Secret War: The Pope tells Princess Marie-Jose, wife of Italian Crown Prince, that Germany is about to attack Low Countries. The Princess informs her brother, King Leopold.

TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1940

Home Front Britain: NORWAY DEBATE begins in House of Commons. Chamberlain defends Conservative Governments strategy. He comes under fierce attack from Admiral Keyes and L. S. Amery (Conservatives): 'In the name of God, go ! ' .

Secret War: French pilot returning from leaflet raid on Duesseldorf (night May 7-8) reports seeing German motorized column 60 miles long heading west for the Ardennes.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1940

Home Front Britain: Norway Debate concluded. Severe criticism of Chamberlain by Lloyd George: 'the Prime Minister....has appealed for sacrifice....he should sacrifice the Seals of Office ! '.
Final Vote: Government 281, Opposition 200 (33 Conservatives vote with Opposition). Chamberlain decides to resign.

Western Front: Hitler postpones Gelb offensive from May 9 to May 10.

Secret War: Belgian Embassy in Berlin warns Brussels that German Foreign Office is preparing ultimatum to Belgium and that OKW (German High Command) has just given the order for the invasion.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1940

Western Front: At noon Hitler orders Gelb offensive to begin at 5.35 a.m. on May 10. At 9 a.m. code word 'Danzig' transmitted to German commanders on Western Front. Hitler leaves Berlin in special train for his forward headquarter near Muenstereifel on Belgian border.

Home Front France: CABINET CRISIS. Reynaud denounces CinC General Gamelin for his failure to defeat German invasion of Norway and demands appointment of new CinC. Minister of Defence Daladier defends Gamelin. Reynaud offers to resign but swears his colleagues to secrecy.

Sea War: Cruiser Birmingham and seven destroyers attacked in Skagerrak by four S-boats (MTBs): S31 hits Kelly (Commanded by Lord Mountbatten), which has to be towed to Newcastle.
French submarine Doris sunk by U-9 off Holland.

Air War: German aircraft drop 100 mines off Dutch and Belgian ports (night 9-10).

Secret War: Colonnel Oster from German Abwehr tells Dutch Colonnel Sas that German attack in the West will begin at dawn May 10.
French Deuxieme Bureau reports no signs of 'abnormal German movements' beyond frontiers of Holland and Belgium.

FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1940

Western Front: (MAIN EVENT) GERMANS INVADE HOLLAND, BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG without warning (Operation Gelb = Yellow ) employing 77 divisions (including 10 Panzer and 2 airborne) and 3,500 aircraft. Three Panzer corps - Guderian's XI, Reinhardt's XLI and Hoth's XX - strike through the Ardennes in south Belgium and Luxemburg, towards river Meuse.
Belgian forces withdraw from the Ardennes behind river Meuse, except for two infantry companies (Chasseurs Ardennais), which delay 1st Panzer Division of Guderian's corps with road blocks.
Anglo-French Army Group 1 (32 divisons, includes BEF) crosses into Belgium (Dyle Plan). General Gamelin, Allied CinC issues Order of the Day: 'Germany has engaged in war to the death against us.... [have] courage, energy, confidence. '
Hitler issues Order of the Day: 'Soldiers of the West Front ! The battle which is beginning today will decide the fate of the German nation for the next thousand years. '
Dutch Army carries out pre-arranged flooding of inundation areas in East Holland. Dutch foil attempted abduction by German paratroops of Queen Wilhelmina. Operation Royal Marine begins: 1,700 mines laid in river Rhine by May 17.

Map about the Campaign in the West with it's four main steps in different coloured arrows.

Air War: Luftwaffe raid airfields and towns in Holland, Belgium and North France at dawn. German airborne forces invade Holland and Belgium, seizing key airfields and bridges. Gliders land storm troops on Fort Eben-Emael in Belgium.

Picture: German paratroopers near Rotterdam.

