[soc.history] 50 Years Ago: Sunday, 2 June, 1940

military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (06/02/90)

Sunday, 2 June, 1940

Operation Dynamo ends during the night with the evacuation of the last
4,000 British troops, along with 26,000 of other nationalities.  Two
further British destroyers are damaged, and French vessels continue to 
evacuate French and Belgian soldiers.

RAF Pilot Officer Jacobsen, flying a Gloster Gladiator biplane, downs
4 He 111's and 2 Ju 88's over Narvik.

Mussolini agrees to delay Italy's entry into the war until 10 June.

Sir Samuel Hoare, newly-appointed British Ambassador to Spain, is
greeted in Madrid by an anti-British demonstration demanding the
return of Gibraltar to Spain.

References:
J. Keegan, ed., _The Times Atlas of the Second World War_
C.Argyle, _Chronology of World War II_
J. Piekalkiewicz, _Tank War 1939-1940_
R.Dupuy and T.Dupuy, _The Encyclopedia of Military History_
C.Salmaggi and A.Pallavisini, _2194 Days of War_
C.Messenger, _Atlas of World War Two_
The New York Times, daily editions
Time magazine
Newsweek

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Bill Thacker			            military@cbnews.att.com
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"Italy must enter the conflict to keep abreast of changing times."
- Giovanni Ansaldo, broadcasting to Italian troops