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21 Mar 1917

France
  • British No. 100 Squadron RFC, the first RFC squadron specifically trained for night operations, moved from Hingham, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom (where it was formed) to Saint-AndrĂ©-aux-Bois in France. The unit's first aircraft were twelve F.E.2Bs. ww2dbase [Saint-AndrĂ©-aux-Bois, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
5 Apr 1917

France
  • Overnight, the British No. 100 Squadron RFC, the first British purpose-trained night operations squadron, flew B.E.2E aircraft during its first operation with two raids on Douai airfield in France, at that time home to the notorious Manfred von Richtofen's Jasta 11 "Flying Circus". ww2dbase [Douai, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
7 May 1917

France
  • British Captain Albert Ball VC, DFC & 2 Bars & MC, RFC (43 kills and one balloon) was killed when, in his SE.5a aircraft, he dived into cloud in pursuit of a German aircraft over Lens, France. He was buried by the Germans with full Military honours. ww2dbase [Lens, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
19 Oct 1939

Photo(s) dated 19 Oct 1939
Men of British 4th Royal Tank Regiment and Matilda I tanks, Acq, France, 19 Oct 1939
29 Oct 1939

France
  • The body of Kapitänleutnant Dietrich von der Ropp, commanding officer of U-12, washed ashore near Dunkerque, France; the submarine was lost to a mine on 8 Oct 1939. ww2dbase [U-12 | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
11 Jan 1940

Photo(s) dated 11 Jan 1940
Matilda I tanks of British Royal Tank Regiment during an exercise with infantry of 2nd Battalion of British North Staffordshire Regiment near HĂ©buterne, France, 11 Jan 1940, photo 1 of 2Matilda I tanks of British Royal Tank Regiment during an exercise with infantry of 2nd Battalion of British North Staffordshire Regiment near HĂ©buterne, France, 11 Jan 1940, photo 2 of 2
22 Jan 1940

Photo(s) dated 22 Jan 1940
2-inch mortar team of UK 2nd Warwickshire Regiment at Rumegies, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, 22 Jan 1940
18 May 1940

France
  • Walter Grabmann, flying a Bf 110 heavy fighter, was shot down by British Hurricane fighters over Douai, France; he parachuted to safety but was captured. ww2dbase [Walter Grabmann | Douai, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
21 May 1940

France
  • The French destroyer L'Adroit (T23) was in company of two other destroyers when German He 111 bombers attacked. One aircraft hit her with a bomb that exploded just in front of the bridge. One third of the ship was ripped off and her commanding officer Captain Henri Dupin de Saint-Cyr beached her at Malo-les-Bains, Dunkerque, France at 0035 hours where she was on fire. As she had just been reloaded with ammunition and torpedoes for a mission on the Scheldt Estuary to the northeast, the entire crew abandoned ship, and locals of Malo-les-Bains were also evacuated. At 0230 hours the ship was destroyed by seven large explosions. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
22 May 1940

France
  • In France, Theodor Eicke's SS Division Totenkopf, a police unit raised to provide concentration camp guards, murdered ninety-two civilians in the town of Aubigny-en-Artois and another forty-five in the villages of VandĂ©licourt and Berles-Monchel as they headed towards the canal line before Dunkerque. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Aubigny-en-Artois, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
24 May 1940

France
  • British Lieutenant Christopher Furness, the son of Viscount Furness, was killed in hand to hand fighting near Arras, France after his Bren gun carrier group engaged a vastly superior enemy force in order to allow a convoy to escape. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. ww2dbase [Arras, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
  • The Polish destroyer Burza was ordered to join the British destroyers HMS Vimiera (L 29) and HMS Wessex (D 43) and shell German positions in Calais area on the French coast. At 1620 hours the Allied vessels opened fire on a German armoured column at Sangatte Hill, west of Calais. Ten minutes later they were attacked by 27 German aircraft which hit and sank HMS Wessex about 5 miles off of the coast. HMS Vimiera managed to escape. Then the entire enemy air group concentrated on the Polish destroyer. The two 40-millimeter anti-aircraft guns jammed due to shrapnel hits. Three bombs exploded in the water and they caused boiler damage and loss of speed. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Wojciech Francki, ordered to emergency launch the torpedoes and drop all depth charges, trying to avoid additional explosions. Shortly after this, two bombs hit the Burza and badly damaged her. However the airplanes had dropped all of their bombs and broke off the attack. The crew managed to stop the leakage and return to Dover, England, United Kingdom. One German airplane was shot down during the action. ww2dbase [Burza | Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Calais, Nord-Pas de Calais | HM]
25 May 1940

