2 Apr 1940 | World War II Database

2 Apr 1940

In the afternoon, Adolf Hitler issued the directive for the invasion of Denmark and Norway, with the planned launch date to be 9 Apr 1940. Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was made aware of the invasion for the first time so that his office could help develop excuses for the invasion. Meanwhile, Dutch border guards were placed on full alert due to the detected German deployments. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | CPC]
German submarine U-38 sank Finnish steamer Signe of convoy HN-23A at 0021 hours, killing the entire crew of 19. ww2dbase [CPC]
British submarines began to patrol waters that Vice Admiral Max Horton suspected to be routes of German invasion of Norway. For example, HMS Unity patrolled the Heligoland Bight while HMS Sunfish patrolled the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden. ww2dbase [CPC]
Werner Mölders shot down Flight Lieutenant C. D. Palmer's Hurricane fighter of No. 1 Squadron RAF. On this date, he also received the Iron Cross 1st Class award. ww2dbase [Werner Mölders | CPC]

Atlantic Ocean

Germans attacked Allied Scapa Flow and North Sea convoys. ww2dbase [North Sea | TH]

United States

USS Honolulu departed San Pedro, California bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Honolulu | San Pedro, California | DS]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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