10 Jul 1940 | World War II Database

10 Jul 1940

The Japanese deployed the new A6M Zero fighters against Chinese forces. ww2dbase [A6M Zero | CPC]
The British government banned the fascist British Union Party. ww2dbase [CPC]
The British authorities put 200 Italian prisoners of war, 251 German prisoners of war, 55 British Nazi sympathizers, and 2,036 civilians from Germany (mostly Jewish refugees), collectively categorized as "enemy aliens", on the British troop ship Dunera whose intended passenger capacity was only 1,600. Over the next 57 days, while en route to Australia, these people would be robbed, beaten, and in one case bayoneted by the British guards while many of them suffered from dysentery. Several of the guards were later court-martialed, including Lieutenant Colonel William Scott. ww2dbase [CPC]
Italian submarine Scirè sank French ship Cheik 54 miles northwest of Sicily, Italy. Cheik's crew was rescued by Scirè. ww2dbase [Scirè | CPC]
German armed merchant cruiser Widder sank British ship Davisan 500 miles of the coast of Florida, United States. The entire crew of Widder was taken prisoner. ww2dbase [Widder | CPC]
German submarine U-34 sank Finnish ship Petsamo close to the southern coast of Ireland, killing 4. On the same day, U-61 torpedoed Dutch ship Alwaki 10 miles off Cape Wrath, Scotland, United Kingdom; the torpedo failed to detonate, but it knocked a hole in the hull, and the ship listed to port; all 41 crew and 10 passengers aboard were rescued by British ship Harmonic. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
Henry Stimson became the United States Secretary of War. ww2dbase [Henry Stimson | CPC]

Atlantic Ocean

Kanalkampf: A large German aerial formation attacked one of the eight British convoys in the English Channel; the target convoy was code named Bread, escorted by 6 Hurricane fighters. Upon detecting the incoming aircraft, four squadrons of British fighters were launched to counter the attack. At the end of the battle, seven British aircraft were destroyed and one of the Bread ships was sunk. The Germans lost 13 aircraft. This surprising victory led to the British announcing that 10 Jul was the start of the Battle of Britain. Elsewhere, the German Luftwaffe's first major targets on land included the Swansea docks and the Royal Ordnance Factory in Pembrey. The British tanker Tascalusa was sunk during one of the attacks. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | English Channel | CPC]
HMS Hermes collided with armed merchant cruiser HMS Corfu in the Atlantic Ocean in poor weather, injuring two and killing one aboard HMS Hermes. ww2dbase [Hermes | CPC]

Guernsey

British Lieutenant Hubert Nicolle, who had been conducting reconnaissance in the Channel Island of Guernsey, returned to Britain. he reported that there were 469 German soldiers on the island, mainly in St. Peter Port, with machine gun posts 2 to 5 miles away along the coast. He estimated that a commando raid would have 20 minutes to wipe out the machine gun posts before reinforcements from St. Peter Port would arrive. ww2dbase [Guernsey | CPC]

Italy

Nine British Swordfish torpedo bombers from carrier HMS Eagle attacked Augusta, Sicily, Italy at 0940 hours, sinking destroyer Leone Pancaldo. ww2dbase [Eagle | Augusta, Sicilia | CPC]
Maggiore Baracca was commissioned into service with Capitano di Corvetta Enrico Bertarelli in command. ww2dbase [Maggiore Baracca | CPC]
Alessandro Malaspina conducted exercises out of La Spezia, Italy between 0827 hours and 1140 hours. ww2dbase [Alessandro Malaspina | La Spezia, Liguria | CPC]
Alpino Bagnolini conducted exercises out of Taranto, Italy between 1115 and 1610 hours. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | Taranto, Apulia | CPC]

Photo(s) dated 10 Jul 1940

2-pounder anti-aircraft gun aboard HMCS Assiniboine en route between Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and Britain, 10 Jul 1940

2-pounder anti-aircraft gun aboard HMCS Assiniboine firing in exercise en route between Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and Britain, 10 Jul 1940

Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki and Hungarian Foreign Minister István Csáky in München, Germany, 10 Jul 1940; note German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop at left

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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