Timeline of the Second World War

Table of contents

1 1939 1.1 September 1.2 October 1.3 November 1.4 December 2 1940 2.5 January 2.6 March 2.7 April 2.8 May 2.9 June 2.10 July 2.11 August 2.12 September 2.13 October 2.14 November 2.15 December 3 1941 3.16 January 3.17 February 3.18 March 3.19 April 3.20 May 3.21 June 3.22 July 3.23 September 3.24 October 3.25 November 3.26 December 4 1942 4.27 January 4.28 February 4.29 March 4.30 April 4.31 May 4.32 June 4.33 July 4.34 August 4.35 September 4.36 October 4.37 November 4.38 December 5 1943 5.39 January 5.40 February 5.41 May 5.42 July 5.43 August 5.44 September 5.45 October 5.46 November 5.47 December 6 1944 6.48 January 6.49 February 6.50 March 6.51 May 6.52 June 6.53 July 6.54 August 6.55 September 6.56 October 6.57 November 6.58 December 7 1945 7.59 January 7.60 February 7.61 March 7.62 April 7.63 May 7.64 July 7.65 August 7.66 September

1939

1: Invasion of Poland by Germany; Norway, Switzerland and Finland declare their neutrality; the British government declares general mobilisation.

2: The United Kingdom and France issue a joint ulimtatum to Germany, requiring German troops to evacuate Polish territory within 12 hours; Mussolini declares Italian neutrality; Ireland also declares neutrality; the Swiss government orders a general mobilization of its forces; the National Service (Armed Forces) Act is passed in Britain.

3: Hitler rejects Allied ultimatum; the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France declare war on Germany; Belgium declares its neutrality as King Leopold III assumes personal command of the Belgian armed forces. British passenger liner SS Athenia en-route from Glasgow to Montreal is sunk by U-30.

4:The Royal Air Force attacks the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven and bombs the Kiel Canal.

5: The United States declares neutrality; General Jan Smuts replaces James Herzog as Prime Minister of South Africa; French troops begin minor offensive towards Saarbrucken.

6: South Africa declares war on Germany; Spain declares its neutrality, but Franco makes a secret pledge to Hitler to aid the Axis cause.

7: National Registration Act passed in Britain, introducing identity cards and allowing the government to control labour.

10: Canada declares war on Germany.

17: Invasion of Eastern Poland by the Soviet Union.

28: Warsaw surrenders; Polish government in exile set up in Paris.

1: Conscription of British men aged between 20 and 22 begins.

2: The Hel peninsula Polish defence forces surrender to German forces.

5: The Kock battle, the last battle of the Polish defence, between Polesie group under the command of General Kleeberg and German forces.

9: Hitler issues orders for preparation of invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

7: Italy again declares its neutrality.

13: Battle of the River Plate.

17: Admiral Graf Spee scuttled in Montevideo harbour.

14: Russia expelled from the League Of Nations.

18: The first Canadian troops arrive in Europe.

12: Finland signs a peace treaty with the Soviet Union.

18: Mussolini agrees with Hitler that Italy will enter the war 'at an opportune moment".

21: Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France.

9: Denmark and Norway invaded by Germany; Denmark surrenders.

5: Norwegian government in exile established in London.

9: Conscription in Britain extended to age 36.

10: Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are invaded by Germany; Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister upon the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.

11: Luxembourg occupied.

13: Dutch government in exile established in London.

14: The creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (the Home Guard) is announced by Anthony Eden.

15: The Netherlands surrender.

26: Operation Dynamo, the Allied evacuation from Dunkirk, begins.

28: Belgium surrenders; Germans evacuate Narvik

3: Last day of Operation Dynamo. 224,686 British and 121,445 French and Belgian troops have been evacuated.

10: Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom; Norway surrenders.

11: French government decamps to Tours.

14: Paris occupied by German troops; French government moves again, this time to Bordeaux.

16: Petain becomes premier of France upon the resignation of Reynaud's government.

17: Sinking of liner Lancastria off St Nazaire while being used as a British troopship - Britain's worst maritime disaster.

