Posted on 06/28/2010 5:00:26 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour
We want Willkie!
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/jun40/f28jun40.htm
Britain recognizes General de Gaulle
Friday, June 28, 1940 www.onwar.com
In London... General de Gaulle is recognized by the British government as “Leader of All Free Frenchmen.”
In Libya... Marshal Balbo, Italian Governor and Commander in Chief in Libya, is killed by friendly antiaircraft fire while flying over Tobruk during a British air raid. Marshal Graziani is appointed to replace him.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/28.htm
June 28th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: London: The British government today gave its formal recognition to General Charles de Gaulle as leader, in exile, of the French nation.
The move follows the formation by de Gaulle of a French National Committee in London on 23 June. Two days ago the general, who was under-secretary for national defence in the Reynaud administration which handed over to Petain, also announced the creation of a French volunteer legion in Britain and of a French centre for armament and scientific research. It is de Gaulle’s belief that the Petain government gave in too easily to the Germans, “before all means of resistance had been exhausted,” as he said in a broadcast on 23 June.
He went on: “The French National Committee will take under its jurisdiction all French citizens at present on British territory, and will assume the direction of all military and administrative bodies which are now, or may be in the future in this country.”
De Gaulle ended on a defiant note: “The war is not lost, the country is not dead, hope is not extinct. Vive la France!”
Pulborough, Sussex: Montgomery holds a commanders conference on the proposed invasion of Southern Ireland and seizure of Cork and Queenstown by the 3rd Division. The plan is shelved by the War Office, (along with the proposals to invade the Azores and Cape Verde Islands).
Channel Islands: Germany bombs Jersey and Guernsey.
RAF Coastal Command: First delivery of Blackburn Bothas to No. 608 Sqn. to replace Avro Ansons.
Steam trawler Castleton was reported missing in the Orkneys. The only U-boat operating in that area was U-102, which was lost during the patrol and did not report her successes.
Rescue tug HMS Hudson commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: The first success of ‘helle Nachtjagd’ (night interception with searchlights) occurs when the crew of a Do17 succeed on their first operation in shooting down a bomber captured by the searchlights.
U-139 and U-140 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
LUXEMBOURG: Gauleiter Gustav Simon assumes direct command of the civil administration of the former Grand Duchy. (Russell Folsom)
VATICAN CITY: The Pope offers to mediate for ‘a just and honourable peace.’
ROMANIA: Bucharest: The Soviet Union has forced the Rumanians to give up the rich provinces of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Throughout the day motorised units and tanks of the Red Army have been entering the areas. King Carol has ordered general mobilisation. This, however, is a move aimed not at Russia but at Romania’s smaller neighbours. The fear here is that Bulgaria and Hungary will take advantage of Romania’s weakness. Hungary has claims on Transylvania, and Bulgaria has already demanded the return of its former Black Sea territory, Dobruja.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: As the Mediterranean Fleet 7th Cruiser Squadron covers convoy movements in the Eastern Mediterranean, three Italian destroyers carrying supplies between Taranto and Tobruk are encountered. In a running gun battle, ‘Espero’ is sunk by Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney to the southwest of Cape Matapan.
LIBYA: AIR MARSHAL ITALO BALBO,* commander-in-chief of the North African theatre, and also highest-ranking officer in the Italian Air Force (former Air Minister). Killed by “friendly fire” of Italian AA gunners while piloting his own plane, coming in for a landing at Tobruk. Balbo had the misfortune to be approaching a few minutes after a British air raid on Tobruk, and from the same direction in which the enemy planes had last been seen. Furthermore, his landing approach led him to come in low right over the old First World War cruiser San Giorgio, stationed in Tobruk as a floating harbor defence/AA battery. His plane was hit in the fuel tank by one or more 20mm shells, either from the San Giorgio or from a nearby land-based Navy AA battery, and crashed on the rocky headlands with no survivors. A second plane coming in behind him was flown by General Felice Porro, commander of the Italian air force units in North Africa (officially known as 5th Squadra), but he managed to land safely. (Michael F. Yaklich)
USA: The Alien Registration Act is passed by Congress. The Act requires the immediate registration of all aliens resident in the United States. (Drew Halevy)
The Grumman Model G-44 Widgeon, amphibian flies for the first time. It can accommodate a pilot and four passengers. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0202, the unescorted Llanarth was torpedoed by U-30 about 220 miles SW of Ushant and sank after two hours and 30 minutes in 47°39N/10°17W. The master and 15 crewmembers were picked up by corvette HMS Gladiolus and landed at Plymouth. The chief officer and 18 crewmembers were rescued by a Spanish trawler and landed at San Sebastian.
