It is Day Seven of the Dunkirk Evacuation. 26,256 were evacuated from Dunkirk as operations switched to only being undertaken at night due to the costly air attacks.
The remaining French forces at Dunkirk were pushed back into the town itself. The Dunkirk perimeter, now manned entirely by French forces, was largely driven in but the Germans still cannot penetrate into the town. Before dawn and after dark the evacuation continued. The last of the British troops are evacuated. There remain plenty of ships, but the 60,000 remaining French troops have no evacuation orders.
Almost all British troops — aside from stragglers — are now gone, with the vast majority of troops remaining in the pocket being French soldiers. The day ends with the French holding a perimeter on the edges of town. The French are disorganized — partly due to decisions taken by the British without their knowledge — and this hampers their evacuation. Some French troops do not see a realistic possibility of evacuating to England and desert, hoping to get back to their homes by slipping through the lines.
Baron Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, a Luftwaffe General and also a cousin of the famous “Red Baron,” is disgusted at the outcome fo the battle. He writes in his diary: “A victory over England has been thrown away.”
Army nurses, who stayed on the beach at Dunkirk attending the wounded British soldiers, refused to be evacuated and some of them were killed, according to wounded soldiers now returning from Flanders. Army doctors worked, stripped to the waist, in the hot sands, in casualty stations, in craters and small tents and the nurses assisted them to the last. “These girls worked without stopping day and night. If they slept they must have done so on their feet,” said one soldier.
Although by the end of May French General Weygand had been forced to abandon the intention to attack northwards from the Somme–Aisne line, he still regarded the recapture of the enemy’s bridgeheads south of the Somme as an essential measure of defense against the German attack towards Paris which was now expected daily. So General Georges decided that after a few days’ pause for reorganization and regrouping, the attack on the Abbeville–St Valery bridgehead should be renewed early on the morning of June the 4th. Certain changes were taking place in both French and British forces in the area. General Altmayer’s Group in the French Seventh Army now became a separate Tenth Army, still under his command and still including the French IX Corps with our 1st Armoured Division and the 51st Division. General de Gaulle’s division was however withdrawn (except for the divisional artillery) and in its place two new French divisions, the 31st (Alpine) and the 2nd Armored were brought in to the Tenth Army.
As already stated the improved forces under General Beauman had been reorganised as Beauman Division, with headquarters, three infantry brigades, a regiment of anti-tank guns, a battery of field artillery, and other divisional services. There had been a point at which the British Government had informed General Karslake that all improvised forces should be disbanded and evacuated to England, and only sufficient lines of communication troops kept to maintain in France a British force of one armoured and four infantry divisions and an Advanced Air Striking Force—which was all that we could hope to provide in the immediate future. But General Georges represented the importance of retaining Beauman Division on the Andelle–Béthune line. Their withdrawal would, he said, have ‘an unfortunate effect on the French Army and the French people’. The War Office accordingly agreed to their remaining. In the first days of June, therefore, the disposition of British troops in this area was as follows:
The 51st Division, with the Composite Regiment and what remained of the Support Group of the 1st Armoured Division under command, and itself under the command of the IX Corps of General Altmayer’s French Tenth Army, was relieving two French divisions in the forward positions facing the Germans’ Abbeville–St Valery bridgehead preparation for the projected renewal of the attempt to recapture them. Of the 51st Division the 152nd and 154th Brigades were forward; the 153rd in reserve on the Bresle between Senarpont and Blangy. The nine-mile stretch of the Bresle on their right was held by an anti-tank battery and a company of the Kensington’s machine guns, with the Composite Regiment from the 1st Armoured Division behind them. In the sixteen-mile stretch on the 153rd Brigade’s left was the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers (Pioneers). The Support Group of the 1st Armoured Division held a flanking position between Aumale and Forges. Beauman Division, not yet under French command, was disposed in the fifty-five mile stretch between Pont St Pierre (southeast of Rouen near the junction of the rivers Andelle and Seine) and the coast at Dieppe. Thus we had one Territorial division (the 51st), one improvised division (Beauman) and a fragment of the 1st Armoured Division; and these were distributed over an eighteen-mile-wide front, forty-five miles of the Bresle and fifty-five miles of the Andelle–Béthune line.
Dill orders General Alan Brooke to return to France and take command of a new British Expeditionary Force in the South.
Adolf Hitler entered French territory for the first time in the war and visited the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, where photographers took his picture as he walked around the site with his entourage. The photos, showing the memorial intact, were then published in German newspapers to refute stories in the Canadian media claiming that the Germans had bombed it.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 24 aircraft to attack German positions around Dunkirk during the day.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 16 aircraft to attack German positions around Dunkirk overnight.
