Arms Supply

The British Purchasing Commission takes over all outstanding French arms contracts and offers to purchase as much war material as the US can produce.

Battle of the Atlantic

• The British troopship Lancastria (16,243t) is sunk while evacuating troops from St Nazaire. The British anti-submarine trawler Cambridgeshire rescues 1009 survivors and transfers them to British steamer John Holt in the harbor. 829 survivors on the steamer John Holt sail for England. The British destroyer Highlander, tanker Cymbula, steamers Fabian, Glenaffaric, Oronsay, Robert L Holt, Ulster are also involved in rescue efforts. Only 2477 survivors out of 5310 passengers and crew on the Lancastria are rescued. 66 crew and 2833 troops and refugees are lost.

  Sinking of the Lancastria

• The Norwegian steamer Komet (1147t) is sunk by German bombing in the English Channel with the loss of 1 of her crew.
• U-46 sinks the Greek steamer Elpis (3561t) 220 miles west northwest of Cape Finisterre. The entire crew of 28 is rescued.

Britain, Home Front

Churchill broadcasts saying that the Battle of France is over and that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. His message is 'Let us so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour"'.

China

2 Chinese army corps counterattack in the Ichang area and re-enter the ancient city which was abandoned the previous week. Japanese losses are heavy but the Chinese decide to pull out again. In the past 6 weeks of fighting in the Hupei Province the Japanese have suffered 20,000 casualties to 50,000 for the Chinese.

Japan starts to blockade China to cut off military supplies.

Red Army Enters Riga

France, Politics

The Pétain Cabinet takes office. Weygand is Minister of Defense. They request Germany's and Italy's armistice terms via the Spanish ambassador and the Vatican. Pétain broadcasts to the French army and the people: '...it is necessary to stop the fighting'.

The British government understands that these will only be accepted on the condition that the French Fleet does not fall into German hands. Equally it is the German policy to stop the French Fleet and colonies from joining Britain and this is the reason for their comparative leniency in allowing the establishment of Vichy as a focus for the loyalty for the French. French representatives in the USA do allow the British to take up arms orders they have made under the 'Cash and Carry' rules.

Germany, Planning

German naval headquarters receive the following despatch from the High Command: 'With regard to the landing in Britain, the Führer has not yet expressed any such intention, being well aware of the difficulties involved in such an operation. Up to now, therefore, the High Command of the armed forces has not carried out any preparatory work.'

The speed of the German victory and the French request for an armistice compels Hitler to send new instructions to Gens Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl (respectively Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Chief of Staff of the OKW). The political situation and the tactical task become more complicated. The aim is to detach France from Britain completely, because, for example, a possible transfer of the French government to North Africa could bring an inevitable psychological and political, as well as military, strengthening of Britain and would carry the war into the Mediterranean. From these considerations the following requirements are seen to arise:

• (1) The French government must survive as a sovereign power. Only in this way can the Germans be certain that the French colonial empire will not go over to Britain.
• (2) To allow the French government to survive, retaining its own sovereign sphere, it is advisable not to occupy the whole country.
• (3) The French army will be required to move into the free zone and there demobilized; the retention of some units will be permitted for maintaining public order.
• (4) The French fleet must be neutralized, because if the French are required to hand it over it will probably sail overseas, possibly to Britain.
• (5) Territorial questions must be postponed during the negotiations, pending the drawing up of a peace treaty.
• (6) Instructions concerning the French colonial empire can only be formulated later; to put them now would probably lead to the annexation of the colonies by the British.

Mediterranean

• (16th?) The Italian submarine Provana is rammed and sunk by the French sloop La Curieuse off Oran.
• The British steamer Teiresias (7405t) is badly damaged by German bombing with the loss of 1 crewman. She is abandoned 1 mile off the entrance to St Nazaire. The British steamer Holmside rescues the survivors.

Western Front

Pontarlier, almost on the Swiss border, is reached by Guderian's tanks. Other units have nearly reached the Loire and still more are advancing in Brittany and Normandy. French units in Alsace and Lorraine are completely surrounded by panzer units. Rommel races toward Cherbourg, covering 241 km in the day. At midday Marshal Pétain broadcasts to the nation to inform his fellow countrymen that negotiations are in progress for an armistice.[MORE]