2 Aug 1940 | World War II Database

2 Aug 1940

Lord Beaverbrook was appointed to the British War Cabinet. ww2dbase [Beaverbrook | TH]
French military court sentenced General de Gaulle to death in absentia. ww2dbase [Charles de Gaulle | TH]
Overnight, British submarine HMS Thames hit a mine and sank southwest of Stavanger, Norway, killing the entire crew of 62. ww2dbase [CPC]
German Ju 87 aircraft attacked German submarine U-60 with bombs by mistake off Hagesund, Norway; U-60 was able to escape without damage. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-99 torpedoed British merchant ship Alexia, British merchant ship Lucerna, and Norwegian merchant ship Strinda of convoy OB-191. All three were damaged but none of them sank. No men were killed as the result of the attack. ww2dbase [First Happy Time | CPC]
US President Roosevelt and his cabinet discussed the methods to which the transferring 50 or 60 destroyers to the United Kingdom could be conducted. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
Hulbert was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Hulbert | CPC]

Mediterranean Sea

Operation Hurry: 12 British Hurricane fighters were launched from carrier HMS Argus southwest of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea and flew about 300 miles to Malta; they were to form the new No. 261 Squadron. The escorting surface warships turned back for Gibraltar and England, while the escorting carriers (escorted by battlecruiser HMS Hood, cruiser HMS Enterprise, and 4 destroyers) launched an attack consisted of 8 Swordfish torpedo bombers on the Italian airfield at Cagliari, Sardinia, destroying several aircraft and deploying several mines. ww2dbase [Malta Campaign | CPC]

Moldova

Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed. ww2dbase [CPC]

United Kingdom

Before dawn, two German He 115 seaplanes attacked British ship Highlander of convoy FN.239 20 miles south of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom; one of the aircraft was shot down by sloop HMS Weston, while the other crashed onto Highlander's poop deck after clipping the mast. During the day, German aircraft attacked convoys in the English Channel and along the east coast of Britain, sinking anti-submarine trawler HMT Cape Finesterre off Harwich, Essex, England, United Kingdom, killing 1. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | CPC]
Josef Frantisek joined the British Royal Air Force and was assigned to No. 303 Squadron based at RAF Northolt in South Ruislip near London, England, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Josef Frantisek | South Ruislip, England | CPC]

Photo(s) dated 2 Aug 1940

Light Tank Mk VIB vehicles of UK 7th Armoured Division in North Africa, 2 Aug 1940

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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