Chronology of World War II

May 1940

Tuesday, May 7th


Battle of the Atlantic

The Norwegian steamer Folden (316t) is sunk by German bombing off Helgeland.

[larr2larr | rarrrarr2]

Britain, Politics

In the House of Commons there is a major debate on the conduct of the war and especially of the Norwegian campaign. When a vote is taken, Chamberlain's government has a majority of 281-200 but when compared to the previous support this is not enough to allow the government to continue to claim to be representative. As a result, Chamberlain resigns. In fact the problems in the Norwegian campaign have been at least as much Churchill's as any others. The main reason, however, is Chamberlain's failure to establish a coherent decision-making structure to see that plans were properly coordinated and that subordinates worked sensibly and efficiently.

Prime Minister Chamberlain


Prime Minister Chamberlain
[larr2larr | rarrrarr2]

Holland

The Netherlands is completely mobilized in preparation for invasion.

[larr2larr | rarrrarr2]

Secret War

A French pilot returning from a leaflet raid on Düsseldorf reports seeing a German motorized column 96 km long heading west for the Ardennes.

[larr2larr | rarrrarr2]

[ May 6th - May 8th]