military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (06/02/90)
Wednesday, 29 May, 1940 German troops capture Ostend, Ypres, and Lille. Hitler orders the ten panzer divisions to deploy for an immediate attack on southern France. With the northern pocket rapidly collapsing, German forces begin to regroup for the second phase of the invasion. General Weygand orders 8 French armies arrayed for an attack against the southern flank of the German-held zone. Over 47,000 soldiers are evacuated from Dunkirk, but three British destroyers are sunk, seven more damaged by the Luftwaffe. Fifteen other ships are also lost. Intense air combat continues over the beaches. Swedish Professor Krasny-Ergen announces a new technique for isolation uranium-235. The process, scheduled to be published in the British magazine "Nature", is claimed to be 11,000 times faster than existing methods. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "The fate of the French Armies in Artois is sealed. Their resistance in the region of Lille collapsed." Communique' from German High Command