18: General De Gaulle forms the Comité Français de la Libération Nationale, a French government in exile; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are occupied by the Soviet Union.

21: Franco-German armistice negotiations begin at Compiegne.

22: Franco-German armistice signed.

24: France officially surrenders to Germany; Franco-Italian armistice signed.

28: General De Gaulle recognised by British as leader of Free French.

30: Germany invades the Channel Islands.

1: Channel Islands completely occupied; French government moves to Vichy.

2: Hitler orders preparation of plans for invasion of Britain, code-named Operation Sealion.

4: Royal Navy force arrives at Mers El Kébir and orders French fleet there to surrender - upon refusal they open fire, sinking or damaging several French ships; Vichy French government breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain in protest.

21: Czech government in exile arrives in London.

22: The Special Operations Executive is created.

25: All women and children are ordered to evacuate Gibraltar.

2: General De Gaulle sentenced to death in absentia by a French military court.

4: Italian forces invade British Somaliland.

19: Italians take Berbera, capital of British Somaliland.

3: Operation Sealion set for 21st September.

10: Operation Sealion postponed until 24th September.

13: Italy invades Egypt.

14: Operation Sealion postponed until 27th September, the last day of the month with suitable tides for the invasion.

17: Operation Sealion postponed by Hitler until further notice.

7: Germany invades Romania.

12: Any German invasion of Britain postponed until Spring 1941 at the earliest.

28: Italy issues ultimatum to Greece - Prime Minister Metaxas replies with the single word "Okhi!" ("no!"); Italian forces invade Greece.

11: British naval forces launch attack against Italian navy at Taranto. Swordfish bombers from HMS Illustrious damage three battleships, two cruisers and multiple auxillary craft.

20: Hungary and Romania sign the Tripartite Pact.

11: Greece invades Italian-held Albania.

12: British and Australian troops capture Tobruk.

25: Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland captured by British forces.

11: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend Lease Act allowing Britain, China and other allied nations to purchase military equipment and to defer payment until after the war.

25: Yugoslavia signs the Tripartite Pact.

27: Crown Prince Peter becomes Peter II of Yugoslavia and takes control of Yugoslavia after an army coup overthrows the pro-German government of the Prince Regent.

30: The Afrika Korps begins the German offensive in North Africa.

6: German, Hungarian and Italian forces invade Yugoslavia and Greece.

10: Greenland occupied by the United States.

12: Belgrade surrenders.

13: Japan and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality pact.

17: Yugoslavia surrenders. Goverment in exile formed in London.

23: Greek government evacuated to Crete.

27: Athens occupied by German troops.

10: Rudolf Hess captured in Scotland after bailing out of his plane.

20: German paratroopers attack Crete.

24: British battlecruiser HMS Hood sunk by German battleship Bismarck; Greek government leaves Crete for Cairo.

27: The Bismarck is sunk by torpedoes from HMS Dorsetshire.

28: British and Commonwealth forces begin to evacuate Crete.

1: Allies complete the withdrawal from Crete.

4: Iraq invaded by Britain - the pro-Axis government there is overthrown.

8: Syria invade by Britain - Vichy French government there overthrown.

22: Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.

23: Hungary and Slovakia declare war on the Soviet Union.

26: Finland declares war on the Soviet Union.

28: Albania declares war on the Soviet Union.

5: Possibility of negotiated peace ruled-out by British government.

7: Iceland occupied by the United States.

8: Yugoslavia dissolved by the Axis.

12: Britain and Soviet Union sign mutual defence agreement, promising not to sign any form of seperate peace agreement with Germany.

25: Iran occupied by Britain and the Soviet Union.

5: Germany occupies Estonia.

15: Siege of Leningrad begins.

5: Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.

7: Japanese aerial attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Thailand and Shanghai.

8: Japan invades Malaya

10: British battleships HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales sunk by Japanese air attack.

11: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

12: Britain declares war on Bulgaria after it had declared war on both Britain and the United States.

16: Japan invades Borneo

17: Siege of Sevastpol begins.

18: Japanese troops land on Hong Kong Island.