British Force K was formed for the final operations off Dunkirk.
The destroyers were sent to Dunkirk to embark troops in pairs.
Destroyer HMS Windsor embarked 493 troops on her first trip and destroyer HMS Icarus embarked 677 troops. Destroyer Icarus was returned on the return part. At 0400, destroyer Icarus was in a collision with a trawler or a drifter at Dunkirk. The destroyer was damaged, but was not taken out of service.
Destroyer HMS Codrington embarked 878 troops and destroyer HMS Sabre embarked 756 troops.
Destroyer HMS Shikari embarked 470 troops. Destroyer HMS Esk was to have accompanied her, but was unable to sail due to having been in continuous duty since 27 May.
The next pair was destroyers HMS Winchelsea and HMS Whitshed.
Destroyer HMS Windsor on her second trip embarked 624 troops.
French destroyers Epervier and Leopard operated on the patrol line, but withdrew when German bombing began at 1035.
Between X and Y buoy, off Bray, anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta fought off three different air attacks. She was slightly damaged by near misses. The cruiser was ordered to Sheerness at 1442.
Destroyer HMS Malcolm at 1651 damaged her bow and propellers in a collision at Dunkirk.
Destroyers HMS Venomous, HMS Windsor, and HMS Winchelsea, among others lifted troops from Dunkirk on the 2nd.
Destroyer HMS Whitshed was damaged in a collision with Tug Java (128grt) at Dover as she was setting out at 1435/2nd. The destroyer was able to continue. Destroyer Whitshed departed Dover at 1300/4th for Portsmouth. The destroyer was repaired of her collision damage at Portsmouth completing on the 12th.
Anti-submarine trawler HMS Spurs (399grt) of the 10th Anti-Submarine Group was badly damaged in German bombing off Dunkirk. Trawler Spurs was assisted and escorted back to Dover to destroyer HMS Vanquisher.
Early on the 3rd, these destroyers arrived at Dover: HMS Codrington with 44 troops, HMS Esk with 500 troops, HMS Sabre with 500 troops, HMS Shikari with 700 troops, HMS Vanquisher with 37 troops, HMS Venomous with 1,500 troops, HMS Whitshed with 82 troops, HMS Winchelsea with 152 troops, and HMS Windsor with 1,022 troops. HMS Express was not able to embark troops and arrived at Dover. Gunboat HMS Locust arrived with 800.
Anti-submarine trawlers HMS Amethyst and HMS Kingston Peridot were damaged by German bombing at Dunkirk and out of action.
Tug Fossa (105grt) was stranded and abandoned at Bruyne Sands at Dunkirk. She was later salved by German forces for their own use.
Belgian fishing vessels Onze Lieve Vrouw Van Vlaanderen (39grt), Getuigt Vor Christus (39grt), and Anna Leopold (52grt) were lost at Dunkirk. Fishing vessel Getuigt Vor Christus was sunk by a German patrol boat.
Anti-submarine trawler HMS Blackburn Rovers (422grt, Skipper W. Martin RNR, of the 21st Anti-Submarine Group (SO Cdr R. W. English DSO Rtd on board) was sunk at 1618 in mining twenty four miles east by south of North Foreland. Skipper W. Martin RNR, was wounded in the trawler.
Anti-submarine trawler HMS Westella (550grt, Chief Skipper A. Gove RNR) of the 10th Anti-submarine Group, rescuing the survivors of trawler HMS Blackburn Rovers was also sunk by a mine at 1639. Anti-submarine trawler HMS Saon rescued thirty six men from the two trawlers.
Hospital ship Paris (1790grt), on passage to Dunkirk, was badly damaged at 1915 by German bombing near Dunkirk in 51 11N, 02 07E. Two crewmen were killed. Paris sank on the 3rd.
British steamer Mona’s Isle was damaged by the near miss of German bombing at Dunkirk.
Hospital ship Worthing (2294grt) was damaged by German bombing at 1442 at Dunkirk. Patrol sloop HMS Mallard from the cruiser HMS Calcutta screen stood by, and she was taken to Newhaven.
Destroyer HMS Vivacious with MTB.107 and MA/SB 7 took blockships Edv. Nissen (2062grt), Westcove (2735grt), and Holland (1251grt) from Dover to Dunkirk late on the 2nd. A fourth blockship did not arrive. At 0300/3 June, the blockships were sunk at Dunkirk, but the channel was not completely blocked.
The Allies dispatched Polish and French troops to push German troops eastward from Narvik, Norway, while evacuated British troops. Carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious provided air cover for the evacuation of 26,000 British troops.
