London: The first Victoria Cross of the war has been awarded posthumously to Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee of the destroyer HMS Hardy in the raid on Narvik in April.

HMS Devonshire brings the King of Norway from Tromsø to Britain. The are destined for the river Clyde and sail without any escorts. (Alex Gordon)

Auxiliary Merchant Cruiser HMS Carinthia operating the Northern Patrol blockade duty is torpedoed by U-46 in the Atlantic NW of Ireland at 53 13N 10 40W. (Alex Gordon)(108)

FRANCE: Paris: A dull rumble can be heard north and east of Paris, the rumble of heavy guns. The broken glass from Paris’s first air raid four days ago still tinkles under the feet of the refugees moving east along the boulevards. The restaurants are empty, the Ritz deserted. For the third time in a lifetime, Paris prepares for a siege.

The air raid on 3 June came at lunchtime. Leaflets giving warnings, dropped by German planes the night before, caused near hysteria, but when the raid came it was an anti-climax - though 254 are reported dead. Paris’s anti-aircraft guns were ‘well-nourished’ as the French say, and the 200 planes kept too high to be accurate. There was no panic; the city seemed to accept its fate.

Somme: Learning from his experience of the previous days, Rommel avoids the "hedgehogs" and pushes south-west. In one day he covers 28 miles and reaches Forges-les-Eaux, only 25 miles from Rouen.

By the evening part of the French 10th Army was cut off on the Bresle and the Germans had made gap in the line, but the French still held the Avre at Moreuil, their second line at Montdidier to Noyon and both the Oise and the Aisne.

For the carriers, the moment of truth had arrived. With the Allied ground forces steadily being pulled out, the time was finally at hand when the RAF landing ground at Bardufoss had to be evacuated prior to its demolition. Since May 21 the Gladiators of 263 Squadron had provided the first semblance of air cover over the Allied troops. Then, on 26 May, 46 Squadrons Hurricanes had arrived with the providing the first modern Allied fighter planes in the theatre. For the prior 12 days the two Squadrons had done Yeoman service, basically winning control of the air. But now, the end of their gallant effort was in sight. As it stood, 46 Squadron was to destroy their aircraft before being evacuated, while 263 Squadron was to destroy the lame ducks and then fly their serviceable Gladiators (10) out to HMS Glorious.

At 0200, HMS Ark Royal in position 70.14 N, 16.14 W, she dispatched an A.D.A. patrol (one 810 Squadron Swordfish) as well as a fighter patrol to Risoy (two 800 Squadron Skuas led by Lt. K. V. V. Spurway, RN). This was followed, at 0435, by a weather flight (one Swordfish, 810 Squadron), another fighter patrol (three Skuas, Capt. R. T. Partridge, RM), and a three-plane bombing mission of 820 Squadron (with the usual 4 x 250 GP, 4 x 20 Cooper and 4 x 25 incendiary bombs each) led by CO Lt.Cdr. G. B. Hodgkinson, RN on the Flak positions at Hundallen. Weather forced the flight to seek an alternate target, and the trio opted to plaster the railway at Sildvik.

0540 saw the A.D.A. patrol relieved, this time with two Swordfish, one each ahead and astern of the task force. At 0800, another trio of Skuas set off for Risoy (800 Squadron, Lt. G. E. D. Finch-Noyes) At 0900 the A.D.A. patrol was relieved by a single 810 Squadron Swordfish, while another is dispatched to Bardufoss to communicate the Navys intentions for the evacuation. This is followed, at 0930, by another trio of fighters (800 Squadron, Lt. G. R. Callingham). They report the evacuation convoy is putting to sea.

At 1205, a relief A.D.A. patrol (single Swordfish, 820 Squadron) sets off. At 1350 this aircraft reports a snooper. Five minutes later, 803 Squadrons Lt. C. W. Peever, RN took a trio of Skuas aloft in pursuit, but by the time they got to altitude the German was gone. 

