June 9th, 1940 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group (Whitley). Bombing - road and rail communications in France.10 Sqn. Nine aircraft to Libremont, Sedan and Neufchateau. All bombed.
51 Sqn. Eleven aircraft. All bombed. One damaged by Flak, tail-gunner wounded.
58 Sqn. Six aircraft to Amiens. All bombed.
77 Sqn. Seven aircraft to Somme bridges. Six bombed. One hit by Flak and crashed at Abingdon on return.
102 Sqn. Eight aircraft to Abbeville and St. Valery. All bombed.
FRANCE: Paris: The Germans reach the Seine River. Dieppe and Compiegne fall. France is taking heavy losses in the fighting.
With the Germans just 50 miles away, the government leaves Paris and heads west for Tours. Paris is left in the hands of a military governor, General Hering.
Rommel crosses the Seine at Elbeuf. The cut off part of the French Tenth Army concentrates around Saint-Valery-en-Caux in an attempt to evacuate. They are prevented from doing this by tank fire from 7 Panzer.
Aisne: At 4.30 am a violent artillery barrage falls along the French positions along the Aisne, while the Luftwaffe attack the batteries and rear areas.
At 5 am the German infantry attacks between Neufchatel and Attigny. The French 14th Infantry Division on the right repulsed the Germans capturing 800 prisoners. The French 2nd Infantry Division, where the main attack was made, held firm everywhere except on its left flank, at Chateau-Porcien, where the Germans establish a bridgehead.
During the night Guderian pushes the 1st Panzers across the river at Chateau-Porcien.
NORWAY: Narvik: Germany formally reoccupies the port, and King Haakon and Norway’s High Command orders General Ruge and his army and all other loyal Norwegians to stop fighting at midnight. So strong is Dietl’s admiration of their courage that he is allowing them to return to their homes.
Mark Horan adds: By dawn it is obvious to all interested parties, from the Admiralty on down, that some form of disaster has befallen HMS Glorious and company, from which no word has been heard since departing the Narvik area, and requests for position reports have gone unanswered...
Meanwhile, Ark endeavours to keep and A.D.A. patrol of two Swordfish and a fighter patrol of three Skuas over the troop convoy throughout the day. Also, commencing at 0405, she begins launching a series of more and more extensive air searches in front of and beyond the convoy.
At 0405, four Swordfish search the sector from 130 to 225 degrees, ahead of the convoy. The aircraft report a small convoy and several independents, but no enemy warships. At 0718 two Swordfish are sent to the rearward sector to search for a missing ship, SS Vandyck (13,241 BRT), but she is not found (bombed and sunk by a FW-200C of 1/KG 40). At 1000 four more Swordfish are sent out between 130 and 210 degrees, then at 1110 another three go out between 275 to 090 degrees (a fairly skimpy number for such a wide sector). At 1300, a large coordinated effort is sent off, and for the first time 701 Squadrons Walrus amphibians are to take part as well. First 6 Swordfish and two Walrus' depart to search between 110 southward to 285 degrees. A further three Skuas are sent off to search between 315 Northward to 035 degrees. The former went out to 100 miles, the later only 20 miles past the convoy. The whole is repeated at 1545 when by a like number of aircraft in exactly the same sectors. At 1830 six Swordfish and three Walrus' went out between 175 Southward to 340 degrees to 120 miles, while three Skuas went out on the arc 015 to 140 degrees to 20 miles astern of the convoy. All of the efforts availed nothing, as the two German battleships were well on their way to Trondheim.
Meanwhile, word had come in that HMS Valiant, escorting the convoy, had spotted a snooper. Thus, immediately after the search went up, a section of 800 Squadron Skuas under Lt. G. R. Callingham went up to intercept and then patrol over the convoy. On arrival, they found, chased, and brought down He-115 S4+EH of KuFlGr 506. Interestingly, the wreck of this aircraft was found on the sea floor several years ago. Turns out the FAA pilot (Acting S-Lt. R. W. Kearsley, RN) and the German pilot (the crew was rescued by another He-115) have been good friends since the war!)
At 2145, a similar search (six Swordfish and two Walrus) went out between 155 westward to 355 degrees, distant 129 miles, with three Skuas again going astern.
Then, at 2300, six He-111s of II/KG 26, were sighted approaching Ark Royal from astern. Callingham's trio, already in the air, shot down one Heinkel and damaged another. Likewise, Lt. G. E. D. Finch-Noyes section of three from 800 Squadron, sent off at 2315 to reinforce the CAP, damaged another in a long chase. At 2355, two more sections were sent aloft, Lt. C. W. Peever's trio from 803, and Capt. R. T. Partridge's from 800. They two became embroiled with the last of the Heinkel's, forcing them to jettison their bombs and flee. No FAA aircraft were hit.
Apparently, several of the FAA search aircraft, one being a Walrus, were sighted by Glorious survivors in the water, but the nasty weather, and height above the water of the aircraft combined to hid the overburdened Carley floats still, at this point, overloaded with the weakened and frozen survivors.
In the afternoon German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau arrive in Trondheim.
FRENCH NORTH AFRICA: The heavy cruiser USS Vincennes (CA-44) and destroyers USS Truxton (DD-229) and USS Simpson (DD-221) arrive at Casablanca, French Morocco from the U.S. The Bank of France's gold reserves, 200 tons of gold brought to Casablanca by a French auxiliary cruiser, will be loaded in the U.S. cruiser and taken to New York City for deposit in U.S. banks.