Elements of German 2nd Mountain Division, supported by air-dropped supplies, push overland from Sorfold to relieve 3rd Mountain Division outside Narvik.
In Norway, New Zealand Pilot Officer Louis Jacobsen of No. 263 Squadron RAF shot down six enemy bombers while flying a near obsolete Gladiator biplane fighter. Jacobsen himself would be dead in less than a week.
Luftwaffe conducts heavy attack against Harstad, with nine aircraft downed by RAF fighters from Bardufoss.
Luftwaffe transports drop 45 troops of 1st Fallschirmjaeger Regiment to reinforce German forces around Narvik.
Aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious arrived off Harstad to provide air cover for the evacuation of the Narvik area. Aircraft carrier Glorious was carrying a reduced aircraft complement in order to embark the surviving Gladiators of the 263 Squadron.
British steamer Conch (8376grt) arrived at Andenes from Scapa Flow escorted by anti-submarine trawlers HMS Juniper (530grt) and HMS Whitethorn (530grt) of the 19th Anti-submarine Striking Force. Trawler Whitethorn returned to Scapa Flow.
British War Secretary Anthony Eden gave a radio address on the Dunkirk evacuation reporting that four-fifths of the British Expeditionary Force had been saved. “The British Expeditionary Force still exists, not as a handful of fugitives, but as a body of seasoned veterans,” Eden said. “We have had great losses in equipment. But our men have gained immeasurably in experience of warfare and in self-confidence. The vital weapon of any army is its spirit. Ours has been tried and tempered in the furnace. It has not been found wanting. It is this refusal to accept defeat, that is the guarantee of final victory.”
The British Government evacuates 50,000 children from urban areas in southeastern England.
Mussolini postpones the Italian attack on France to 10 June.
Italo Balbo confers with Foreign Minister Count Ciano before returning to his position in command of Italian forces in Libya. Both men are quite leery about new Italian military adventures.
Large-scale transfers of Hungarian troops from the Yugoslav and German frontiers toward the narrow eastern finger of Hungary bounded by Slovakia, Russia and Rumania began today.
Sir Samuel, the new British Ambassador to Spain, arrives in Madrid. There are crowds of anti-British demonstrators demanding the return of Gibraltar to Spain.
Constantine II, the heir to the Greek throne, is born in Psychiko, Athens, Greece.
RAF Bomber Command dispatches 30 aircraft to attack targets in Germany overnight.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Milford Queen (280grt) of the 10th Minesweeping Group, HMS James Lay (278grt) of the 11th Minesweeping Group, HMS Cape Melville (342grt) and HMS Milford Princess (301grt) of the 12th Minesweeping Group and unattached HMS Clotilde (289grt), escorted by Sloop HMS Weston, departed the Tyne to cut the cables between Newbiggin and Peterhead to Scandinavia in Operation QUIDNUNC. After the operation, the ships proceeded to Yarmouth.
French trawler Emma (255grt) and Finnish steamer Hebe (686grt) collided two miles east, southwest of South Foreland light House. The French trawler sank.
British trawler Greynight (96grt) was sunk by German bombing off the Humber in 54 40N, 01 30E. The Master of the trawler was lost.
French steamer Chella (8920grt) was badly damaged by German bombing at Marseilles. The vessel was moved to the Roads where it was sunk by gunfire from coastal batteries.
Egyptian steamer El Nid (7690grt) and Greek steamer Aenos (3554grt) were damaged by German bombing at Marseilles.
U-101, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim, sank British steamer Polykarp (3577grt) in 49 19N, 05 35W. The crew from the British steamer was rescued by French steamer Espiguette (1109grt) and was landed at Penzance. The 3,577 ton Polycarp was carrying cork, Brazil nuts, rubber, and hides and was headed for Liverpool, England. Sloops HMS Aberdeen, HMS Enchantress, and HMS Rochester were hunting for the submarine.
Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious departed the Clyde at 0600 for Devonport escorted by destroyers HMS Warwick, HMS Westcott, HMS Witch, and HMS Amazon. Destroyer Westcott arrived at Devonport at 0700/3rd. After the aircraft carrier was safely delivered, the rest of the destroyers went on to Portsmouth, arriving at 1710 to escort the Battleship HMS Nelson. After outfitting and some modifications from 3 to 21 June, at Plymouth, the aircraft carrier Illustrious went to the West Indies for working up in the Caribbean. Aircraft carrier Illustrious, escorted by destroyer HMS Imogen, departed Plymouth on the 21st and was damaged by weather en route. She returned to England on 23 July when she arrived at Greenock.
Dutch light cruiser HNLMS Sumatra departed Milford Haven carrying HRH Princess Juliana and her daughters to Canada. The cruiser was joined on the 7th by Dutch light cruiser HNLMS Heemskerck and both arrived at Halifax on the 11th.
French liner Pasteur (30,447grt) had departed Brest on 30 May for St Nazaire. She departed on 31 May, carrying French gold, arrived back at Brest on the 1st. The liner departed Brest on the 2nd for Halifax, escorted by destroyer Gerfaut until 3 June. The destroyer arrived back at Brest on the 5th. The liner safely arrived at Halifax on the 8th.
The Panamanian cargo ship Florida ran aground at Cape Spartel, Morocco and was declared a constructive total loss.
Convoy OA.160 departed Southend escorted by corvette HMS Arabis from 2 to 5 June. The corvette was detached to convoy SL.33.
Convoy OB.160 departed Liverpool escorted by sloop HMS Scarborough from 2 to 4 June.
Convoy OG.32F was formed from convoys OA.158GF, which departed Southend on 30 May escorted by corvette HMS Gladiolus, OB.158GF, which departed Liverpool on 30 May escorted by sloop HMS Deptford, of forty one ships. Sloop Deptford escorted the convoy from 2 to 5 June. Destroyer HMS Douglas joined the convoy on the 6th. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar on the 7th.
Convoy FN.186 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer HMS Vivien. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 4th.
Convoy MT.80 departed Methil, escorted by sloop HMS Hastings. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.186 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop HMS Hastings. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 4th.
Convoy AB.2, consisting of British steamers Lycaon (7350grt, Commodore Creighton), Bellerophon (9019grt), Dorset Coast (646grt) and escorted by anti-submarine trawlers Notts County (541grt) and Norwich City (541grt), departed Reykavik for the Clyde. Steamer Sicilian Prince was delayed and did not sail with the convoy. The convoy arrived in the Clyde on the 6th.
Convoy HX.47 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay and patrol vessel HMS Acadia, which were detached on the 3rd. The ocean escort for the convoy was armed merchant cruiser HMS Esperance Bay which took over the convoy at 2130/2nd. The armed merchant cruiser was detached on the 15th. On 14 June, sloops HMS Fowey and HMS Sandwich joined the convoy and escorted it to Liverpool, arriving on the 17th.
The War at Sea, Sunday, 2 June 1940 (naval-history.net)
British Force K was formed for the final operations off Dunkirk.
The destroyers were sent to Dunkirk to embark troops in pairs.
Destroyer WINDSOR embarked 493 troops on her first trip and destroyer ICARUS embarked 677 troops. Destroyer ICARUS was returned on the return part.
At 0400, destroyer ICARUS was in a collision with a trawler or a drifter at Dunkirk. The destroyer was damaged, but was not taken out of service.
Destroyer CODRINGTON embarked 878 troops and destroyer SABRE embarked 756 troops.
Destroyer SHIKARI embarked 470 troops. Destroyer ESK was to have accompanied her, but was unable to sail due to having been in continuous duty since 27 May.
The next pair was destroyers WINCHELSEA and WHITSHED.
Destroyer WINDSOR on her second trip embarked 624 troops.
French destroyers EPERVIER and LEOPARD operated on the patrol line, but withdrew when German bombing began at 1035.
Between X and Y buoy, off Bray, anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA fought off three different air attacks. She was slightly damaged by near misses.
The cruiser was ordered to Sheerness at 1442.
Destroyer MALCOLM at 1651 damaged her bow and propellers in a collision at Dunkirk.
Destroyers VENOMOUS, WINDSOR, and WINCHELSEA, among others lifted troops from Dunkirk on the 2nd.
Destroyer WHITSHED was damaged in a collision with Tug JAVA (128grt) at Dover as she was setting out at 1435/2nd.
The destroyer was able to continue.
Destroyer WHITSHED departed Dover at 1300/4th for Portsmouth. The destroyer was repaired of her collision damage at Portsmouth completing on the 12th.
Anti-submarine trawler SPURS (399grt) of the 10th Anti-Submarine Group was badly damaged in German bombing off Dunkirk.
Trawler SPURS was assisted and escorted back to Dover to destroyer VANQUISHER.
Early on the 3rd, these destroyers arrived at Dover – CODRINGTON with 44 troops, ESK with 500 troops, SABRE with 500 troops, SHIKARI with 700 troops, VANQUISHER with 37 troops, VENOMOUS with 1500 troops, WHITSHED with 82 troops, WINCHELSEA with 152 troops, and WINDSOR with 1022 troops. EXPRESS was not able to embark troops and arrived at Dover. Gunboat LOCUST arrived with 800.
Anti-submarine trawlers AMETHYST and KINGSTON PERIDOT were damaged by German bombing at Dunkirk and out of action.
Tug FOSSA (105grt) was stranded and abandoned at Bruyne Sands at Dunkirk.
She was later salved by German forces for their own use.
Belgian fishing vessels ONZE LIEVE VROUW VAN VLAANDEREN (39grt), GETUIGT VOR CHRISTUS (39grt), and ANNA LEOPOLD (52grt) were lost at Dunkirk.
Fishing vessel GETUIGT VOR CHRISTUS was sunk by a German patrol boat.
Anti-submarine trawler BLACKBURN ROVERS (422grt, Skipper W. Martin RNR, of the 21st Anti-Submarine Group (SO Cdr R. W. English DSO Rtd on board) was sunk at 1618 in mining twenty-four miles east by south of North Foreland.
Skipper W. Martin RNR, was wounded in the trawler.
Anti-submarine trawler WESTELLA (550grt, Chief Skipper A. Gove RNR) of the 10th Anti-submarine Group, rescuing the survivors of trawler BLACKBURN ROVERS was also sunk by a mine at 1639.
Anti-submarine trawler SAON rescued thirty-six men from the two trawlers.
Hospital ship PARIS (1790grt), on passage to Dunkirk, was badly damaged at 1915 by German bombing near Dunkirk in 51 11N, 02 07E. Two crew were killed. PARIS sank on the 3rd.
British steamer MONA’S ISLE was damaged by the near miss of German bombing at Dunkirk.
Hospital ship WORTHING (2294grt) was damaged by German bombing at 1442 at Dunkirk. Patrol sloop MALLARD from the cruiser CALCUTTA screen stood by, and she was taken to Newhaven.
On 2 June, 26,256 troops were evacuated from Dunkirk.
Destroyer VIVACIOUS with MTB.107 and MA/SB 7 took blockships EDV. NISSEN (2062grt), WESTCOVE (2735grt), and HOLLAND (1251grt) from Dover to Dunkirk late on the 2nd. A fourth blockship did not arrive.
At 0300/3 June, the blockships were sunk at Dunkirk, but the channel was not completely blocked.
Minesweeping trawler MILFORD QUEEN (280grt) of the 10th Minesweeping Group, JAMES LAY (278grt) of the 11th Minesweeping Group, CAPE MELVILLE (342grt) and MILFORD PRINCESS (301grt) of the 12th Minesweeping Group and unattached CLOTILDE (289grt), escorted by Sloop WESTON, departed the Tyne to cut the cables between Newbiggin and Peterhead to Scandinavia in Operation QUIDNUNC.
After the operation, the ships proceeded to Yarmouth.
French trawler EMMA (255grt) and Finnish steamer HEBE (686grt) collided two miles east, southwest of South Foreland light House.
The French trawler sank.
British trawler GREYNIGHT (96grt) was sunk by German bombing off the Humber in 54 40N, 01 30E.
The Master of the trawler was lost.
French steamer CHELLA (8920grt) was badly damaged by German bombing at Marseilles.
The vessel was moved to the Roads where it was sunk by gunfire from coastal batteries.
Egyptian steamer EL NID (7690grt) and Greek steamer AENOS (3554grt) were damaged by German bombing at Marseilles.
Convoy OA.160 departed Southend escorted by corvette ARABIS from 2 to 5 June. The corvette was detached to convoy SL.33.
Convoy OB.160 departed Liverpool escorted by sloop SCARBOROUGH from 2 to 4 June.
Convoy OG.32F was formed from convoys OA.158GF, which departed Southend on 30 May escorted by corvette GLADIOLUS, OB.158GF, which departed Liverpool on 30 May escorted by sloop DEPTFORD, of forty-one ships.
Sloop DEPTFORD escorted the convoy from 2 to 5 June.
Destroyer DOUGLAS joined the convoy on the 6th. The convoy arrived at Gibraltar on the 7th.
Convoy FN.186 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN. The convoy arrived at the Tyne on the 4th.
Convoy MT.80 departed Methil, escorted by sloop HASTINGS. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.186 departed the Tyne, escorted by sloop HASTINGS. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 4th.
U-101 sank British steamer POLYKARP (3577grt) in 49 19N, 05 35W.
The crew from the British steamer was rescued by French steamer ESPIGUETTE (1109grt) and was landed at Penzance.
Sloops ABERDEEN, ENCHANTRESS, and ROCHESTER were hunting for the submarine.
Aircraft carriers ARK ROYAL and GLORIOUS arrived off Harstad to provide air cover for the evacuation of the Narvik area.
