25 May 1940
  • Captain Richard F. J. Onslow was named the commanding officer of HMS Hermes, relieving Captain F. E. P. Hutton. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
  • Illustrious was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
  • 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 [Main Article | CPC]
  • Crown Prince Yi Un was made the commanding officer of the Japanese 4th Division. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]
  • General Maxime Weygand confirmed General Georges Blanchard as the new commander of the French First Army. ww2dbase [AC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Béarn 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 [Main Article | 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 [Main Article | 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 [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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Troops abandoning ship after the converted luxury liner SS President Coolidge struck two mines while entering the harbor at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 26 Oct 1942. Only 2 men were lost out of over 5,000.




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"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!"

George Patton, 31 May 1944