Meanwhile, the earlier communication with the RAF at Bardufoss had, more or less, stunned the naval staff. SL Kenneth B. B. Cross, RAF [later KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC], 46 Squadrons CO had sent back a message proposing that, instead of destroying his ten serviceable Hurricanes, his pilots be allowed to fly them out to the task force and try to land them aboard Glorious. Considering that fact that, to date, no Hurricane had ever been landed on a carrier, the pilots involved had never landed any aircraft on a carrier, and that, even if it were possible to land a properly navalized Hurricane on a carrier (and the Naval experts said is wasn't), his planes were not fitted with any arrestor gear!

At 1430, HMS Glorious dispatched 4 Swordfish to Bardufoss to lead the RAF planes back when the effort was made. Meanwhile, after due consideration was given to Cross request (and not to be out done by the junior service), the Navy agreed to let a section of Hurricanes fly out to Glorious and give it a go and, at 1615, Ark flew off another Swordfish to Bardufoss with the latest navigational dope, and permission for Cross to fly out.

At 1800, New Zealand FL Patric Geraint Jameson, RAF [later CB, DSO, DFC+bar] led his forlorn hope (FO Herbert Harold Knight, RAF, Sgt. Bernard Lester Taylor, RAF) aloft. Struggling to follow their slow Swordfish guide to the carrier, they arrived shortly before 1900. The three pilots was literally stunned at how small that floating matchbox looked on the sea. Not to be discredited in the attempt, Glorious worked up to 30 knots into the wind to give the maximum wind over the deck, her decks visibly pitching and rolling with the ship in the moderate  sea. Signalling an in flight emergency, Sgt. Taylor cut off Jameson in the pattern and became the first Hurricane to successfully land on a carrier. Following right behind, the other two landed safely as well. That accomplished, the Swordfish was sent back to Bardufoss to pass the word and deliver the plans for the upcoming embarkation. At the same time, 701 Squadrons Walrus amphibians, having flown out from Harstad, landed aboard Ark Royal.

The plan called for Arks Skuas would fly top cover for the effort. Once on station, the Swordfish of 823 Squadron would lead RAF boys back to the carriers, at which point the Gladiators were to embark first, and then the Hurricanes. At 2305, Ark commenced launching the fighter patrols, three sections of 800 Squadron, nine Skuas led by Capt. R. T. Partridge, RM (Narvik), Lt. G. E. D. Finch-Noyes, RN (Skaanland), and Lt. K. V. V. Spurway, RN (Bardufoss), and an A.D. A. patrol of two 810 Squadron Swordfish.

The (labour) government of Johan Nygaardsvold and the Norwegian Royals (King Haakon VII, Queen Maud) left Norway on the British cruiser HMS Devonshire. The exile government, which had not surrendered to the Germans, was given authorization by the national assembly of the country, [the 'StortIng'], to continue the fight from abroad if exile was the only choice. (Russ Fulsom)

ITALY: Italian ships are ordered to neutral ports.

GERMANY: Berlin:

Behind the screen of the continuing raids on Britain, the Luftwaffe is being switched to the east. The powerful air fleet which destroyed Belgrade and blasted the way clear for the Wehrmacht to march through the Balkans is being transferred to Poland, where it is being joined by squadrons taken there from France. There are now 2,770 German aircraft, formed into three fleets, facing the Soviet Union.

NORTH AFRICA: The RAF bombards Benghazi and Derna.

PALESTINE: Churchill telegraphs to de Gaulle:

"...best wishes to our joint enterprise in the Levant. ....At this hour when Vichy touches fresh depths of ignominy, the loyalty and courage of the Free French save the glory of France."