25: Hong Kong surrenders.

2: Japanese troops occupy Manila.

25: Japanese troops invade the Solomon Islands.

15: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces.

22: Darwin, Australia bombed by Japanese air force.

15: Malta is awarded the George Cross by King George VI for "heroism and devotion".

18: Doolittle Raid on Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama.

30: Hitler and Mussolini propose to invade Malta on 10th July.

4: Battle of the Coral Sea.

21: Invasion of Malta postponed indefintely.

4: American victory at Battle of Midway.

18: Manhattan Project started.

21: Afrika Korps recaptures Tobruk.

28: Operation Blue, the German plan to capture Stalingrad and the Russian oil fields in the Causascus, begins.

1: First Battle of El Alamein begins.

3: Guadalcanal falls to the Japanese.

27: First Battle of El Alamein ends.

7: Operation Watchtower begins the Battle of Guadalcanal as American forces invade Gavutu, Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Tanambogo in the Solomon Islands.

13: General Bernard Montgomery appointed commander of British Eighth Army in North Africa.

19: Operation Jubilee, a raid by British and Canadian forces on Dieppe in France, ends in disaster.

22: Brazil declares war on the Axis countries.

30: Luxembourg is formally annexed to the German Reich.

4: British Commandos raid Sark, capturing one German soldier.

18: Hitler issues Commando Order, ordering all captured commandos to be executed immediatly.

22: Conscription age in Britain reduced to 18.

23: Second Battle of El Alamein begins with massive Allied bombardment of German opositions.

1: Operation Supercharge, the Allied breakout at El Alamein, begins.

8: Operation Torch, the British and American invasion of North Africa, begins.

11: German forces occupy Vichy France.

13: Tobruk recaptured by British Eighth Army.

19: Operation Uranus, Soviet counterattack against German forces in Stalingrad, beings.

7: Commando raid on Bordeaux harbour by British troops.

24: Admiral Darlan assassinated in Algiers.

26: Ferdinand Bonnier de la Chapelle is executed by firing squad for the the assassination of Admiral Darlan.

14: Casablanca Conference of Allied leaders begins.

31: Large parts of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, including Field Marshal Paulus, surrender.

7: Tunis captured by British First Army.

24: Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the majority of U-Boats to withdraw from the Atlantic.

4: General Wladyslaw Sikorski and several other members of the Polish government in exile are killed in what is ostensibly an air accident in Gibraltar - some suspect that the 'accident' was actually caused on Stalin's orders.

5: The Battle of Kursk begins.

9: Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily begins.

25: Mussolini is sacked as Prime Minister of Italy by the King, replaced with Pietro Badoglio.

17: Americans take Messina, completing the invasion of Sicily.

22: The Battle of Kursk ends with a heavy defeat for the German forces.

3: British troops begin invasion of mainland Italy.

9: Iran declares war on Germany, under pressure of Allied forces who have occupied the country; American troops being landings in Italy.

23: Italy surrenders to the Allies; Italian Social Republic founded in German-occupied parts of Northern Italy.

1: US Marines being landings on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.

15: Allied Expeditionary Force for the invasion of Europe is officially formed.

22 Cairo Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek begins.

28 Tehran Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin begins.

4: Bolivia declares war on the Axis countries.

26: German battle cruiser Scharnhorst sunk.

4: Battle of Monte Cassino begins.

18: Siege of Leningrad ends.

22: Allied landings at Anzio, Italy.

8: The plan for the invasion of France, Operation Overlord, is confirmed.

14: SHAEF headquarters established in Britain by General Eisenhower.

22: Stockholm bombed by the Soviet Union.

8: D-Day for Operation Overlord set for 5th June.

4: Operation Overlord postponed 24 hours due to high seas.

5: Allied troops enter Rome.

6: D-Day: Operation Overlord is launched by the Allies, to invade Normandy.

7: Bayeux liberated by British troops.

17: Free French troops land on Elba.

18: Elba declared liberated.

20: Siege of Imphal lifted.

26: Cherbourg liberated by American troops.