France
  • Adolf Hitler continued to hold off his tanks from engaging on an offensive even though those armored division were merely 10 miles from Dunkerque, France. At Calais, France, Heinz Guderian obediently, albeit frustratingly, ordered his tanks to halt per Hitler's orders, but the field commanders continued to push back the British and French troops. In the evening, British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort began to fall back to Dunkerque. On the same day, the French Army relieved 15 generals of their commands. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | TH]
26 May 1940

France
  • At Dunkerque, France, British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort received the formal authorization for a withdraw; Operation Dynamo, the code name of the massive evacuation, was headed by British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler rescinded the order to halt the offensive near Dunkerque. At Calais, after a heavy aerial and field artillery bombardment, German troops crossed the canals and moved toward the Citadel; at 1600 hours, Brigadier Claude Nicholson surrendered. Elsewhere, the French 1st Army was nearly encircled by the Germans, while the Belgians was pushed back to the Leie/Lys River. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
29 May 1940

France
  • The 393-ton former Royal Mail Steam Packet Company paddle steamer Gracie Fields, serving in the capacity of a minesweeper since 1939, was hit by a bomb on her second trip to Dunkerque, France. Eight of her crew died in the attack. The ship remained afloat and an effort to tow her back to Britain would be mounted. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
30 May 1940

France
31 May 1940

France
  • Poor weather clouded over Dunkerque, France, giving the British a chance to bring in modern destroyers into the area to assist the evacuation with less fear of German air attacks; 68,014 (45,072 from harbor and 22,942 from beaches) were rescued on this date, including British Expeditionary Force commanding general Lord Gort. French destroyer Leopart and British destroyers HMS Express, HMS Icarus, HMS Keith, and HMS Winchelsea were damaged by German aerial bombing. German torpedo boats damaged French destroyers Sirocco and Cyclone; Sirocco was finished off by German aircraft, killing 59 crew and 600 troops. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | TH]
  • Oliver Leese was evacuated from a beach near Dunkerque, France. ww2dbase [Oliver Leese | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
1 Jun 1940

France
  • Under a heavy German air raid at Dunkerque, France, Sergeant George Benton, RAMC, was carrying wounded men on stretchers to a ship at the East Mole when a bomb blew a hole in the walkway. Unflinching, he calmly placed a stretcher over the gap and carried on with the evacuation of the wounded. ww2dbase [Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
5 Jun 1940

Photo(s) dated 5 Jun 1940
German military camera crew filming in Dunkerque, France shortly after the conquest, Jun 1940
18 Jul 1940

France
10 Aug 1940

France
11 Sep 1940

France
  • Hans-Joachim Marseille scored his third kill when he shot down a British Hurricane fighter over the French coast at 1705 hours. His fighter received heavy damage and he was forced to crash land at Wissant, France. ww2dbase [Hans-Joachim Marseille | Wissant, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
20 Feb 1941

France
14 Jun 1941

France
  • German Luftwaffe ace Oberfeldwebel Robert Menge was shot down and killed near Marquise, France by Squadron Leader James E. Rankin of No. 92 Squadron RAF. At the time of his death Menge had 18 kills to his credit. ww2dbase [Marquise, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
21 Jun 1941

France
10 Jul 1941

France
  • Douglas Bader claimed one German Bf 109 aircraft over Bethune, Pas-de-Calais, France, and later shot down a Bf 109E aircraft over nearby Calais. ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | Bethune, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
12 Jul 1941

France
19 Aug 1941

France
  • Replacement prosthetic leg for captured Douglas Bader was dropped by a British bomber over Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France with permission by German Luftwaffe leaders. After the delivery, the British bomber took the opportunity to surprise-attack a power station in occupied France (though the attack would fail to materialize due to weather). ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | Saint-Omer, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
9 Oct 1941

France
  • No. 601 Squadron RAF mounted a mission with four P-39 Airacobra aircraft, strafing German barges near Dunkerque, France. This was to be the final Airacobra mission with the RAF. ww2dbase [P-39 Airacobra | Dunkerque, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
22 Apr 1942