Aircraft carrier GLORIOUS was carrying a reduced aircraft complement in order to embark the surviving Gladiators of the 263 Squadron.
Aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS departed the Clyde at 0600 for Devonport escorted by destroyers WARWICK, WESTCOTT, WITCH, and AMAZON.
Destroyer WESTCOTT arrived at Devonport at 0700/3rd.
After the aircraft carrier was safely delivered, the rest of the destroyers went on to Portsmouth, arriving at 1710 to escort the Battleship NELSON.
After outfitting and some modifications from 3 to 21 June, at Plymouth, the aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS went to the West Indies for working up in the Caribbean.
Aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS, escorted by destroyer IMOGEN, departed Plymouth on the 21st and was damaged by weather en route. She returned to England on 23 July when she arrived at Greenock.
British oiler ALDERSDALE, escorted by anti-submarine trawler ELM, arrived at Scapa Flow from Glasgow.
Submarine SUNFISH arrived at Rosyth after patrol.
Convoy AB 2, consisting of British steamers LYCAON (7350grt, Commodore Creighton), BELLEROPHON (9019grt), DORSET COAST (646grt) and escorted by anti-submarine trawlers NOTTS COUNTY (541grt), and NORWICH CITY (541grt), departed Reykavik for the Clyde.
Steamer SICILIAN PRINCE was delayed and did not sail with the convoy.
The convoy arrived in the Clyde on the 6th.
British steamer CONCH (8376grt) arrived at Andenes from Scapa Flow escorted by anti-submarine trawlers JUNIPER (530grt) and WHITETHORN (530grt) of the 19th Anti-submarine Striking Force.
Trawler WHITETHORN returned to Scapa Flow.
Dutch light cruiser SUMATRA departed Milford Haven carrying HRH Princess Juliana and her daughters to Canada.
The cruiser was joined on the 7th by Dutch light cruiser HEEMSKERCK and both arrived at Halifax on the 11th.
French liner PASTEUR (30,447grt) had departed Brest on 30 May for St Nazaire. She departed on 31 May, carrying French gold, arrived back at Brest on the 1st. The liner departed Brest on the 2nd for Halifax, escorted by destroyer GERFAUT until 3 June. The destroyer arrived back at Brest on the 5th. The liner safely arrived at Halifax on the 8th.
Convoy HX.47 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by Canadian destroyer HMCS SAGUENAY and patrol vessel HMCS ACADIA, which were detached on the 3rd.
The ocean escort for the convoy was Armed merchant cruiser ESPERANCE BAY which took over the convoy at 2130/2nd. The armed merchant cruiser was detached on the 15th.
On 14 June, sloops FOWEY and SANDWICH joined the convoy and escorted it to Liverpool, arriving on the 17th.
President Roosevelt was reported reliably today to have before him a proposal the administration authorize the army and navy to “trade in” some of their older warplanes to manufacturers who in turn could sell them to the allies for immediate delivery. This suggestion was said to have been laid before the president by Senator Pepper, Florida Democrat, at a White House conference yesterday. Although Pepper would not comment, there were indications the question was being looked into by the administration’s legal and tactical experts. What Mr. Roosevelt’s attitude might be was not disclosed. Some administration advisers are known to have expressed doubt about the wisdom of the proposal, however, contending the United States could not afford to reduce its own air forces.
Compulsory military training for all physically fit American youths was predicted in congressional circles today as a virtual certainty if Germany wins the European war. Discussion of such a training system and other methods of augmenting defense has become widespread following President Roosevelt’s request congress give him powers to call the National Guard and organized reserves to active duty In peace time. Chairman May, Kentucky Democrat, of the house military committee, saying the United States would have to expand greatly its armed forces if the allies were defeated, asserted he favored immediate expansion of the regular army to 500,000 men. It now is limited by law to 280,000, although only 227,000 of that number actually have been enlisted.
With virtually all the delegates to the Republican National Convention elected, canvasses by supporters of the various Presidential candidates indicate that unless there is a sudden shift a first-ballot nomination for President at Philadelphia is not probable. District Attorney Dewey continues to be the leading candidate, with estimates of his probable first-ballot vote running from slightly less than 300, the estimate of those opposed to his nomination, to approximately 450, the estimate of those supporting him. With 1,001 delegates, 501 votes are necessary for the nomination.
Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio is close to Mr. Dewey in delegate strength. The surveys indicate that Senator Taft, running entirely “on his own,” will have a vote of approximately 275 on the first ballot. This may be increased by the votes of delegates now regarded as uncommitted and not for Mr. Dewey, which conceivably might put him on virtually even terms with the District Attorney on the first ballot.
