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• » 8 Jul 1940

• Expanding on their previous agreement, Sweden allowed Germany to transport war materiel across their rail lines. ww2dbase [TH]
• British Metropolitan Police was ordered to be armed when guarding important locations. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-99 sank British ship Humber Arm of Allied convoy HX-53 60 miles south of Ireland at 0753 hours; 42 crew members and 1 passenger were later rescued by destroyer HMS Scimitar. The submarine was attacked with 107 depth charges from various escorting vessels for the following 14 hours, but the German boat under the command of Otto Kretschmer would be able to escape harm. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
• The British RAF Fighter Command established the 10 Group for the defense of southwestern Britain. ww2dbase [CPC]
• USS Wichita and USS Quincy departed Santos, Brazil for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ww2dbase [Quincy (New Orleans-class) | CPC]
• USS Phoenix departed Valparaiso, Chile for Callao, Peru. ww2dbase [Phoenix | CPC]
• The US Joint War Planning Committee completed a plan calling for an expeditionary force to be dispatched from New York, New York, United States to the French colony of Martinique; the US 1st Marine Brigade was earmarked for the initial landing force. ww2dbase [CPC]

• The French government announced that the French people would have to accept food rationing in the near future. ww2dbase [CPC]

• At Casablanca, French Morocco, British motor torpedo boats attacked French battleship Jean Bart, causing damage. ww2dbase [Jean Bart | British Attacks on the French Fleet | Casablanca | CPC]

• British Swordfish torpedo bombers from carrier HMS Hermes hit French battleship Richelieu at Dakar, French West Africa for the second consecutive day, despite that Richelieu had already touched bottom from the attacks on the previous day. ww2dbase [Richelieu | British Attacks on the French Fleet | Dakar | CPC]

• British bombers attacked German heavy cruiser Lützow in dock at Kiel, Germany. Lützow, under repair for extensive torpedo damage to her stern caused by HMS Spearfish on 11 Apr 1940, was hit by a bomb that failed to detonate. ww2dbase [Deutsche Werke Kiel | Deutschland | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein | CPC]

• Leonardo da Vinci set sail from Naples, Italy at 0930 hours for exercises, returning at 1610 hours. ww2dbase [Leonardo da Vinci | Napoli, Campania | CPC]

• Italian submarine Marconi torpedoed and damaged destroyer HMS Escort southwest of Minorca, Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 2 and wounding 13; HMS Escort would sink about 160 kilometers or 100 miles east of Gibraltar while under tow by destroyer HMS Forester. ww2dbase [Guglielmo Marconi | CPC]
• Italian aircraft bombed cruiser HMS Gloucester, hitting the compass platform of the bridge, wounding 9 and killing 12; the commanding officer was among those killed. ww2dbase [CPC]

• Tea went on ration in Britain at two ounces per person per week. ww2dbase [AC]
• In England, United Kingdom, General Charles de Gaulle denounced the ongoing British attacks on Vichy French forces. ww2dbase [British Attacks on the French Fleet | Charles de Gaulle | England | CPC]

8 Jul 1940 Interactive Map