2 Jun 1940
  • Due to costly air attacks, British Admiralty decided that evacuation from Dunkirk, France would only be undertaken at night, particularly because nearly all British troops had already left Dunkirk by this time. On this date, 19,561 troops were evacuated from the harbor and 6,695 from the beaches. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | TH]
  • German submarine U-101 sank British ship Polycarp 41 miles south of Lands End in southwestern England at 0300 hours. The entire crew of 43 were rescued by French ship Espiguette. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German submarine U-58 sank British coastal defense vessel HMS Astronomer 20 miles off the northeast coast of Scotland at 0600 hours after a six-hour chase and three torpedoe hits. 4 were killed; 52 civilian crewmen, 1 gunner, and 48 Royal Navy sailors were rescued by anti-submarine trawlers HMS Stoke City and HMS Leicester City. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • In Norway, New Zealand Pilot Officer Louis Jacobsen of No. 263 Squadron RAF shot down six enemy bombers while flying a near obsolete Gladiator biplane fighter. Jacobsen himself would be dead in less than a week. ww2dbase [AC]
  • HMS CUMBERLAND on passage to Freetown, British West Africa (now Sierra Leone) with Convoy US3. ww2dbase [Cumberland | DS]
Ireland
  • US ship President Roosevelt departed Galway, Ireland with 720 American citizens fleeing the European war zone. ww2dbase [Galway | CPC]
Italy
  • US passenger liner Manhattan departed Genoa, Italy with 1,905 passengers fleeing the European war zone. ww2dbase [Genova, Liguria | CPC]
Norway
  • The Allies dispatched Polish and French troops to push German troops eastward from Narvik, Norway, while evacuated British troops. Carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious provided air cover for the evacuation of 26,000 British troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | CPC]
  • HMS Glorious provided escort for British RAF bombers attacking German airfields in Norway. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | Glorious | CPC]

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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Japanese soldiers crossing a river near the Nanjing city wall, China, 13 Dec 1937




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"Goddam it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!"

Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943