1 October 1940
In Great Britain the sale
of cream was prohibited.
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2 October 1940
The Italian submarine 'Berlillo'
was scuttled after it was attached by British destroyer in the
Mediterranean Sea.
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3 October 1940
In France the Vichy
Government introduced laws requiring all Jews to register, and
banned Jews from professions such as the law, universities,
medicine and public service.
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4 October 1940
Hitler and Mussolini met at
the Brenner Pass to discuss war strategy and the possibility of
Francoist Spain entering the war. Mussolini hinted at his
idea to invade Greece which was brushed aside by Hitler who saw
it as un-necessary.
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5 October 1940
In the City of Lancaster
the Chief Engineer reported work on shelters was progressing.
There were 5121 public shelters; 1852 domestic shelters and 5830
shelters for schools. This represented 25% of the
population of 47 200.
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6 October 1940
The BBC Radio Forces
programme included a programme for the Indian Forces; news in
Dutch and 'Calling the Canadians'. The Home Service
included the Fairey Aviation Works Band.
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7 October 1940
The Royal Air Force
conducted its heaviest raid on Berlin to date.
In Lancaster
the Home Guard received Browning Machine Guns and steel helmets.
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8 October 1940
A large number of German
troops enter Romania to train the Romania Army and to protect
the countries oil fields.
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9 October 1940
It was reported in the
House of Commons, that 84 technical advisers were employed at
the Civil Defence Camouflage Establishment working on counter
shading, disruption, coincident pattern and deflection.
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10 October 1940
The 10th Battalion, King's
Own, was formed, with 9 officers and 840 other ranks. The
majority of the battalion was based at Heysham Towers, with 'D'
Company located at Borwick Hall near Carnforth, Lancashire.
Hitler ordered the emergency programme to build shelters for the
civilian population aiming to build 6 000 bunkers in 92 cities.
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11 October 1940
HMS Revenge and 6
destroyers bomber Cherbourg, France.
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12 October 1940
The Battle of Cape Passero
was fought south east of Sicily, resulting in British victory.
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13 October 1940
14 year old Princess
Elizabeth made her first public speech on the BBC Radio and
addressed children of the British Commonwealth. Her 10
year old sister, Prince Margaret, joined in at the end.
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14 October 1940
A German bomb exploded on
the road above Balham Station in South London, creating a large
crated which a double decker bus drove into in black out
conditions. A total of 66 people were killed.
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15 October 1940
A delayed action bomb
landed on BBC Broadcasting House in London. The 500 lb
bomb destroyed the switchboard and penetrated the music library
on the 5th Floor. Staff tried to move the bomb, but it
exploded killing seven. The 9 o'clock news was being read
when the bomb exploded and radio newscaster Bruce Belfrage, in
the basement, continued after a slight pause, and listeners
heard the muted bomb blast live on air.
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16 October 1940
In London two Air Raid
Precaution workers were jailed for one year each, for looting
after they took £16 they found in a bombed out house.
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17 October 1940
The Prolongation of
Parliament was agreed in the House of Commons, which meant that
there would be no General Election until after the war was over.
It was reported in the House of Commons that an official
statement had been made on the BBC and reproduced in the press
some time ago, that members of the public were advised to carry
with them, written on a piece of paper carried inside their
identity card, the name and address of their next of kin or some
other person whom they would wish to be notified in the event of
their becoming an air raid casualty.
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18 October 1940
An allied convoy was
attacked by a five U-boat 'wolfpack' in the Western Approaches
and twenty out of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk in the battle.
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19 October 1940
An allied convoy was
attacked in the North Atlantic, with the loss of twelve out of
49 ships. These two days represented the worst two days
for shipping losses in the entire Atlantic Campaign.
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20 October 1940
Italian planes attacked
oil fields in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The Italian submarine
'Lafole' was sunk by Mediterranean Sea by three British
destroyers.
The 10th Battalion, King's Own,
received the signal 'Ypres' which was Western Command's code
word for the imminent German invasion. First contingents
were place on half an hours notice.
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21 October 1940
British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill made a radio broadcast directed at the French
people. He appealed to them not to hinder Britain in the
war against Germany.
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22 October 1940
It was reported to the
House of Commons that the number of parcels sent to prisoners of
war in Germany was 62 560 in August and 43 529 in September.
It takes two to three months to get a parcel out to a prisoner
via Lisbon, Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland and then on to
Germany. It took a further six weeks for a reply back.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Hubert Pierlot arrived in London
after evading French and Spanish authorities. This was the
beginning of the Belgian Government in Exile in London.
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23 October 1940
Adolf Hitler and Francisco
Franco met at Hendaye train station for 7 hours of talks to
discuss the conditions under which Spain would join Germany and
Italy in the war.
A question in the House of
Commons was raised about the ration allowance for a soldier
billeted in a house and the house holders. A soldier was
allowed 16 oz of sugar, 8 oz of butter and 7 oz of meat,
compared to the householder's allowance of 8 oz, 4 oz, and 2s 2d
retail cost. The question was posed "does the minister
think a soldier requires so much more bacon than a collier who
has to get the coal to keep the country going?"
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24 October 1940
British Summer Time, which
should have ended tonight was extended to assist the war effort.
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25 October 1940
The Royal Air Force bombed
Berlin and Hamburg.
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26 October 1940
The SS Empress of Britain
travelling from South Africa was bombed by enemy aircraft and
set on fire 70 miles north west of Ireland. Most of the
troops, civilians and crew were picked up by other ships in the
convoy and a skeleton crew remained on board.
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27 October 1940
Lostock Hall, in
Lancashire, was bombed with the death of 25 people. It was
suspected that the single German bomber was aiming for the
Leyland Motor factory in Leyland.
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28 October 1940
Whilst under tow the SS
Empress of Britain, despite being protected by Sunderland flying
boats and HMS Broke, was fired upon and sunk by a German U-Boat
U-32.
Italy invaded Greece. Hitler and Mussolini met in
Florence to exchange the latest war information. Hitler
thought the attack on Greece was madness and that he should have
attacked Malta instead.
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29 October 1940
British forces occupied
Crete and began to mine waters around Greece.
The 7th Battalion, King's
Own moved to Stamford and came under the command of 2nd Infantry
Brigade.
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30 October 1940
The German submarine U32
was sunk north west of Ireland by depth charges from the
destroyers HMS Harvester and HMS Highlander.
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31 October 1940
The Battle of Britain
ended. Between 8th August and 31st October 1940 the German
Luftwaffe lost 2375 planes with the RAF losing 800.
An
Italian submarine attacked Gibraltar naval base with manned
torpedoes but none of them successful deployed successfully and
the British were able to recover one for analysis.
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