25 May 1940
  • British trade union executives accepted Aneurin Bevan's proposal for the Labour Supply Board and Production Council. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • The first transport of prisoners arrived at the Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp in occupied Austria region of southern Germany. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
  • Illustrious was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Illustrious | CPC]
  • Crown Prince Yi Un was made the commanding officer of the Japanese 4th Division. ww2dbase [Yi Un | CPC]
  • Captain Richard F. J. Onslow was named the commanding officer of HMS Hermes, relieving Captain F. E. P. Hutton. ww2dbase [Hermes | CPC]
  • General Maxime Weygand confirmed General Georges Blanchard as the new commander of the French First Army. ww2dbase [AC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • BĂ©arn made rendezvous with light cruisers Jeanne d'Arc and Émile Bertin in the Atlantic Ocean and transferred French central bank gold bullions to the light cruisers, which would carry them to Canada. ww2dbase [BĂ©arn | CPC]
France
  • Adolf Hitler continued to hold off his tanks from engaging on an offensive even though those armored division were merely 10 miles from Dunkerque, France. At Calais, France, Heinz Guderian obediently, albeit frustratingly, ordered his tanks to halt per Hitler's orders, but the field commanders continued to push back the British and French troops. In the evening, British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort began to fall back to Dunkerque. On the same day, the French Army relieved 15 generals of their commands. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | TH]
United Kingdom
  • At a meeting with Winston Churchill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir Edmund Ironside, agreed to accept the position of Commander-in-Chief Home Forces. He would be suceeded by as CIGS by his deputy, Sir John Dill. ww2dbase [AC]
United States
  • A unit of the newly formed US Marine Corps Defense Battalions began the Minor Landing and Base Defense Exercise at San Clemente Island, California, United States. ww2dbase [San Clemente Island, California | CPC]
Photo(s) dated 25 May 1940
French troops and H35 tanks advancing through a damaged village during the invasion of France, 25 May 1940.

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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Fw190G-3 No.160057 was captured Gerbini Airfield Sicily in Sep 1943. It was painted in a striking white and red color scheme. Camouflage netting was to keep the Luftwaffe from destroying it.




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Famous WW2 Quote
"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time."

Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal