World War II Database

• Home
• » Events
• » WW2 Timeline
• » 14 Jun 1940

• At dawn, 4 French cruisers and 11 destroyers shelled oil storage tanks at the port of Genoa, Italy. French destroyer Albatros was hit by Italian coastal artillery, killing 12, but she was able to return. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-47 sank British ship Balmoralwood southwest of Ireland; the crew of 41 would later be rescued. ww2dbase [U-47 | CPC]
• German submarine U-101 stopped Greek ship Antonis Georgandis 300 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain with two warning shots from the submarine's 20mm deck gun. After the crew abandoned the ship, U-101 sank her with the deck gun. ww2dbase [CPC]
• German submarine U-38 sank Greek ship Mount Myrto southwest of Ireland, killing 4. ww2dbase [CPC]
• US President Roosevelt signed the Naval Expansion Act, which increased the carrier, cruiser, and submarine tonnage of the US Navy by 167,000 tons, increased auxiliary shipping by 75,000 tons, and increased the number of authorized naval aircraft to 4,500 planes. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
• Destroyer USS O'Brien departed Bahia, Brazil. ww2dbase [O'Brien | CPC]
• British Fleet Air Arm Swordfish aircraft from "a training squadron" (later to become No. 830 Squadron on Malta) made the first air attack on Italy, hitting Genoa with French bombs. ww2dbase [AC]
• U-56 ended her ninth patrol. ww2dbase [U-56 | CPC]

• The German submarine UA fired a spread of three torpedoes toward British armed merchant cruiser HMS Andania south east of Iceland; all torpedoes missed and the tracks were not noticed by lookouts aboard Andania. ww2dbase [UA | Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | HM]

• The first immates of Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in occupied Czechoslovakia arrived. ww2dbase [Theresienstadt Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Terezín, Cechy | CPC]

• The Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, forcing it to allow the establishment of a new Soviet government. Meanwhile, Soviet aircraft and warships blockaded the Estonian coast, shooting down a Finnish passenger aircraft (killing 9, including American and French diplomats) shortly after takeoff at Tallinn to show that the threat was not empty. ww2dbase [Annexation of the Baltic States | Tallinn | CPC]

• In France, German troops captured the open city of Paris, France without any opposition. To the north, the coastal city of Le Havre fell under German control. To the east, the German 1st Army under General Erwin von Witzleben broke through the Maginot Line near Saarbrücken. The French government moved from Tours to Bordeaux and appealed for the United States to enter the war. Also on this date, all remaining British troops in France were ordered to return. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | TH]

• Cruiser Dupleix, as a part of the French 3rd Squadron (4 heavy cruisers and 11 destroyers in total), bombarded Genoa, Italy, damaing oil storage tanks and military facilities. ww2dbase [Dupleix | Genova, Liguria | CPC]
• Foch bombarded Vado, Italy. ww2dbase [Foch | Vado, Liguria | CPC]
• Colbert bombarded Genoa, Italy as a part of Operation Samoyède. ww2dbase [Colbert | Genova, Liguria | CPC]
• The giant French Farman F.220 bomber "Jules Verne" attacked Italian oil storage tanks at Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy. Eight bombs were dropped and at least one oil tank was seen to be set on fire. ww2dbase [F.220 | Venezia, Veneto | AC]

• Comandante Cappellini sighted a light cruiser, three destroyers, and two gunboats in the Mediterranean Sea just off the Moroccan coast. At 0050 hours, one of the destroyers, HMS Vidette, turned toward the Italian submarine with speed, and Comandante Cappellini fired a stern torpedo, which missed. The submarine was able to escape, but developed rudder problems, and thus she entered the port of Ceuta, Spain at 0200 hours. ww2dbase [Comandante Cappellini | CPC]

• A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first prisoners of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. ww2dbase [Auschwitz Concentration Camp | Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | Oswiecim | CPC]

14 Jun 1940 Interactive Map