Historical
At 6.30 p.m. French General Huntzinger returned to the railway carriage at Compiègne, where he and German OKW Chief General Keitel signed the 1940 Franco-German armistice. A German occupation zone was established in the north and west of France with the remainder left “free” to be governed by the French. Article 20 stated “French troops in German prison camps will remain prisoners of war until conclusion of a peace”. The French believed it was only a matter of weeks before Britain would also make peace with Germany. Hitler did not demand the French fleet, but Article 8 left the disposition of their warships uncertain, which worried the British.
De Gaulle made a third broadcast on the BBC. “Honour, common sense, and the interests of the country require that all free Frenchmen, wherever they be, should continue the fight as best they may,” he declared. “It is therefore necessary to group the largest possible French force wherever this can be done. Everything which can be collected by way of French military elements and potentialities for armaments production must be organised wherever such elements exist. I, General de Gaulle, am undertaking this national task here in England. I call upon all French servicemen of the land, sea, and air forces; I call upon French engineers and skilled armaments workers who are on British soil, or have the means of getting here, to come and join me.”
The Germans entered La Rochelle, but not before all the seaport’s naval facilities were blown up.
The last elements of the Polish army in France sailed from St. Jean-De-Luz for Britain.
The Italian offensive reached the eastern approaches of Menton but was unable to advance any further.
U-boats sank two cargo ships and two tankers off the south coast of Ireland and in the Bay of Biscay. U-122 went missing in the North Atlantic, somewhere off the British coast.
The suspected existence of a German radio navigation device in their bombers, codenamed “Knickebein”, was confirmed by British scientists.
French and British ships were ordered not to enter Indo-Chinese ports, after Japan warned France not to support the Chinese Nationalists. It was feared that the Japanese might take advantage of France’s difficulties at home to invade her territory in the Far East.
Game day 296. Neutral nations
The Republic of Ireland raised six units of infantry for home defence.
No other neutrals took any action.
Credits: Historical information: http://www.worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com, Wikipedia, Chronicle of the Second World War (JL International Publications, 1994). Background image to game maps: Hasbro Ltd.
General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings 