World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 27 May 1940

• The British sugar ration was reduced from 12 ounce to 8 ounce per person. ww2dbase [CPC]
• James Lacey shot down two German He 111 bombers. ww2dbase [James Lacey | CPC]
• British General Edmund Ironside stepped down from the position of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Werner Mölders claimed his 19th and 20th victories southwest of Amiens, France; the victims were both P-36 fighters. ww2dbase [Werner Mölders | CPC]
• Erwin Rommel was awarded the Knight Cross medal. ww2dbase [Erwin Rommel | CPC]
• German submarine U-37 sank British ship Sheaf Mead 150 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain; 32 men were killed and 5 were rescued. U-37 also forced the Argentinian ship Uruguay to scuttle; 15 men became missing and presumed dead, and 13 were rescued. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Troops of the German 3rd SS Panzer Totenkopf Division, commanded by Hauptsturmführer Fritz Knöchlein, massacred 97 British prisoners of war by machine gun fire at the village of Le Paradis in France. Two survivors of the massacre would later provide testimony during the post-war war crimes trials against Knöchlein. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German tanks and aircraft maintained pressure on the Allies in France, pushing them back four miles toward the coast and placing Dunkirk within artillery range; meanwhile, the first 7,669 British troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]
• The British government abandoned the notion to introduce conscription to Northern Ireland. ww2dbase [CPC]

• King Leopold III of Belgium offered surrender terms to Germany and decided to remain in the country. Germany responded at 2200 hours, demanding an unconditional surrender. ww2dbase [Leopold III | TH]

• Japanese bombers attacked Chongqing, China in three waves. ww2dbase [Bombing of Shanghai, Chongqing, and other Cities | Chongqing | CPC]

• In Germany, Adolf Hitler agreed to allow a limited use the tanks within thirteen miles of Dunkerque, France, but remains adamant that Dunkerque was to remain the Luftwaffe's job. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Adolf Hitler | AC]

• German Luftwaffe aircraft attacked Bodø, Norway, rendering 3,500 of the town's 6,000 residents homeless. 2 British servicemen and 13 Norwegian civilians were killed. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | Bodø, Nordland | CPC]

• The keel of light cruiser Juneau was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey, United States. ww2dbase [Juneau | Kearny, New Jersey | CPC]

27 May 1940 Interactive Map