military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (06/28/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Friday, 28 June, 1940 Marshal Balbo, the Italian Governor General of Libya, is killed over Tobruk when his reconaissance plane is shot down by Italian antiaircraft guns. General Mittelhauser, commander of French forces in the Middle East, abides by the armistice and orders the cessation of hostilities by the French Syria garrison. A similar stand is taken by General Nogues, commandant of French North Africa. German aircraft raid the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, killing 33 people. Britain begins demilitarization and evacuation of the isles. The Canadian destroyer Fraser is sunk after a collisions with the British cruiser Calcutta. The Italian DD Esperor is lost to British cruisers while carrying supplies to Tobruk. Rumania assents to the Soviet demands on its eastern provinces, and Bessarabia and northern Bukovina are immediately occupied by Soviet forces; several instances of fighting between Rumanian and Soviet troops are reported. Hungarian troops mass on that country's border with Rumania, in case the Soviets should advance beyond the agreed-upon boundary. Great Britain recognizes Charles de Gaulle as the "leader of all free Frenchmen." The US Republican Party nominates Wendell Willkie for the upcoming Presidential campaign. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "Every Frenchman who still has arms has an absolute duty to continue resistance." - General Charles de Gaulle.