June 19th, 1940 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:London: The Polish and Belgian governments in exile move to London.
Today Brooke lands at Plymouth. With him he brought out nearly 150,000 British troops, more than 300 guns and another 47,000 Allied servicemen. Tomorrow he will go straight to the War Office where he will be asked why he had not brought out more vehicles and equipment.
Brooke had been sent to France on a fool's errand to buck up French morale but it is fortunate that he was on the scene to bring out the British troops who came under his command. He brought order to a disordered situation and saved many valuable British soldiers for the fight ahead. (Jay Stone)
Submarine HMS P-711 commissioned.
FRANCE:
Cherbourg: The Allies complete their withdrawal by blowing up the docks.
The Germans occupy Lyons.
Evacuations take place over the next week from the west coast of France. These evacuations
add another 19,000 to the list of those evacuated. Many of these are Poles.
Since Dunkirk 144,171 British; 18,246 French; 24,352 Polish; 4,938 Canadian; and a few Belgian troops have been evacuated.
GERMANY: Hermann Göring is promoted to Reich Marshal. (Gene Hanson)
U-205 laid down.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA:
RN: HMS Orpheus (submarine) is lost north of Tobruk, Libya, while on patrol at 32.30N, 24.00E to destroyer 'Turbine' of the Italian Navy.
ARABIAN SEA: Italian submarine 'Galileo Galilei' on patrol off Aden is captured by British Anti-Submarine trawler HMS Moonstone in position 12.48N, 45.12E.
ITALIAN EAST AFRICA: The South African Air Force sent 17 Junkers Ju 86 bombers and 10 Junkers Ju52 and Ju53m transport aircraft to intervene in the fighting in Italian East Africa. The SAAF won its first victory today when it bombed the Italian air base at Yavello (southern Ethiopia). Three Ju86s and 2 Hawker Hurricane fighters under Captain Truter, shot down a Fiat CR42.
NEW ZEALAND: Niagara-steel-screw steamship liner NIAGARA of 7582 tons built in 1913 is sunk today off Bream Head after striking an enemy mine. She was carrying a cargo of gold bars. All but five gold bars were recovered after the incident. Those five bars are still in the wreck. (John Rogers)
CANADA: HMCS Ross Norman commissioned via charter from owners. Built Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Employed successively as auxiliary minesweeper, coil skid towing craft, and mobile deperming craft.
Canada and Britain plan steps to be taken if the Royal Navy is forced to withdraw to Canada.
U.S.A.: The comic strip "Brenda Starr," created by Dale Messick, appears in an experimental comic book published by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. This is the first U.S. comic strip drawn by a woman.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: