Air Operations, Europe
During the daylight hours the RAF are very active over the fronts of southern Belgium and northern France. There are night raids on road and rail targets in Namur, Dinant and Aachen and troop concentrations at Arras.
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]Atlantic
- The French destroyer L'Adroit is bombed and sunk off Dunkirk.
- The French steamer Pavon with 1,500 Dutch troops aboard for evacuation to England, is badly damaged by German bombing between Gravelines and Calais. She is run aground near Calais as a total loss. Survivors are rescued by the French destroyers Cyclone, Sirocco and Mistral.
- The British steamer Bawtry (835t) is sunk by German bombing in the Dunkirk docks. The crew of 13 along with a naval gunner are saved and returned to England. The steamer is later raised by the Germans, renamed the Rival and placed in German service.
- The French tug Tumulte (370t) is sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk.
- The British mine destructor ship Corburn (3060t) is sunk by German motor torpedo boat S.32 off Le Havre.
| ]Battle of the Atlantic
- The Panamanian tanker Clairy (5838t) is sunk by German bombing about 8 miles off Boulogne. The entire crew is rescued.
- The British steamer Firth Fisher (574t) sinks on a mine just east of the Boulogne pier with the loss of 7 crewmen. 4 of the crew are rescued by the British steamer Sparta.
- The Belgian steamer Antverpia (4932t) which was badly damaged by German bombing the previous day is run aground to prevent sinking. The entire crew is rescued. The vessel will be set afire by incendiaries on the 23rd.
- The French tugs Orme (340t) and Barfleur (330t) and the French auxiliary minesweepers Leopold Soubler (215t) and Christiane Cecile (146t) are all scuttled at Boulogne.
- The British steamer Hubbastone (873t) is sunk by German bombing in the Dieppe dock. The entire crew is rescued. She is damaged again on the 23rd and abandoned. She will be salvaged later by the Germans and renamed Jurgensby for German service.
- The British hospital carrier Maid of Kent (2693t) is badly damaged by German bombing in the Paris Basin at Dieppe with the loss of 37 men. She is abandoned in a sinking condition.
| ]Germany, Planning
In a conference Adm Erich von Raeder mentions to Hitler for the first time that it may be necessary to invade Britain. The German navy has made some preliminary studies before this but they have not been based on the availability of French bases. Little real thought is given to the possibility at this stage even after this conference.
[ | ]Luxembourg
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Norway
The French, Polish and Norwegian forces moving in on Narvik advance another stage and gain positions on the northern side of Rombaksfiord.
[ | ]Western Front
Rommel's 7th Pzr Div is sharply attacked around Arras by British tank forces. The attack does very well at first largely because of the comparative invulnerability of the Matilda tanks to the standard German antitank weapons. After some panic on the German side the attack is halted, principally because of the fire of a few 88mm guns. The British force is too small to repeat the advance or to shake free from this setback. A similar effort is made by 2 divs of the French 1st Army in the direction of Cambrai, but with a similar result. The Germans besiege Maubeuge on the River Sambre west of Dinant.
Weygand visits the commanders of the northern armies to try to coordinate attacks form north and south of the German corridor to the coast. By a series of accidents he misses seeing Gort, and Billotte, to whom he has given the fullest explanation of his plans, is killed in a car accident before he can pass them on. The attack will never take place. The small British effort has already been made. The Belgians will try to free some more British units for a later effort but this will not be possible. The French themselves, both north and south, are already too weak. Upon the death of Bilotte, Gen Blanchard, commanding the French 1st Army, assumes command of the Anglo-French Army Group I.[MORE]
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