Air Operations, Europe

20 LeO-451s (9 lost) attack Amiens and Abbéville.

Douglas DB-7 bombers make low-level attacks on German columns near St Quentin. Douglas DB-7

Battle of the Atlantic

• The Norwegian steamer Jadarland (938t) sinks on a mine near Haugesand. This is a result of the minefield laid by the French submarine Rubis on the 27th.
• U-101 sinks the British steamer Orangemoor (5775t) southwest of Roches Doures with the loss of 18 crewmen. 22 survivors are picked up by the British steamer Brandenburg.
• The British sloop Weston sinks U-13 14 miles southeast of Lowestoft. All 26 of the crew are taken prisoner.
• The French destroyer Sirocco is torpedoed and badly damaged by German S-boats S.23 and S.26. She is then sunk by German bombing while attempting emergency repairs. She had on board 180 crew and 700 French troops. 59 crew and over 600 troops are lost. On patrol nearby, the British destroyer BLYSKAWICA picks up 15 survivors, British patrol sloop WIDGEON picks up 166 survivors, STELLA DORADO picks up 21 survivors, WOLVES picks up 50 survivors.
• The British anti-submarine trawler St Achilleus (484t) sinks on a mine off Dunkirk with the loss of 1 crewman.
• French steamers Ain El Turk (2008t) and Cote d'Azur (3047t) and trawlers Puissant (200t), Costaud (140t) and Adjader (414t) are sunk by German bombing at Dunkirk. The steamer Cote d'Azur is later salvaged by the Germans and renamed Elsass for German service.

Britain, Home Front

A series of measures, including the removal of all direction signs from crossroads, is taken to counter worries about fifth-column and parachute attacks.

China

The Japanese High Command in China announces its intentin to bomb Chiang Kai-shek's capital of Chungking daily 'until the spirit of Chinese resistance is broken'.

Diplomatic Relations

Roosevelt makes yet another approach to the Italian government. If Italy enters the war against France and Britain, the President says, the USA will be compelled to give much more aid to the Western Allies.

Norway

The British blocking force is evacuated from Bodo.

United States, Politics

Pres Roosevelt introduces a 'billion-dollar defense program' which is designed to boost the United States' military strength significantly.

Western Front

Churchill arrives in Paris with 3 of his closest colleagues, Clement Attlee, Lord Privy Seal, Sir John Dill, Vice-Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and Gen Lord Ismay, Head of the Military Wing of the War Cabinet Secretariat.[MORE]

This is the most successful day of the Dunkirk evacuation, with 68,014 men being taken to Britain. The ships lost include one destroyer and six more are damaged. General Gort returns to Britain after handing over command of the remnant of the BEF to General Alexander as ordered. Evacuation Continues

Western Front, Dunkirk

This is the most successful day of the Dunkirk evacuation, with 68,014 men being taken to Britain. The French destroyers Sirocco and Cyclone are torpedoed by German MTBs. 6 British destroyers are damaged by bombing. The Admiralty decides to withdraw all modern destroyers from the Dunkirk area. Gen Gort returns to Britain after handing over command of the remnant of the BEF to Maj-Gen Sir Harold Alexander as ordered. The French 1st Army surrenders in the Lille sector after a 4-day seige. The BEF withdraws from the Belgian sector of the Dunkirk 'pocket'. During the night the French recapture part of Abbévile. There are considerable air battles over the beaches at various stages during the day in which the RAF claim to shoot down 38 German aircraft for the loss of 28. In fact the true figures are nearer equality.