France
  • Canadian and British troops raided the beaches near Boulogne, France in Operation Abercrombie, which failed to capture any German prisoners for interrogation and failed to destroy searchlight equipment. ww2dbase [Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
13 Jun 1943

France
27 Aug 1943

France
5 Nov 1943

France
  • The RAF mounted its first raid on the V1 launch sites (codename "Noball") when B-25 Mitchell bombers from No. 2 Group attacked a facility at Mimoyecques near Calais, France. ww2dbase [Mimoyecques, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
4 Mar 1944

France
  • A British photo-reconnaissance flight by a Spitfire aircraft revealed concrete mixing was being conducted under camouflage netting beside the railway near Wizernes in northern France, and it was later determined that the site might possibly be intended for the launching of a large rocket. ww2dbase [V-Weapons Campaign | La Coupole | Wizernes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
16 Jun 1944

France
  • Before dawn, 300 Lancaster bombers attacked Boulogne, France, sinking the minesweeper tenders Von der Gröben, Brommy, and Von der Lippe. Seven motor minesweepers and two patrol boats were sunk with others badly damaged. Combined with the raid on Le Havre on the previous night, the two raids caused much damage to the harbour facilities including fuel storage and loading equipment. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 1 | Boulogne, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | HM]
18 Jun 1944

France
24 Jun 1944

France
25 Jun 1944

France
6 Jul 1944

France Photo(s) dated 6 Jul 1944
Low-level reconnaissance photograph of the German V2 site at Wizernes, France, 6 Jul 1944; photograph taken from a Mosquito aircraft of No. 544 Squadron RAF
17 Jul 1944

France
20 Jul 1944

France
31 Jul 1944

Photo(s) dated 31 Jul 1944
Sergeant F. J. Petrie and sapper L. Roberts examining a captured German Panzerschreck weapon, south of Caumont, France, 31 Jul 1944
2 Sep 1944

France
  • Edward Brooks personally led an attack on a 165-vehicle German convoy near Marchiennes, France; this action would earn him the Oak Leaf Cluster to his Silver Star medal. ww2dbase [Edward Brooks | Marchiennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | CPC]
17 Sep 1944

France
  • The siege of Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, France began. With 1 Corps grounded from lack of transport, the only available formation was 3rd Canadian Division, less one brigade, but reinforced with some armour and medium regiments of artillery. Despite being smaller than Le Havre, Boulogne proved to be a hard nut to crack, with deep underground fortifications, as well as surrounding forts, minefields and anti-tank ditches. Heavy bombing on the opening day failed to destroy the many German gun batteries, making the siege more difficult than expected. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | Boulogne, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
22 Sep 1944

France
23 Sep 1944

France
  • After a six-day siege, Canadian troops forced the German troops at Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, France to surrender. The Canadians suffered 634 casualties and captured 9,500 prisoners (many driven from their bunkers by driving flame down the ventilation shafts). ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | Boulogne, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
25 Sep 1944

France
  • Having taken Boulogne, France, Canadian 3rd Division assaulted Calais where their operation to capture the port would be complicated by the presence of 20,000 French civilians who have not been evacuated. ww2dbase [Calais, Nord-Pas de Calais | TH, AC]
1 Oct 1944

France
  • The German garrison at Calais, France capitulated. The 3rd Canadian Division had suffered just 300 casualties in the siege of the town but had captured 7,500 Germans bringing their toll of prisoners taken in clearing the Channel ports to almost 30,000. Wreckage to the dock facilities were however extensive and the port would not be available for shipping until Nov 1944. ww2dbase [Normandy Campaign, Phase 2 | Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais | AC]
12 Oct 1944

France
  • The docks at Boulogne, France were reopened, thus helping the Allied supply crisis to the armies north of the Seine River, which up to now had been reliant on Dieppe and Ostend whose combined capacity was only about 10,000 tons daily. ww2dbase [Boulogne-sur-Mer, Nord-Pas de Calais | AC]
28 Apr 1945

France
2 May 1945

France
10 May 1945

France

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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USS Enterprise in her new Measure 33-4Ab paint scheme leaving Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for exercises, 4 Aug 1944. Photo 4 of 4.


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