SYRIA: Allied invasion begins. On the coastal axis, Palestinian Jewish guides (including a young Moshe D ayan) lead Australian forces who infiltrate the frontier before hostilities are declared. From a kibbutz at Hanita they cross the border at 9.30 pm to cut signal wires and probe for mines. Heavy seas prevent British commandos from ‘C’ Battalion British Special Service Brigade from landing behind the border to prevent the French blocking the narrow coastal road. The advance of 21 Aust Brigade is halted by heavy French fire short of the bridge over the Litani River. On the central axis, 25 Aust Brigade sweeps aside the French frontier posts but is then halted by determined French troops in well-chosen positions. On the desert (eastern) axis, 5 Indian Brigade seize Deraa (site of Lawrence of Arabia’s torture in WWI) and penetrate to Kuneitra. (Michael Alexander)

CANADA:

U.S.A.: Washington: President Roosevelt">Roosevelt has signed the bill authorising the seizure of all foreign merchant ships arriving at US ports which was passed by the Senate on May 15.

The US rejects the ADB plan. (Marc Small)

PACIFIC OCEAN: Throughout the night of 6/7 June, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) remained stubbornly afloat northeast of Midway Island. By 0530 hours, however, the men in the ships nearby noted that the carrier's list was rapidly increasing to port. As if tired, the valiant flattop turned over at 0701 hours on her port side and sank in 3,000 fathoms (18,000 feet or 5,486 meters) of water in position 30.36N, 176.34W.

During the night of 6/7 June, the USAAF's 7th Air Force dispatches a flight of four LB-30 Liberators from Midway Island for a predawn attack on Wake Island. The aircraft are unable to find the target and one LB-30 crashes into the sea killing all of the crew including Major General Clarence L Tinker, Commanding General, 7th Air Force. On 11 November 1943, the Oklahoma City Air Depot at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was renamed Tinker Field (now AFB) in memory of General Tinker.

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: At 0300 hours, the Japanese Army North Sea Detachment consisting of 1,143 men of the 301st Independent Infantry Battalion, the 301st Independent Engineer Company and a service unit, invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands. Attu Island, in the Near Island group of the Aleutian Islands, is the most western of the Aleutians. The island is a 338 square mile (875 square km) barren, windswept, mountainous island with the highest peak more than 3,000 feet (914 meters) located at 52-55 N, 172-30 E or 190 miles (306 km) northwest of Kiska Island invaded yesterday, 840 miles (1,352 km) west of Dutch Harbor attacked on 3 and 4 June, and 1,480 miles 2,382 km) west southwest of Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.

There are 44 American civilians on the island when the Japanese invade, two white Government employees and 42 Atka Aleuts, the native people of the Aleutian Islands, all living in a prosperous settlement. The two whites are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Foster Jones who had moved to the island in the summer of 1941. Mr. Jones had been in Alaska for 40 years and he serves as a weather reporter and radio operator for the U.S. Weather Bureau. Mrs. Jones is a teacher, community worker and nurse who first began working for the Indian Service in 1928. The 42 Aleuts make their living from blue fox trapping and operate the Native Community on Attu which sells the pelts to a fur dealer in New York City. The Aleuts live in nine homes having from four to seven rooms each, all of which are well maintained and have heating and running water.

The Japanese that landed that morning are far from disciplined. They surround the village and begin firing indiscriminately at the inhabitants; one Aleut women is hit in the leg. After one soldier shots another, the firing stopped. The 44 Americans were handled roughly even though none had resisted and their houses were looted of food and personal belongs. Mr. Jones had destroyed the radio equipment and he was separated from his wife and was killed the next day. One story has it that he tried to escape and was shot dead; the Aleuts buried him in the churchyard. On 8 June, a high ranking Japanese officer landed and restored discipline to his troops and made them return the food they had stolen from the homes and the civilians were well treated from this point on.

