World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 12 Jun 1940

• British transports of Group II arrived in the Clyde, Scotland at 2300 hours with troops evacuated from Narvik, Norway. The French troops evacuated were later sent to Brest and Lorient to join the fight against the invading German forces. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Commander-in-Chief of Home Defense of the United Kingdom Edmond Ironside completed a plan for defense against a potential German invasion. ww2dbase [TH]
• German submarine U-101 sank British ship Earlspark off Cape Finisterre, Spain at 1200 hours, killing 7 and sinking 7,500 tons of coal. Also off Cape Finisterre, U-46 sank British ship Barbara Marie at 1938 hours, killing 32 and sinking 7,200 tons of iron ore, and then sinking Willowbank at 1946 hours. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Navy Department of the United States placed contracts for 22 new warships. ww2dbase [CPC]
• The Japan-Thailand Non-Aggression Pact was announced. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Quincy arrived at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ww2dbase [Quincy (New Orleans-class) | CPC]
• The Soviet Baltic Fleet received orders to blockade Estonia. ww2dbase [Annexation of the Baltic States | CPC]
• Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class medal. ww2dbase [Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller | CPC]
• HMS CUMBERLAND’s escort Joined by HM Cruiser DEVONSHIRE until 14th June when replaced by ships from Home Fleet including HM Battleship HOOD and HM Aircraft Carrier ARGUS. ww2dbase [Hood | Argus | Devonshire | Cumberland | DS]

• 154 Japanese aircraft attacked Chongqing, China at 1200 hours; Chinese fighters claimed 5 Japanese aircraft shot down. ww2dbase [Bombing of Shanghai, Chongqing, and other Cities | Chongqing | CPC]
• Liu Zhesheng, flying an I-15bis fighter, damaged three Japanese Ki-21 bombers near Chongqing, China. ww2dbase [Bombing of Shanghai, Chongqing, and other Cities | Liu Zhesheng | Chongqing | CPC]

• German tanks under Guderian crossed the Marne River at Chalons-sur-Marne, 80 miles east of Paris, France. Meanwhile, in the French capital, US Ambassador William Bullitt, the last ambassador of a major nation left in the city, was named the provisional governor of Paris as the French government moved to Tours. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | Paris | TH, CPC]
• French Admiral François Darlan, Commander-in-Chief of the French Navy, assured British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that there would be no question of surrendering the French naval ships. He further asserted that orders would be given to scuttle the ships if such a danger were to exist. ww2dbase [Scuttling of the French Fleet | François Darlan | AC]

• Primauguet arrived at Dakar, Senegal, French West Africa. ww2dbase [Primauguet | Dakar, Senegal | CPC]

• German Type IXC U-Boat U-505 was laid down at Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Deutsche Werft Hamburg | U-505 | Hamburg | DS]

• The elderly Royal Navy Cruiser HMS Calypso (Captain H. H. Rowley) was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian submarine in the Mediterranean Sea south of Crete, Greece. Survivors were picked up by the Cruiser HMS Caledon (pendant H53) and the destroyer HMS Dainty (pendant I53). Out of a complement of 400 to 500 (many of whom were recalled pensioners and reservists of the RNR and RNVR) one RNR officer and 39 ratings were lost. ww2dbase [AC]

12 Jun 1940 Interactive Map