Others who will get first-ballot votes include Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan, Senator H. Styles Bridges of New Hampshire, former President Herbert Hoover, Frank E. Gannett and Wendell L. Willkie of New York, Governor Arthur H. James of Pennsylvania, Governor Raymond Baldwin of Connecticut, Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon, Hanford MacNider of Iowa, Governor Leverett Saltonstall or Representative Joseph W. Martin Jr. of Massachusetts, and Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas.
Some of these are expected to drop out after the early ballots and some, like Mr. Willkie and former President Hoover, are in the “dark horse” category. Should the convention reach a deadlock and it become apparent that Senator Taft cannot get the nomination, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio would become an additional “dark horse” entry.
The effort of the party leaders opposed to Mr. Dewey’s nomination will be to prevent a nomination on an early ballot. Should they be successful an attempt probably will be made to nominate Senator Taft. Should this fail and the convention continue deadlocked the “dark horses” will come to the front. These are now regarded as being Mr. Wilkie, for whom a great deal of popular sentiment has developed; Mr. Hoover, Governor Bricker and Representative Martin, with Senator Vandenberg, whose campaign for delegates was checked by primary defeats by Mr. Dewey, seen as having a chance in a deadlocked convention.
The General Motors Council of the C.I.O. United Automobile Workers rejected today the corporation’s counter-proposals for a contract to cover 135,000 workers and called on President Roosevelt for immediate Federal intercession in the dispute. A possible strike threat was seen in the council’s recommendation that the membership of General Motors locals empower the council’s executive committee, “together with the officers and executive board of the international union, to take whatever action they may deem necessary to bring about an immediate and satisfactory agreement.”
Walter P. Reuther, chairman of the union’s General Motors division, announced that a special meeting of the International Executive Board would be held tomorrow night in Washington, presumably to discuss the situation. This situation ties up vitally with the urgent work of President Roosevelt’s Advisory Commission on National Defense, of which William S. Knudsen, president of General Motors, is a member. Mr. Knudsen has spoken of the possibility of his corporation’s turning out 1,000 warplanes a month.
U.S. steamship President Roosevelt departs Galway, Ireland, with 720 American citizens fleeing European war zone. Passenger liner Manhattan departs Genoa, Italy, the same day with 1,905 passengers. The United States liner Manhattan, jammed like a troopship with American and foreign refugees, sailed today bound for New York. The sailing was delayed a day because of the crush of applicants. Steamship agents said at least 1,000 persons hoping to embark on the Manhattan were left behind. Two smaller liners, the President Harrison and the Excambion, due to sail tomorrow or Tuesday, were booked to capacity. Hopes of those left behind now are pinned on the United States liner Washington, due at Bordeaux, France, on Tuesday. United States lines officials, however, were not sure the Washington would call at Genoa after leaving the French port. They assumed a decision would depend on whether Italy entered the war by that time.
Chief of Naval Operations (Admiral Harold R. Stark) sends memorandum to President Roosevelt that addresses options concerning the situation in South America; of those proposed, the President believes that the only solution lies in dispatching one additional 8-inch gun cruiser to South America, continuing destroyer shakedown cruises to South American waters, and utilizing ships already in the Atlantic Squadron, thus not weakening the fleet in the Pacific.
The masked crimefighting character “The Spirit” first appeared in the American Sunday comics.
Major League Baseball:
The Reds’ Bucky Walters wins his 9th in a row, 11–1 over the Bees, then Boston stings the Reds in game 2, winning 2–0. Dick Erickson applies the whitewash, though he is nearly matched by ex-Bee Jim Turner. Turner face just 18 batters in the first six innings. Brooklyn takes a pair from the Cubs to move two games in back of the first place Reds.
While the season’s record Wrigley Field crowd of 34,204 booed and groaned, the Brooklyn Dodgers downed the Cubs, 3–2 and 2–1, in two well-pitched and sometimes brilliantly played contests. The second-place Dodgers gained a game on the Reds, now trailing them by two. Van Lingle Mungo, hurling one and one-third innings of the opener, was credited with his first triumph of the year, while Luke (Hot Potato) Hamlin went the route in the nightcap for his third victory.
The Giants and Pirates split a twinbill. While 18,634 onlookers, including Onkel Franz Frisch, chortled with glee, the tail-end Pirates tripped Colonel Bill Terry’s forces, 2–1, in the first game of the afternoon’s double-header. Both Pittsburgh tallies were wrenched from Hal Schumacher and his relief helper, Walter Brown, in the eighth inning at the very moment the Giants thought they were about to make off with a 1–0 triumph at the expense of their arch foe, Bob Klinger. The Giants found what consolation they could get in walloping five of Onkel Franz’s pitchers to win the curfew-shortened, eight-inning nitecap, 7–3.
