http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/30.htm
May 30th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: Westminster: Winston Churchill is determined that the grim news from France, as the battered BEF retreats towards Dunkirk, should not deflect Britain from its absolute opposition to Germany whatever the cost. But he needed the support of the two Labour Party members of his five-man war cabinet to sustain his position.
At a secret meeting in the Prime Minister’s room at the House of Commons last night the war cabinet is understood to have debated Italy’s offer to mediate towards a negotiated peace. Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, believes that Britain might secure better terms now, before, as seems likely, France is forced to surrender.
Chamberlain, ousted as premier earlier this month, was sympathetic to the Halifax line; Churchill, predictably, was hostile. He turned to the Labour men, for so long his political opponents. Clement Attlee said that if negotiations ever began the morale of the people would suffer a disastrous blow. His deputy, Arthur Greenwood, agreed - and the two-hour meeting ended with Britain still defiantly at war.
RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. Attacks on the perimeter of the troops at Dunkirk, in the Dixemude, Furnes, Ypres, Thourout region, 67 sorties mounted by 6 squadrons.
Destroyer HMS Wheatland laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
WESTERN FRONT:
FRANCE:
Operation Dynamo: French destroyer Bourrasque is sunk.
53,820 men are taken off, amongst them Lt-Gen Alan Brooke whose 2 Corps has played a large part in the successful withdrawal to the Channel.
Montgomery describes an emotional scene: “He arrived at my headquarters to say goodbye and I saw at once that he was struggling to hold himself in check, so I took him a little way into the sand hills and then he broke down and wept.”
Brooke arrives at Montgomery’s headquarters at LaPanne to turn over command of 2 Corps to Monty before returning to the UK to reform the army as it returns from France. As Monty describes the scene the two walked into the sand hills where Brooke broke down and wept on Monty’s shoulder. Probably putting on his psychologist hat Monty felt that Brooke’s behavior was more than a momentary lapse of self-control. Monty wrote, “When the reserve of the English heart is broken through, most of us like to be alone. And so when Alanbrooke broke down and wept on my shoulder, I knew it meant his friendship was all mine - and I was glad to have it that way.” (Far better than Monty breaking down on Brooke’s shoulder.) “That scene on the sand-dunes on the Belgian coast is one that will remain with my all my life.”
(Hamilton, Monty’s biographer, doubts that Brooke’s lowering of his impassive mask was the symbol of friendship that Monty took it to mean. In any case, there is no mention of this lowering of the mask in that portion or Brooke’s diary that is in Bryant’s work.) The scene was witnessed by Brian Horrocks, the commander of the machine gun battalion in Monty’s 3rd Division, who had been called to the divisional headquarters to take over a brigade. (Jay Stone)
All the British troops are within the Mardick, Bergues, Colme Canal and Furnes perimeter.
General Alexander’s corps took up positions by the side of the French to defend the perimeter.
Destroyer FS Bourrasque sunk near Nieuport after being mined and finished off by German artillery fire. The ship was participating in the evacuation off Allied soldiers from Dunkirk.
ASW trawler HMS St Ahilleus mined and sunk off Dunkirk. (Dave Shirlaw)
The Wehrmacht High Command announced:-
‘On the afternoon and evening of May 29, strong formations from two air corps under the command of Generals Grauert and von Richtofen, attacked British war and transport vessels in the port and sea territory of Dunkirk and Ostend, as they were trying to evacuate the remains of the British Expeditionary Force.’
GERMANY: U-100 and U-123 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN: HMS Ark Royal, fully stocked to return to the fight, departs Grennock at 0545, escorted by DDs HMS Acasta, HMS Ardent, and HMS Acheron. Meanwhile, HMS Glorious, escorted by DDs HMS Highlander and HMS Wren, finally enters Scapa at 1515 to refuel. (Mark Horan)
U.S.S.R.: Soviet submarine SC-216 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
ITALY: Rome: Mussolini decides that Italy will enter the war on June 5, and forewarns Hitler.
U.S.A.: Cordell Hull, the U.S. Secretary of State, responds to William C. Bullitt, the U.S. Ambassador to France, regarding Bullitt’s 28 May request to send the U.S. fleet to the Mediterranean. Hull says, “The presence of the fleet in the Pacific at this time is a very practical contribution to the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.” (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: SS Stanhall sunk by U-101 at 48.59N, 05.17W. (Dave Shirlaw)
Most enlightening. Thank you, again.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 273 May 30, 1940
Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo). British Admiralty orders all modern H, I, J class destroyers out of Dunkirk due to yesterday’s intensive German bombing, leaving only 18 old destroyers to continue the evacuation. Despite this, 24,311 Allied troops embark from Dunkirk harbour & 29,512 from the beaches, including the first French soldiers to be evacuated. Small craft from Britain ferry troops out to waiting warships or even back to England.
Although Luftwaffe attacks are reduced by poor weather, destroyers HMS Anthony & Sabre, minesweeper HMS Kellet, armed boarding vessel HMS King Orry and steamers St. Julien & Normannia are damaged by German bombs. French destroyer Bourrasque hits a mine & is sunk by German artillery off Ostend (about 660 crew and troops evacuated from Dunkirk are killed or swim to shore and are captured by the Germans). 100 survivors are rescued by French torpedo boat Branlebas and 200 more by other ships.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Memoriale_Dunkerque.jpg “To the glorious memory of the Pilots, Sailors and Soldiers of the French and Allied armies who sacrificed themselves in the Battle of Dunkirk May June 1940”.
Norway. After capturing Narvik, Allied forces begin pushing General Dietl’s mountain troops and sailors back to the Swedish border, only 18 miles East. Dietl, isolated in Narvik since April 10, has been sporadically resupplied and reinforced by airdrops. However, his only real hope of survival is 2nd Gebirgsjäger Division which has been marching North from Trondheim since May 4. Naturally, Hitler does not give Dietl the option to surrender or cross into Sweden to be interned, instructing him instead to fight on.
As part of Operation Fish (the shipment to Canada of British gold and negotiable securities, for storage in the Bank of Canada vault in Ottawa) battleship HMS Revenge (carrying £40 million in gold) and troopships Antonia & Duchess of Richmond (£10 million in gold each) leave Britain. They will arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia in June. http://rightclickhome.com/Numis/micc/11nov2009/MICC.HTM
U-101 sinks British SS Stanhall carrying sugar and onions 10 miles North of Quessant (1 life lost). 36 survivors are picked up by another British steamer Temple Moat and landed at Weymouth. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/331.html
