WW2 Timeline of the World War 2

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October
1: Conscription of British men aged between 20 and 22 begins.
2: The Hel peninsula Polish defence forces surrender to German forces.
5: The Kock battle, the last battle of the Polish defence, between Polesie group under the command of General Kleeberg and German forces.
9: Hitler issues orders for preparation of invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

November
30: The Soviet Union invades Finland.

December
7: Italy again declares its neutrality.
13: Battle of the River Plate.


1940
January
1: Conscription extended in Britain: all men between 20 and 27 now liable.

March
12: Finland signs a peace treaty with the Soviet Union.
18: Mussolini agrees with Hitler that Italy will enter the war 'at an opportune moment".

April
9: Denmark and Norway invaded by Germany; Denmark surrenders.

May
5: Norwegian government in exile established in London.
9: Conscription in Britain extended to age 36.
10: Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are invaded by Germany; Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister upon the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.
11: Luxembourg occupied.
13: Dutch government in exile established in London.
14: The creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (the Home Guard) is announced by Anthony Eden.
15: The Netherlands surrender.
26: Operation Dynamo, the Allied evacuation from Dunkirk, begins.

June
3: Last day of Operation Dynamo. 224,686 British and 121,445 French and Belgian troops have been evacuated.
10: Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom; Norway surrenders.
11: French government decamps to Tours.
14: Paris occupied by German troops; French government moves again, this time to Bordeaux.
16: Petain becomes premier of France upon the resignation of Reynaud's government.
17: Sinking of liner Lancastria off St Nazaire while being used as a British troopship - Britain's worst maritime disaster.
18: General De Gaulle forms the Comité Français de la Libération Nationale, a French government in exile; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are occupied by the Soviet Union.

July
1: Channel Islands completely occupied; French government moves to Vichy.
2: Hitler orders preparation of plans for invasion of Britain, code-named Operation Sealion.
4: Royal Navy force arrives at Mers El Kébir and orders French fleet there to surrender - upon refusal they open fire, sinking or damaging several French ships; Vichy French government breaks off diplomatic relations with Britain in protest.
21: Czech government in exile arrives in London.
22: The Special Operations Executive is created.
25: All women and children are ordered to evacuate Gibraltar.

August
2: General De Gaulle sentenced to death in absentia by a French military court.

September
3: Operation Sealion set for 21st September.
10: Operation Sealion postponed until 24th September.
13: Italy invades Egypt.
14: Operation Sealion postponed until 27th September, the last day of the month with suitable tides for the invasion.
17: Operation Sealion postponed by Hitler until further notice.

October
7: Germany invades Romania.
12: Any German invasion of Britain postponed until Spring 1941 at the earliest.
28: Italy issues ultimatum to Greece - Prime Minister Metaxas replies with the single word "Okhi!" ("no!"); Italian forces invade Greece.

November
11: British naval forces launch attack against Italian navy at Taranto. Swordfish bombers from HMS Illustrious damage three battleships, two cruisers and multiple auxillary craft.
20: Hungary and Romania sign the Tripartite Pact.

December
11: Greece invades Italian-held Albania.

1941
January
12: British and Australian troops capture Tobruk.

February
25: Mogadishu, Italian Somaliland captured by British forces.

March
11: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend Lease Act allowing Britain, China and other allied nations to purchase military equipment and to defer payment until after the war.
25: Yugoslavia signs the Tripartite Pact.
27: Crown Prince Peter becomes Peter II of Yugoslavia and takes control of Yugoslavia after an army coup overthrows the pro-German government of the Prince Regent.
30: The Afrika Korps begins the German offensive in North Africa.

April
6: German, Hungarian and Italian forces invade Yugoslavia and Greece.
10: Greenland occupied by the United States.
12: Belgrade surrenders.
13: Japan and the Soviet Union sign a neutrality pact.
17: Yugoslavia surrenders. Goverment in exile formed in London.
23: Greek government evacuated to Crete.
27: Athens occupied by German troops.

May
10: Rudolf Hess captured in Scotland after bailing out of his plane.
20: German paratroopers attack Crete.
24: British battlecruiser HMS Hood sunk by German battleship Bismarck; Greek government leaves Crete for Cairo.
27: The Bismarck is sunk by torpedoes from HMS Dorsetshire.
28: British and Commonwealth forces begin to evacuate Crete.

June
1: Allies complete the withdrawal from Crete.
4: Iraq invaded by Britain - the pro-Axis government there is overthrown.
8: Syria invade by Britain - Vichy French government there overthrown.
22: Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.

