4 Jun 1940
- Overnight, 26,175 French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk, France. At 1020 hours, German troops occupied the city and captured the 30,000 to 40,000 French troops, 2,000 British field guns, and 60,000 British vehicles. In total, 338,226 Allied personnel were evacuated through Operation Dynamo. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]
- Churchill delivered the "We shall never surrender" speech to House of Commons. ww2dbase [Winston Churchill | TH]
- The United Kingdom banned any recreational camping within 10 miles of the east and southeastern coasts, including the Isle of Wight. ww2dbase [TH]
- German Admiral Wilhelm Marschall launched Operation Juno, sending Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper, and several destroyers from Kiel for Norway, aiming at disrupting the Allied supply lines to Narvik. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | CPC]
- Konstantin Rokossovsky was promoted to the rank of major general. ww2dbase [Konstantin Rokossovsky | CPC]
- Douglas Bader, while attacking a German Do 17 aircraft, nearly collided with the target. ww2dbase [Douglas Bader | CPC]
- In order to maintain the vital link with North America, British Overseas Airways Corporation commenced a twice-weekly air service between Heston, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom and Lisbon, Portugal, to connect with the scheduled Pan-American Airways New York-Lisbon route. ww2dbase [AC]
- Vasily Kuznetsov was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. ww2dbase [Vasily Kuznetsov | CPC]
- French l'Armee d'Aire attacked München (Munich) and Frankfurt in Germany in response to the German bombing of Paris, France on the previous day. ww2dbase [München, München-Oberbayern | TH]
- Jaguar began escorting battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper between Kiel, Germany and the Skaggerak. ww2dbase [Gneisenau | Admiral Hipper | Jaguar | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]
4 Jun 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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