9: Caen is liberated by the Allies.

18: Infamous ‘death ride of the armoured divisions’ as British XIII Corps repulsed by heavy German counter-attack, losing over 1,500 men and 200 tanks while Germans lose 109 Panzers.

24: Maidanek Concentration Camp is liberated by Soviet forces.

1: Warsaw Uprising by the Polish Home Army commences.

4: Florence liberated by the Allies.

10: Guam liberated by American troops.

19: French Resistance begins uprising in Paris.

23: Romania surrenders.

25: Paris is liberated; De Gaulle and Free French parade triumphantly down the Champs Elysee.

2: Allied troops enter Belgium.

3: Brussels liberated by British Second Army while Lyon is liberated by French and American troops.

4: Antwerp liberated by British 11th Armoured Division.

6: Ghent and Liege liberated by British troops.

8: Ostend liberated by Canadian troops; Russians invade Bulgaria.

9: Provisional government formed in France by De Gaulle.

10: Luxembourg liberated by US First Army.

11: First Allied troops enter Germany.

17: Operation Market Garden, the attempted liberation of Arnhem, begins.

19: Nancy liberated by US First Army.

25: British troops pulled out of Arnhem with failure of Operation Market Garden. Over 6,000 paratroopers are captured.

30: German garrison in Calais surrenders to Canadian troops.

1: Russian troops enter Yugoslavia.

2: Germans finally succeed in putting down Warsaw Uprising by Polish Home Army in Warsaw.

4: German troops withdrawn from Greece; Allied troops enter Greece.

5: Canadian troops cross the border into Holland.

14: Athens liberated by Allies.

21: Aachen occupied by US First Army - it is the first German city to be captured.

2: Canadian troops take Zeebrugge in Belgium; Belgium now entirely liberated.

4: Remaining Axis forces in Greece surrender.

24: Strasbourg liberated by French troops.

29: Albania liberated by Allies.

3: The Home Guard is stood down.

16: The Battle of the Bulge begins as German forces attempt a breakthrough in the Ardennes region.

17: Warsaw captured by Red Army troops.

27: The Battle of the Bulge officially ends; Auschwitz concentration camp is liberated by Soviet troops.

4: Yalta Conference of Allied leaders begins.

13/14: Dresden firebombed by Allied air forces. Large parts of city destroyed.

19: US Marines invade Iwo Jima

23: US forces raise the American flag at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

25: Turkey declares war against Germany.

1: US troops invade Okinawa.

4: Ohrdruf concentration camp is liberated by the Allies.

10: Buchenwald concentration camp is liberated.

12: President Roosevelt dies suddenly. Harry Truman becomes president of the United States.

13: Vienna liberated by Russian troops.

15: Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated; Arnhem is liberated.

28: Mussolini captured and executed by Italian partisans.

29: Dachau concentration camp is liberated by the US 7th Army.

30: Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin; the Eastern and Western Fronts linkup as American forces meet up with Russians at Ellenburg.

2: Berlin captured by Russian and Polish troops.

3: Rangoon liberated.

5: Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.

5: German troops in the Netherlands officially surrender - symbolically, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands takes the surrender.

7: Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.

8: Ceasefire takes effect at one minute past midnight; V-E Day in Britain.

9: German garrison in Channel Islands agrees to surrender.

16: British troops complete liberation of Channel Islands.

6: The first nuclear weapon ever used in war, Little Boy, is dropped on Hiroshima.

8: Soviet Union declares war on Japan.

9: Fat Man is dropped on Nagasaki; Russian troops enter China and Korea.

15: Emperor Hirohito issues a radio broadcast announcing Japan's unconditional surrender; V-J Day declared in Britain.

16: Emperor Hirohito issues an Imperial Rescript ordering Japanese forces to cease fire.

30: Royal Navy force under Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt liberates Hong Kong.

2: Japan signs the articles of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

3: Japanese troops in the Phillipines and Singapore agree to surrender to American and British forces respectively.

5: Singapore officially liberated by British and Indian troops.

16: Japanese garrison in Hong Kong officially signs the instrument of surrender.