMS Pict.
  • German submarine U-106 sank British ship Clan MacDougall near Cape Verde Islands at 0334 hours; 2 were killed, 85 survived.
  • German submarine U-107 sank British ship Sire off Sierra Leone, British West Africa at 0739 hours; 3 were killed, 46 survived and were rescued by British corvette HMS Marguerite.
  • German submarine U-147 sank British ship Gravelines 100 miles northwest of Ireland; 11 were killed, 25 survived and were rescued by British sloop HMS Deptford.
  • German submarine U-204 sank small Icelandic fishing boat Holmsteinn northwest of Iceland at 0515 hours, killing the entire crew of 4.
  • Before dawn, German bombers attacked Merseyside, England, United Kingdom in the early hours of the day.
    » In-depth article
  • After successfully escaping the Oflag IV-C prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle, Germany earlier in the month, British Lieutenant Anthony "Peter" Allan failed to secure assistance from the US Consulate at Vienna in occupied Austria. Giving up, he turned himself in at a local police station and was eventually returned to Colditz.
  • Photos dated 31 May 1941
    Map depicting the German assault on Crete, Greece, 20-31 May 1941Wounded British troops disembarking at an Egyptian port after being evacuated from Crete, Greece, 31 May 1941
31 May 1942
  • Monowitz labor camp, later to become Auschwitz III, opened on this date, housing forced laborers charged with building the Buna-Works for the German chemical firm I. G. Farben.
  • Battle of Gazala: 50 trucks reached Bir Hakeim in Libya, bringing badly-needed fresh water.
    » In-depth article
  • British airfield RAF Bassingbourn's station log noted that from this date, when there were missions, "all personnel, officers, NCOs, and airmen to be served in the future in the airmen's mess."
  • Lord Gort stepped down as the Governor of Gibraltar.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Maryland patrolled 650 miles west of San Francisco, California.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Colorado patrolled 650 miles west of San Francisco, California, United States.
    » In-depth article
  • I-168 arrived in the Midway Atoll vicinity.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • Unyo was commissioned into service.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • USS Pollack damaged a small boat with her deck gun off Kyushu, Japan.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Finback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for the anticipated Japanese attack on Midway Atoll.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 May 1942
    US Navy sailors honoring fellow sailors killed during the Pearl Harbor attack, Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu, US Territory of Hawaii, possibly 31 May 1942
31 May 1943
  • Japanese Army Major General Noboru Sasaki arrived at Kolombangara, New Georgia, Solomon Islands as the new commanding officer of the joint Army-Navy Southwest Detachment.
    » In-depth article
  • US troops completed their occupation of Attu in the Aleutian Islands.
    » In-depth article
  • US 15th Air Force bombed Foggia airfield in Italy, destroying a number of German and Italian planes on the ground.
  • Adolf Hitler expressed extreme dismay at the withdrawal of German submarines from the American coast.
    » In-depth article
  • Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was named the commanding officer of the 3rd Group of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 wing.
    » In-depth article
  • Shokaku departed Yokosuka, Japan for the Inland Sea.
    » In-depth article
    » Tabular Record of Movement
  • USS Tunny was attacked by a Japanese aircraft, incurring minor damage that was repaired at sea later in the day.
    » In-depth article
  • USS S-35 completed post-repair trials off Bremerton, Washington, United States.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1944
  • Stalin approved the plan for Operation Bagration, aimed at the destruction of German Armeegruppe Mitte.
    » In-depth article
  • A German counterattack near Jassy, Romania was repulsed.
  • USS Pintado began tracking a Japanese convoy in the Philippine Sea.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 May 1944
    Rommel observing the Atlantic Wall near Ouistreham, Normandy, France, late May 1944
31 May 1945
  • 12 M26 Pershing heavy tanks departed the United States board a cargo ship for Okinawa, Japan. They would arrive too late to see combat.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Cassin Young arrived at Okinawa, Japan.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Segundo sank a four-masted sail ship with two torpedoes.
    » In-depth article
  • Photos dated 31 May 1945
    Lieutenant General Guy Simonds inspecting II Canadian Corps in Meppen, Germany, 31 May 1945
31 May 1946
  • Chen Cheng was relieved from his position as the head of the political bureau of the Nationalist military, and was named the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Navy and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
    » In-depth article
  • Piranha was decommissioned from service.
    » In-depth article
  • Irwin was decommissioned from service.
    » In-depth article
  • USS Menhaden was decommissioned from service at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States. She was placed in the US Navy Pacific Reserve Fleet.
    » In-depth article
31 May 1950
31 May 2011
  • The Pacific Battleship Center submitted the final application to the US Navy to acquire battleship Iowa.
    » In-depth article

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

Share this article with your friends:

 Delicious
 Digg
 Facebook
 Reddit
 StumbleUpon
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 Subscribe to RSS Feeds
Search WW2DB & Partner Sites
News

Random Photograph
Captain Alfred Jodl with his brother Ferdinand (with cigarette) during maneuvers with German 5th and 7th Divisions in Bavaria, Germany, 1926
Captain Alfred Jodl with his brother Ferdinand (with cigarette) during maneuvers with German 5th and 7th Divisions in Bavaria, Germany, 1926



Site Sponsors


Advertise on ww2db.com


Current Site Statistics

Famous WW2 Quote
"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, 16 Mar 1945