After several days, Mrs. Jones was put on a ship returning to Japan and she was taken to Yokohama where she was housed in a hotel with 18 Australian nurses who had been captured earlier in the war. They were later moved to the Yacht Club where the 19 women lived for two years; because of her white hair, the Japanese respected Mrs. Jones and she was not allowed to work. On Christmas 1942, they received parcels from the British Red Cross; American Red Cross packages were received on Christmas 1943. Later in the war, American packages were received every few months. In early 1945, the women were moved to a Japanese house in the suburbs of Yokohama where they grew vegetables in a garden. On 3 July 1945, representatives of the Red Cross came to see them and the American government finally learned for the first time that Mrs. Jones was alive and a prisoner of the Japanese.

The Aleuts did not fare as well. They were taken to Japan and forced to dig clay for their captures and more than half of them died of malnutrition and tuberculosis. When liberated, Mrs. Jones and the Aleuts were returned to the U.S. The 24 surviving Aleuts were taken to Seattle, Washington and placed on a ship and returned to the island of Atka, the nearest inhabited island to Attu.

The Japanese renamed the island Atsuta.

The IJN's 500-man No. 3 Maizuru Special Landing Force landed on Kiska Island. During August 1942, the Japanese reinforced Kiska with another naval landing force consisting of 1,000 men in addition to 500 civilian construction workers.

The Japanese development of Kiska was much more extensive than the development of Attu, which was almost entirely IJA. The ordnance deployed on Kiska was superior to that on Attu, some heavy machine guns were mounted in concrete pill boxes, radar and two searchlights were installed, medical facilities were housed in well-equipped and underground hospitals.

A fairly well-developed road network was in place on Kiska and 60 trucks, eight sedans, 20 motorcycles and other vehicles operated over it. Two small bulldozers, tractors and rollers were used on the Salmon Lagoon airfield, which was never operational. There was a submarine base and four small subs were found there when the U.S. invaded. A seaplane base contained the wrecks of 40 fighter and reconnaissance float planes, two machine shops, a foundry and a saw mill. Water of power system were also available. The communications system consisted of three radio stations, a radio navaid station and a well-installed telephone system.

Starting in mid-September 1942, the IJA unit that had invaded Attu transferred to Kiska and by July 1943, there were about 7,800 troops on the island, half IJA and half IJN.

U.S.A.: The Chicago Tribune imperils codebreaking operations by printing a report of the Battle of Midway under the headline "Navy had word of Jap plan to strike."

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Increased air bombardment of German fuel installations is ordered, following the interception of messages revealing a serious shortage of aviation fuel.

Britain: Millions of men waited and trained for yesterday, turning Britain into an international barracks while the D-Day invasion force was prepared. The culture shock for many British communities was intense, and nowhere more so than where the American servicemen were based. New dances, new fashions, new words and new foods (if chewing-gum can be so classified) have entered British life just as surely as many local girls will leave as "GI brides". Not everybody welcomed the brash newcomers, and one area of contention was the racial discrimination within US forces. Attempts by the US authorities to confine black troops to certain bars or pubs, for instance, were resisted and led to clashes between  Americans in which some were killed.

ITALY: American forces capture Bracciano, Civitavecchia and Civita Castellana.

CINCPAC PRESS RELEASE NO. 435, Guam Island was bombed by Seventh Army Air Force Liberators and Liberator search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two during daylight on June 5 (West Longitude Date).

Antiaircraft fire ranged from moderate to intense. Our force was not attacked by enemy aircraft. All of our planes returned.

Nauru Island was bombed on June 5 by Mitchell bombers of the Seventh Army Air Force and Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two. The barracks area, phosphate plant, and gun positions were principal targets.

Ponape Island was attacked by Seventh Army Air Force Mitchells on June 5. Antiaircraft fire was meager.

On June 4 Mille Atoll in the Marshalls was attacked by Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing.

Runways were principal targets. Light calibre antiaircraft fire was intense.

A search plane of Fleet Air Wing Two sighted a group of small enemy cargo ships proceeding northwest of Truk on June 5, and attacked and damaged one of the vessels. Another search plane shot down an enemy torpedo bomber west of Truk on June 5 (Denis Peck)