Air Operations, Europe

Hauptmann Werner Mölders, the leading German fighter ace of the war, is shot down in his Me-109 near Compiègne and taken prisoner. 30 German bombers attack airfields near the British East Coast with little damage. The RAF bomb railways in the Rhineland.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The British steamer Capable (216t) sinks on a mine about 3 miles from Horsesand Fort, Spithead, with the loss of all 7 on board.
• U-48 sinks the British steamer Stancor 80 miles nortwest of Butt of Lewis. The entire crew of 19 is rescued.
• The German minesweeper M-11 hits a mine and sinks off Jaederens. The German steamer Palime (2863t) also hits a mine in the same area and is run aground a total loss.

France, Politics

In a Cabinet reshuffle Daladier is dropped, Prime Minister Reynaud takes personal responsibility for Foreign Affairs and the newly promoted Gen de Gaulle is made Under-Secretary for Defense.

Western Front

The 'Battle of France' begins. The Germans unleash a fierce aerial and artillery bombardment on the line of the Somme and the Aisne and on the lines of communication of the French armies deployed between Abbeville and the Maginot Line. The French have used the period of the Dunkirk battle to make some defensive preparations but not enough to compensate for the weakness of their forces. These are now organized as Army Groups 3 and 4 containing 65 divs of which 3 are armored and 3 mechanized cavalry. Army Group 3 holds the Somme near the coast and Army Group 4 the line of the Aisne. Gen Weygand issues a heartfelt appeal to his divisions: 'Let the thought of our country's sufferings inspire in you the firm resolve to resist. The fate of the nation and the future of our children depend on your determination'. The order is to defend to the last man.

Oil tanks burn in Dunkirk, France, on June 5, 1940. The aircraft in the right foreground is an RAF Coastal Command Lockheed Hudson on patrol.

Oil Tanks Burning in Dunkirk

The German attack is code named 'Fall Rot'. The Germans have 119 divs of which 10 are Pzr organized into 2 Pzr Groups and 1 Pzr Corps and are given the leading role. The German attack begins on the Somme by Army Group B. The heaviest fighting at first is in the sector between Amiens and the sea where Hoth's Pzr Corps is heading the drive. The French defend fortified villages and road blocks tenaciously. By nightfall Rommel's 7th Pzr Div is 13 km south of the Somme.[MORE]