U-25 encountered a British submarine in the North Atlantic, but neither boat attacked. (Dave Shirlaw)
I was pulling for Dewey since I think he would fair better if FDR runs for a third term, but I guess we will have to see what Willkie will bring to the table.
Churchill keeps his clear judgment at the worst of times.
You’ve gotta wonder how things would be different if Wilke had won.
That was a nomination that will live in infamy!
Lawyer Wilkie, who had never before run for office, was a far-fetched choice.
fortheDeclaration: "That was a nomination that will live in infamy!"
rdl6989: "You’ve gotta wonder how things would be different if Wilke had won."
You can thank Adolf Hitler's blitzkrieg for Wendell Wilkie's nomination.
Before Hitler invaded France, the leading Republicans were Taft, Vandenberg and Dewey -- all of them strong isolationists.
All assumed the French and Brits could hold their own against Germany, so didn't need and shouldn't be receiving US aid.
Of the three, Dewey had received the most primary votes and was the leader.
Wilkie was not even on the "radar screen."
But Hitler's quick victory in France forced Americans -- even Republicans -- to rethink our isolationism.
By the Convention's opening, interventionist Wilkie had risen from nothing to number three, and along with isolationist Taft, gained on each subsequent ballot.
But Wilkie won more votes each time, and finally a majority on the sixth ballot.
Had FDR not run for a third term, Wilkie might well have won the presidency.
His policies would have been "Roosevelt lite" domestically, and about the same as FDR internationally.
Interesting question whether he would have been more or less effective than FDR in defeating the Axis powers.
Finally, we should note that unlike today's staged affairs, those were real conventions, controlled from the notorious "smoke filled rooms." How many years has it been now since we've seen one like it?
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 302 June 28, 1940
British Bristol Blenheims bomb Tobruk. After the air raid, Marshal Italo Balbo (Italian Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa and “heir apparent” to Benito Mussolini) returns from a reconnaissance flight. He is killed when his plane is shot down by Italian anti-aircraft fire. Marshal Graziani is appointed to replace him.
At 2 AM, U-30 sinks British SS Llanarth (carrying 7980 tons of flour from Australia) 250 miles West of Brest, France. 16 crew are picked up by British corvette HMS Gladiolus on June 30 and landed at Plymouth. 19 others are rescued by a Spanish trawler and landed at San Sebastian. British trawler Castleton goes missing in the Orkney Islands, probably sunk by U-102 which does not return from this patrol.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/390.html
Luftwaffe bombs the harbours of Guernsey and Jersey in the British Channel Islands, mistaking tomato trucks for troop carriers (48 civilians killed).
British government recognizes General de Gaulle as “Leader of All Free Frenchmen.”
Soviet Union occupies Bessarabia and Northern Bucovina, ceded by Romania.
Italian destroyers Espero, Zeffiro & Ostro are sighted by air reconnaissance and intercepted by British light cruiser squadron from Alexandria, Egypt. Espero is sunk in the Ionian Sea, but the other two destroyers escape and continue to Tripoli. British cruiser HMS Liverpool is hit by a single 4.7 inch shell, cutting the degaussing wire.
thank you, some good information!
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