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• » 26 Jun 1940

• General de Gaulle created the French Volunteer Legion in United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Charles de Gaulle | TH]
• The United Kingdom extended the blockade to include the all of France. ww2dbase [TH]
• Norwegian merchant ship Crux was sunk 300 miles west of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal at 0228 hours by a German submarine; the crew of 30 took to lifeboats and would be rescued on the following day. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-29 stopped Greek ship Dimitris with a shot across her bow off Cape Finisterre, Spain at 1530 hours. After the crew abandoned ship, the Greek ship was sunk by gunfire. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Soviet Union presented an ultimatum demanding territory in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania. Adolf Hitler suggested the Romanians government to give in and satisfy the Soviet demands as Hitler was fearful that Romanian resistance might lead to a Soviet occupation of the entire Romania, which would threaten the oil and fodder that the German military was dependent upon. ww2dbase [Soviet Demands on Romania and the Second Vienna Arbitration | CPC]
• Corvette Trillium was launched. ww2dbase [Trillium | CPC]
• The French Foreign Minister of the Bordeaux Government announced that the French Ambassador in London, M. Corbin, had resigned. ww2dbase [AC]
• Wolfgang Falck was officially named the commanding officer of the German nightfighters, Nachtjagdfliegerdienst. ww2dbase [Wolfgang Falck | CPC]
• RMS Queen Mary, with 5,000 British troops aboard, set sail for the Middle East. ww2dbase [Queen Mary | CPC]

• Comandante Cappellini sighted British merchant ship Cydonia in the Mediterranean Sea just off of the coast of Spain at 2030 hours. At 2106 hours, she fired one torpedo at a distance of 700 metres, which missed. One minute later, she submerged to avoid colliding with a Spanish vessel. She surfaced at 2124 hours, and the target had already disappeared. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow, Russia called for a 7-day work week and banned the quitting of jobs without official authorization. Also, being late to work for more than 20 minutes was now a criminal offense punishable by prison terms of two to six months. ww2dbase [CPC]

• After sundown, German aircraft bombed the steelworks at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Scunthorpe, England | AC]

• Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, United States received the license from Rolls-Royce to build Merlin engines for the P-51 Mustang fighters, with an order at the size of US$130,000,000 being placed. The first Packard-built Merlin engine, designated V-1650-1, would be ready in Aug 1941. ww2dbase [P-51 Mustang | Detroit, Michigan | CPC, DS]

26 Jun 1940 Interactive Map