World war II timeline - June 1941

1 June 1941	Evacuation of Crete ends; the remaining 9,000 British and 1,000 Greek soldiers surrender. Total losses of manpower in the fight for the island: British army 12,000; navy 2,000; Greek 5,000; German 6,000. The regent Abd al-Ilah is restored to the throne of Iraq. The Newfoundland Escort Force is established by the Canadian and British navies, based in St. John's, Newfoundland. Canadian navy ships will escort merchant ships to Iceland, then turn them over to British escorts. German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen takes refuge in Brest.
2 June 1941	Convoy HX-127 from Canada arrives off Liverpool, England. German Ambassador von Schulenburg tells the head of Soviet International Affairs that Adolf Hitler had decided to begin war with the Soviet Union on June 22. (Josef Stalin considers the information to be disinformation.)
6 June 1941	Adolf Hitler issues the Commissar Order, requiring the army to murder immediately all captured Red Army political commissars.
8 June 1941	An Anglo-French force lands in Syria, with Free French declaring Syria and Lebanon sovereign and independent.
9 June 1941	Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 31, appointing Field Marshal Wilhelm List as Commander, Armed Forces South-east, with headquarters in Salonika, in command of the occupied area of the Balkans. German ambassador von Schulenburg in Moscow is given instructions to burn documents and prepare to leave Moscow.
11 June 1941	Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 32: Preparations for the period after 'Barbarossa'. The efforts of the armaments industry are to focus on Navy and Air Force. Fighting against British forces in the Mediterranean and Western Asia are to continue through Egypt and Turkey, possibly through Iran. Gibraltar is to be captured. The siege of England is to be resumed, with preparations continuing for a landing.
12 June 1941	The first Canadian bomber mission is carried out.
15 June 1941	In North Africa, British forces launch Operation Battleaxe, an attack on Halfaya Pass. Twelve of thirteen British Matilda tanks are destroyed. Canadian destroyers from British home waters return to Canada, to serve with the Newfoundland Escort Force. The US government suspends petroleum exports to Japan from east coast and Gulf ports. German submarine U-203 attempts to attack US battleship Texas, between Newfoundland and Greenland, but cannot catch the ship. Convoy HX-113, with 58 ships, makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean. Escort ships are Royal Canadian Navy destroyer Ottawa and corvettes Chambly, Collingwood, and Orillia. Six merchant ships are lost during the convoy. The First Canadian Tank Brigade leaves Canada, destined for England. The Swedish government allows Germany's Engelbrecht Division to pass by Swedish rail from Norway to Finland.
18 June 1941	Turkey and Germany sign a treaty of non-aggression.
22 June 1941	Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union along an 1100-mile front, with three million soldiers, the largest invasion in history. Army Group Center, commanded by Fedor von Bock, attacks north of the Pripet Marshes from Brest-Litovsk. Army Group North, commanded by Wilhelm von Leeb, attacks through Baltic states heading to Leningrad. Army Group South, commanded by Gerd von Rundstedt, attacks south of Pripet Marshes toward Kiev. In the south, the 11th Army of Romanians and Germans attack across the Pruth River into Bessarabia. German planes begin bombing and strafing Soviet airfields. By the end of day, 1200 Russian aircraft are destroyed. Prior to the German invasion, Josef Stalin received at least 90 separate warnings of the attack since July 1940. Stalin refused to believe any, and was shocked by the invasion. Soviet defence Minister Timoshenko issues Directive No. 1, calling up men, horses, and vehicles in accordance with MP-41 plan. (0715 hours) Soviet Defence Minister Marshal Timoshenko issues Directive No. 2, for bomber and ground-attack aircraft to destroy German aircraft on airfields and concentrations of ground forces, to a depth of 60-95 miles. (By this time, most Soviet front-line planes have already been destroyed, and it is not known where German forward air bases or troop concentrations are.) In a radio broadcast, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill promises help to Russians fighting for their homeland. Soviet defence Minister Timoshenko issues Directive No. 3, ordering Soviet ground forces in the Southwestern Army Group in the general direction of Lubin, 55 miles inside Poland.   German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop sends a cable message to Japan, urging them to attack the Soviet Union to the north. Japan decides to wait until Germans capture Moscow and reach the line of the Volga river.
23 June 1941	At an official conference in Japan of army-navy executives and civilian government representatives, the decision is made to adopt a north-south integration strategy. The military would be ready to move in either or both directions, depending on future events. Britain completes the first chain of three GEE aircraft guidance stations.
24 June 1941	Spanish Foreign Minister Ramón Serrano Suñer encourages Spaniards to volunteer to fight with Germany against Russia. Within days, 18,000 openings for a complete division are filled. Agustin Muñoz Guardes is selected as General. (The unit becomes known as the Blue Division.) American Senator Harry Truman tells colleagues it is a good thing for Germany and the Soviet Union to be at war, and he hopes they would finish each other off.
26 June 1941	The German 163rd Infantry Division begins a train crossing of Sweden into Finland. (After two weeks, 15,000 troops with weapons and supplies have been transported.)
27 June 1941	German forces reach Minsk, Russia. 108 British bombers attack Bremen. Fourteen do not return.
29 June 1941	In the Soviet Union, the State Defence Committee is formed by Josef Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Malenkov, and Beria. 28 British bombers attack Hamburg. Six do not return.
30 June 1941	In Russia, Edwald von Kleist's 1st Panzer Group seizes Lvov. German and Romanian troops threaten the Soviet town of Chisinau. A large pocket of Soviet forces surrender in Bialystok.