19 Oct 1940

United Kingdom
  • British destroyer HMS Venetia hit a mine and sank in the Thames Estuary 10 miles north of Herne Bay, Kent in southern England; 35 were killed and 18 were wounded. ww2dbase [Herne Bay, England | CPC]
5 Jan 1941

United Kingdom
  • Amy Johnson, record-breaking aviation pioneer of the 1930s, was killed when the Airspeed Oxford trainer she was delivering as an Air Transport Auxiliary ferry pilot came down in the Thames Estuary in Southern England, United Kingdom, near Herne Bay. It was sadly ironic that a woman who navigated her way solo from England to Australia got lost in bad weather. Running out of fuel, she baled out thinking she was over London. Landing in the freezing water, she was dragged under a rescue boat by her parachute and chopped to death by the propellers. Her body was never found. ww2dbase [Amy Johnson | Herne Bay, England | AC]

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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Ju 88 aircraft in flight in Germany, 1943; note Bf 110 fighter on ground

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Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939


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