Dutch liners Statendam (28,300 t) and Veendam (15,500 t) bombed and sunk at Rotterdam. Dutch air forces and RAF destroy many Junkers Ju52 transport aircraft over Holland.
RAF Battle bombers make low-level attacks on German tanks advancing through Luxemburg (16 of 32 shot down and remainder damaged).
German aircraft bomb Freiburg (Germany) by mistake. 57 killed and Goebbels blames the French.
Nine Belgian Fairey Fox biplanes intercept group of Me 109s; one Me109 shot down, three Fairey Foxes shot down and six damaged.
RAF bombs lines of communication east of southern Dutch-German border (night May 10-11).

Sea War: British destroyers, minesweepers and Marines sent to coast of Holland. German troopship mined south of Oslo. British troops land in Iceland. British and French troops land in Dutch West Indies. Dutch seize 26 German merchant ships in East and West Indies.

Norway: British troops evacuated from Mosjoen, south of Narvik.

Diplomacy: German Memoranda to Brussels and The Hague justifying invasion. Belgian and Dutch Governments appeal to Britain and France. Queen Wilhelmina makes flaming protest against unprovoked German aggression. Luxemburg Government flees to France. British and French Governments warn Germany against carrying out air raids on civilian targets.

Home Front Britain: CHAMBERLAIN RESIGNS. CHURCHILL BECOMES PRIME MINISTER and forms Coalition Government.

Home Front France: Temporary reconciliation between Prime Minister Reynaud and the CinC, General Gamelin.

SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1940

Western Front: Guderian's Panzer Corps disperses French horse cavalry and light mechanized forces in the Ardennes and two of his three Panzer divisions reach river Semoy, 10 miles north of Sedan.
French 7th Army reaches Breda, southwest Holland, after rapid advance through Belgium.
Belgian troops fall back from Albert Canal towards river Dyle (night May 11-12).

Picture: German storm troopers are crossing the Albert Canal.

Air War: French Sud-Est LeO-451 fast medium bombers attack German motorized columns invading Belgium.
Seven out of eight RAF Battles shot down while attacking German columns in Luxemburg.
Do 17s wipe out No.114 Squadron of RAF, destroying 30 Blenheims.
Belgian Battles make suicidal attacks on captured bridges over Albert Canal.
36 RAF Whitleys and Hampdens (3 lost) bomb communications in Moenchen-Gladbach area.

Diplomacy: Japanese Foreign Minister, Arita, warns the warring powers, USA
and Italy, that Japan will not tolerate any change in status quo in Dutch East Indies.

Home Front Britain: Government appointments: Attlee, Lord Privy Seal; Alexander, First Lord of Admiralty; Eden, Secretary for War; Sinclair, Secretary for Air.

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 1940

Western Front: French light mechanized units withdraw and all the bridges over river Meuse are blown up, except those at Mezieres, where French fortress troops continue to hold both banks. Advance guards of three Panzer corps reach the Meuse later in the day along 80 miles front, from Dinant to Sedan, having advanced 80 miles in three days.
French 7th Army comes under severe pressure from 9th Panzer division and Stukas and is forced to retreat from Breda and Tilburg to Antwerp.

Picture: a Panzer division is moving into France, 1940. In front are Panzer 38 (t), close to Panzer II and one Panzer IV.

Norway: French Foreign Legion (2 battalions) land at Bjerkvik, near Narvik.

Air War: Five Battles flown by volunteers make suicidal attack on Vroenhoven and Veldwezelt bridges over Albert Canal, Belgium. Alll shot down by flak; Veldwezelt bridge damaged.

Home Front Britain: 3,000 enemy aliens and 11,000 non-enemy aliens interned.
Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of Exchequer; Anderson, Home Secretary; Morrison, Minister of Supply.

Neutrals, Spain: General Franco issues Note affirming Spain's continued adherence to the policy of 'strict neutrality', decreed on September 5, 1939.