Eighty years on. 27th June 1940

Historical

Churchill still worried that Germany would capture the French fleet, particularly the vessels at Mers-el-Kébir, thereby restoring German sea power lost in the Norwegian campaign.  Despite Admiral Darlan’s assurances, the War Cabinet instructed the Royal Navy to neutralise, seize or destroy French warships in various British and North African ports (Operation Catapult).  Vice Admiral Sir James Somerville was ordered to take newly-formed Force H to Algeria.

U-47 sank two merchant ships south-west of Ireland.   She shelled the Norwegian MV Lenda carrying timber, which caught fire. Later she shelled the Dutch tanker Leticia carrying 2,568 tons of fuel oil. Twenty-five crew got off in two lifeboats.  Three men were rescued from the water by U-47 and brought to the lifeboats, where they were given first aid material, sausages and wine.  Survivors from both ships were picked up in the afternoon by the British destroyers HMS Hurricane and Havelock and taken to Plymouth.

The German submarine U-138 was commissioned.

German forces completed the occupation of France by reaching the Spanish border.  Britain announced a general blockade of the European coastline from the Bay of Biscay to the North Cape of Norway.

The Italian submarine Console Generale Luizzi was sunk by destroyers HMS Dainty, Defender and Ilex south of Crete.  HMS Voyager and Dainty rescued the survivors.  Off the coast of Eritrea near Port Sudan, the beached Italian submarine Macalle was destroyed by shelling from the British destroyers HMS Kandahar and Kingston and the light cruiser HMS Leander (serving in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy).  HMS Leander’s aircraft also dropped four bombs on the submarine.

All factories in the Soviet Union were put onto a seven day working week.

Game day 301.  China

Chinese forces manoeuvred to defend against the attacking Japanese forces, particularly to defend the industrial area in the centre of China.  In the south six infantry units crossed the border into Kwangtung to confront the Japanese infantry moving westwards from Shanghai, and an attack was launched on the single Japanese armoured unit at map reference DJ49.   The Japanese were destroyed for the loss of one infantry unit.

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.