July
5: Possibility of negotiated peace ruled-out by British government.
7: Iceland occupied by the United States.
8: Yugoslavia dissolved by the Axis.
12: Britain and Soviet Union sign mutual defence agreement, promising not to sign any form of seperate peace agreement with Germany.
25: Iran occupied by Britain and the Soviet Union.

September
5: Germany occupies Estonia.
15: Siege of Leningrad begins.

October
16: Soviet government evacuated to Kuibyshev.

November
22: Britain issues an ultimatum to Finland to end war with Russia or face war with the Allies.

December
5: Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
7: Japanese aerial attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Thailand and Shanghai.
8: Japan invades Malaya
10: British battleships HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales sunk by Japanese air attack.
11: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
12: Britain declares war on Bulgaria after it had declared war on both Britain and the United States.
16: Japan invades Borneo
17: Siege of Sevastpol begins.

1942
January
2: Japanese troops occupy Manila.
25: Japanese troops invade the Solomon Islands.

February
15: Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces.

March
22: Darwin, Australia bombed by Japanese air force.

April
15: Malta is awarded the George Cross by King George VI for "heroism and devotion".
18: Doolittle Raid on Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama.
30: Hitler and Mussolini propose to invade Malta on 10th July.

May
4: Battle of the Coral Sea.
21: Invasion of Malta postponed indefintely.

June
4: American victory at Battle of Midway.
18: Manhattan Project started.
21: Afrika Korps recaptures Tobruk.
28: Operation Blue, the German plan to capture Stalingrad and the Russian oil fields in the Causascus, begins.

July
1: First Battle of El Alamein begins.
3: Guadalcanal falls to the Japanese.
27: First Battle of El Alamein ends.

August
7: Operation Watchtower begins the Battle of Guadalcanal as American forces invade Gavutu, Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Tanambogo in the Solomon Islands.
13: General Bernard Montgomery appointed commander of British Eighth Army in North Africa.
19: Operation Jubilee, a raid by British and Canadian forces on Dieppe in France, ends in disaster.

September
1: Stalingrad is now completely encircled by German forces.

October
4: British Commandos raid Sark, capturing one German soldier.
18: Hitler issues Commando Order, ordering all captured commandos to be executed immediatly.
22: Conscription age in Britain reduced to 18.
23: Second Battle of El Alamein begins with massive Allied bombardment of German opositions.

November
1: Operation Supercharge, the Allied breakout at El Alamein, begins.
8: Operation Torch, the British and American invasion of North Africa, begins.
11: German forces occupy Vichy France.
13: Tobruk recaptured by British Eighth Army.
19: Operation Uranus, Soviet counterattack against German forces in Stalingrad, beings.

December
7: Commando raid on Bordeaux harbour by British troops.
24: Admiral Darlan assassinated in Algiers.
26: Ferdinand Bonnier de la Chapelle is executed by firing squad for the the assassination of Admiral Darlan.

1943
January
14: Casablanca Conference of Allied leaders begins.
31: Large parts of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, including Field Marshal Paulus, surrender.

February
2: The remainder of the 6th Army surrenders.
8: Liberation of Guadalcanal completed.

May
7: Tunis captured by British First Army.
24: Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the majority of U-Boats to withdraw from the Atlantic.

July
4: General Wladyslaw Sikorski and several other members of the Polish government in exile are killed in what is ostensibly an air accident in Gibraltar - some suspect that the 'accident' was actually caused on Stalin's orders.
5: The Battle of Kursk begins.
9: Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily begins.
25: Mussolini is sacked as Prime Minister of Italy by the King, replaced with Pietro Badoglio.

August
17: Americans take Messina, completing the invasion of Sicily.
22: The Battle of Kursk ends with a heavy defeat for the German forces.

September
3: British troops begin invasion of mainland Italy.
9: Iran declares war on Germany, under pressure of Allied forces who have occupied the country; American troops being landings in Italy.
23: Italy surrenders to the Allies; Italian Social Republic founded in German-occupied parts of Northern Italy.

October
13: Italy declares war on Germany.

November
1: US Marines being landings on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
15: Allied Expeditionary Force for the invasion of Europe is officially formed.
22 Cairo Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek begins.
28 Tehran Conference between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin begins.

December
4: Bolivia declares war on the Axis countries.
26: German battle cruiser Scharnhorst sunk.

1944
January
4: Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
18: Siege of Leningrad ends.
22: Allied landings at Anzio, Italy.

February
8: The plan for the invasion of France, Operation Overlord, is confirmed.
14: SHAEF headquarters established in Britain by General Eisenhower.
22: Stockholm bombed by the Soviet Union.

March
19: Hungary occupied by German forces.
24: Orde Wingate killed in plane crash.

May
8: D-Day for Operation Overlord set for 5th June.

June
4: Operation Overlord postponed 24 hours due to high seas.
5: Allied troops enter Rome.
6: D-Day: Operation Overlord is launched by the Allies, to invade Normandy.
7: Bayeux liberated by British troops.
17: Free French troops land on Elba.
18: Elba declared liberated.
20: Siege of Imphal lifted.
26: Cherbourg liberated by American troops.

July
9: Caen is liberated by the Allies.
18: Infamous ‘death ride of the armoured divisions’ as British XIII Corps repulsed by heavy German counter-attack, losing over 1,500 men and 200 tanks while Germans lose 109 Panzers.
24: Maidanek Concentration Camp is liberated by Soviet forces.

August
1: Warsaw Uprising by the Polish Home Army commences.
4: Florence liberated by the Allies.
10: Guam liberated by American troops.
19: French Resistance begins uprising in Paris.
23: Romania surrenders.
25: Paris is liberated; De Gaulle and Free French parade triumphantly down the Champs Elysee.

September
2: Allied troops enter Belgium.
3: Brussels liberated by British Second Army while Lyon is liberated by French and American troops.
4: Antwerp liberated by British 11th Armoured Division.
6: Ghent and Liege liberated by British troops.
8: Ostend liberated by Canadian troops; Russians invade Bulgaria.
9: Provisional government formed in France by De Gaulle.
10: Luxembourg liberated by US First Army.
11: First Allied troops enter Germany.
17: Operation Market Garden, the attempted liberation of Arnhem, begins.
19: Nancy liberated by US First Army.
25: British troops pulled out of Arnhem with failure of Operation Market Garden. Over 6,000 paratroopers are captured.
30: German garrison in Calais surrenders to Canadian troops.

October
1: Russian troops enter Yugoslavia.
2: Germans finally succeed in putting down Warsaw Uprising by Polish Home Army in Warsaw.
4: German troops withdrawn from Greece; Allied troops enter Greece.
5: Canadian troops cross the border into Holland.
14: Athens liberated by Allies.
21: Aachen occupied by US First Army - it is the first German city to be captured.

November
2: Canadian troops take Zeebrugge in Belgium; Belgium now entirely liberated.
4: Remaining Axis forces in Greece surrender.
24: Strasbourg liberated by French troops.
29: Albania liberated by Allies.

December
3: The Home Guard is stood down.
16: The Battle of the Bulge begins as German forces attempt a breakthrough in the Ardennes region.

1945
January
17: Warsaw captured by Red Army troops.
27: The Battle of the Bulge officially ends; Auschwitz concentration camp is liberated by Soviet troops.

February
4: Yalta Conference of Allied leaders begins.
13/14: Dresden firebombed by Allied air forces. Large parts of city destroyed.
19: US Marines invade Iwo Jima
23: US forces raise the American flag at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
25: Turkey declares war against Germany.

March
20: Mandalay liberated by British 19th Indian Division.

April
1: US troops invade Okinawa.
4: Ohrdruf concentration camp is liberated by the Allies.
10: Buchenwald concentration camp is liberated.
12: President Roosevelt dies suddenly. Harry Truman becomes president of the United States.
13: Vienna liberated by Russian troops.
15: Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated; Arnhem is liberated.
28: Mussolini captured and executed by Italian partisans.
29: Dachau concentration camp is liberated by the US 7th Army.
30: Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin; the Eastern and Western Fronts linkup as American forces meet up with Russians at Ellenburg.

May
2: Berlin captured by Russian and Polish troops.
3: Rangoon liberated.
5: Mauthausen concentration camp is liberated.
5: German troops in the Netherlands officially surrender - symbolically, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands takes the surrender.
7: Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.
8: Ceasefire takes effect at one minute past midnight; V-E Day in Britain.
9: German garrison in Channel Islands agrees to surrender.
16: British troops complete liberation of Channel Islands.

July
6: Norway declares war on Japan.

August
6: The first nuclear weapon ever used in war, Little Boy, is dropped on Hiroshima.
8: Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
9: Fat Man is dropped on Nagasaki; Russian troops enter China and Korea.
15: Emperor Hirohito issues a radio broadcast announcing Japan's unconditional surrender; V-J Day declared in Britain.
16: Emperor Hirohito issues an Imperial Rescript ordering Japanese forces to cease fire.
30: Royal Navy force under Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt liberates Hong Kong.

September
2: Japan signs the articles of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
3: Japanese troops in the Phillipines and Singapore agree to surrender to American and British forces respectively.
5: Singapore officially liberated by British and Indian troops.
16: Japanese garrison in Hong Kong officially signs the instrument of surrender.

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