|
Jan |
Rationing of clothes
is introduced into Britain. |
|
3
Jan |
Italy launches a
counter-offensive in Albania against the Greeks,
the first of 46 Italian attacks - all repulsed
by the Greeks. |
|
22
Jan |
British and
Australian forces capture Tobruk in North
Africa. |
|
29
Jan |
South African forces
enter Italian Somaliland. |
|
4
Feb |
The British start a
mechanised movement which encircles the Italians
to the south of Benghazi. |
|
6
Feb |
British and
Australian forces enter Benghazi. Rommel
is appointed commander of the German Afrika
Corps |
|
10 Feb
|
Mussolini accepts
Hitler's offer of a German armoured division to
support his Italian forces in North Africa. |
|
12
Feb |
Rommel
arrives in Tripoli, Libya. |
|
24
Feb |
German and British
forces clash for the first time in the Western
Desert. |
|
2
March |
In Europe German
troops enter Bulgaria. |
 |
|
6
March |
British forces
invade Ethiopia.
The start of a
three week blockage of the Suez Canal by the
Germans. |
|
4
April |
The Germans capture
Benghazi. |
|
6
April |
Germany attacks
Yugoslavia and Greece.
British forces
occupy Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. |
|
10
April |
Start of the
siege of Tobruk after the Germans fail to
capture it.
The Germans
capture Zagreb. |
|
17
April |
The Yugoslavian Army
surrenders. |
|
10
May |
Last of the heavy
air raids on Britain and the end of the Blitz. |
|
22
June |
The German invasion
of Russia - Operation Barbarossa begins. |
|
28
Sept |
The
first Allied convoy to Russia takes place. |
|
2
Oct |
The final phase of
the German attack on Russia starts. |
|
6
Oct |
Churchill promises
Stalin that a convoy would sail to Russia every
10 days. |
|
28
Nov |
Italian forces
surrender at Gondar and so ends Mussolini's East
African venture. |
|
5
Dec |
The Russian
counter-attack in Moscow starts. |
|
7
Dec |
The Japanese attack
the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour. |
|
8
Dec |
Britain and America
declare war on Japan. |
|
11
Dec |
Germany declares war
on America. |
|
31
Dec |
By year end, a total
of 53 merchant ships had reached Russia,
delivering 750 tanks, 800 fighter planes, 1,400
vehicles and 100,000 tons of general stores. |