Walter Beck and Bob Bowman each won his first game of the season today, Beck stopping the Cardinals in the opener of a doubleheader, 4–2, and Bowman making it an even split by defeating the Phillies in the nightcap, 9–2. Each pitcher yielded seven hits and was scored on only in one inning. Johnny Mize, the Cards’ first baseman, slammed two home runs, his thirteenth and fourteenth, and Terry Moore hit his fifth with two men on base in the second game. The Phils’ runs came on Catcher Ben Warren’s circuit clout with a man on base in the fifth.
The Red and White Sox split a doubleheader in Boston. Ted Lyons wins the opener, 6–0, for his 225th career victory. It is his 4th win this season. The Red Sox come back in the nitecap, 10–8, when Jimmie Foxx cracks his 13th homer of the year in the 9th inning into the left field screen with Ted Williams on base. Boston stays two games ahead of Cleveland, which split today with the A’s.
The Yankees, with Marius Russo and Marvin Breuer doing excellent mound work, overwhelmed the Browns in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. Two homers by George Selkirk, one by Joe DiMaggio and another by Bill Dickey, along with an assortment of triples, doubles and singles, helped bury the Brownies, 13–4 and 11–1, before a banner crowd of 40,021.
The Tigers beat the Senators today, 8–6, for their second victory in a row over Washington. With Barney McCosky on first, Hank Greenberg drove his eighth home run of the season into the left-field stands to give Detroit a two-run lead in the first. Detroit continued the assault on Rene Monteagudo in the second. Paul Trout singled and went to third on Dick Bartell’s double. Both scored on McCosky’s single. The Tigers got three more runs in the third, and one in the fourth. The Senators made it closer, but never caught up.
Cleveland and Philadelphia divided a double-header at Shibe Park today, with the Indians winning the opener, 7–2, and the Athletics coming back in the second for a 12–6 triumph. Bob Feller held Philadelphia to eight hits in winning his eighth game in the opener. He was aided by Hal Trosky’s thirteenth home run and another by Lou Boudreau, his third this season. In the second game, called at the end of the eighth inning because of Philadelphia’s Sunday law, the Athletics pounded four Cleveland pitcher for thirteen hits.
Chicago White Sox 6, Boston Red Sox 0
Chicago White Sox 8, Boston Red Sox 10
Brooklyn Dodgers 3, Chicago Cubs 2
Brooklyn Dodgers 2, Chicago Cubs 1
Boston Bees 1, Cincinnati Reds 11
Boston Bees 2, Cincinnati Reds 0
St. Louis Browns 4, New York Yankees 13
St. Louis Browns 1, New York Yankees 11
Cleveland Indians 7, Philadelphia Athletics 2
Cleveland Indians 6, Philadelphia Athletics 12
New York Giants 1, Pittsburgh Pirates 2
New York Giants 7, Pittsburgh Pirates 3
Philadelphia Phillies 4, St. Louis Cardinals 2
Philadelphia Phillies 2, St. Louis Cardinals 9
Detroit Tigers 8, Washington Senators 6
Chinese news dispatches reported tonight that Chinese troops had successfully resisted Japanese attempts to cross the Han River in northern Hupeh province, the western boundary of the penetration in that sector, but that the battle was continuing. The Japanese sought to cross the river near Siangyang, about 100 miles north of Ichang, Yangtze. river port. A highway runs from Siangyang to Ichang.
Chinese quarters in Chungking, about 300 miles west of Ichang, attached much importance to the fighting, declaring that if the Japanese succeeded in driving southward and capturing Ichang it would give them a convenient base for constant air raids on the Chinese capital. Four hundred Japanese soldiers who crossed the Han River after heavy artillery fire were immediately surrounded by Chinese soldiers, the Chinese reports said.
Born:
Constantine II of Greece, King of Greece from 1964 to 1973, in Psychiko, Athens, Greece (d. 2023).
Jim Maloney, MLB pitcher All Star 1965; 2 no-hitters in 1965, 1 in 1969; Cincinnati Reds, California Angels), in Fresno, California.
Christopher Bernau, actor (“Guiding Light”), in Santa Barbara, California.
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy Vosper 70-foot motor torpedo boat HMS MTB 29 is commissioned.
The Royal Navy Vosper 70-foot motor torpedo boat HMS MTB 69 is commissioned. Her first commanding officer is Lieutenant Robert Angus Martin Hennessy, RN.
History Diaries 