8 Jun 1940
- French and Polish troops left dummies on the front lines to trick their German foes and fell back into Narvik, Norway for evacuation. British Group II troop transports took on the final 4,600 Allied troops and departed Narvik, escorted by carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Southampton and HMS Coventry, and 11 destroyers. German aircraft conducted nearly continuous attacks on the convoy, while German troops on land quickly realized the situation and moved into Narvik. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | CPC]
- German 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions crossed the Seine River in France, and the troops of the 5th Panzer Division captured the city of Rouen. To the east, the 14th Panzer Corps broke through at Amiens, but the 16th Panzer Corps continued to be held down in Péronne by hedgehogs manned by troops of the French 7th Army. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]
- HMS Cumberland was joined by HM Aircraft Carrier Hermes ww2dbase [Hermes | Cumberland | DS]
- During Operation Juno, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau opened fired on British carrier HMS Glorious and her escorts HMS Acasta, HMS Ardent, HMS Acheron, HMS Highlander, and HMS Diana about 170 miles west of Narvik, Norway at 1627 hours. British destroyers made smoke, but did not prevent the Germans from hitting the carrier, causing her to list. In an attempt to save Glorious, destroyer HMS Acasta charged at the German ships, firing two salvos of torpedoes while being struck by German gunfire. One torpedo in the second salvo struck Scharnhorst, tearing a 12-meter (39-foot) hole, at 1734 hours, disabling her starboard engine room. Shortly after, commanding officer Commander C. E. Glasfurd gave the order to abandon ship. Acasta sank stern first at about 1820 hours. Meanwhile, HMS Ardent sank at 1720 hours (killing 151). As for the HMS Glorious, the main German target, Captain Guy D'Oyly Huges of HMS Glorious was blamed for the attack being a surprise, for that he had failed to launch scouting aircraft ahead of the task force. As the flight deck became damaged during the battle, the carrier could not launch any of her aircraft to participate in the engagement. She was ultimately sunk at 1910 hours; 1,474 naval officers and ratings and 41 RAF personnel were killed, 43 survived. Scharnhorst suffered one torpedo hit by HMS Ardent. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | Gneisenau | Scharnhorst | Glorious | Acasta | Norwegian Sea | CPC]
- Emden arrived at Swinemünde, Germany. ww2dbase [Emden | Swinemünde, Pommern | CPC]
- Leonardo da Vinci set sail from Naples, Italy for exercises at 0745 hours, returning at 1820 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Napoli, Campania | CPC]
8 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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