16 Mar 1940
- Benito Mussolini held peace talks with US envoy Sumner Welles in Rome. ww2dbase [Benito Mussolini | CPC]
- Yugoslavian steamer Slava hit a mine laid by German submarine U-29 on 2 Mar 1940 and sank in the Bristol Channel, killing 1. 33 were rescued. ww2dbase [CPC]
- Isaac Sweers was launched at the Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | Vlissingen, Zeeland | CPC]
- 32 German Ju 88 dive bombers bombed the Royal Navy Home Fleet base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. HMS Norfolk was hit with one bomb, blowing a hole below the water line and killing 6. James Isbister became the first British civilian to be killed by a German bomb when his house in the nearby village of Bridge of Waithe. ww2dbase [Scapa Flow | Scapa Flow, Scotland | TH]
16 Mar 1940 Interactive Map
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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Close-up of Scharnhorst's funnel, winter 1939-1940; note crewmen possibly working on a minesweeping paravaneCurrent Site Statistics
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Famous WW2 Quote
"We no longer demand anything, we want war."Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939