WWII On This Day: June 25

General Charles Huntziger signs the Franco-German armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940; its terms took effect on 25 June. Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-P50284 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source

June 25, 1940 Occupation, Collaboration and Resistance in World War II

The armistice divides metropolitan France

The Franco-German armistice signed at Compiègne on 22 June took effect on 25 June 1940. Germany occupied northern and western France, including Paris and the Atlantic coast, while a large southern zone remained outside direct German military occupation. Pétain's government moved to Vichy at the beginning of July. On 10 July the National Assembly granted him full powers to create a new constitutional order, after which the French State replaced the institutions of the Third Republic. German occupation and French administration now overlapped: Berlin held decisive military power, while Vichy…

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German troops in northern France during the campaign of 1940. — Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1808-10A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

June 25, 1940 · 00:35 Battle of France 1940

The ceasefire takes effect

The German and Italian armistices entered into force at 00:35 on 25 June, ending organised campaigning in metropolitan France after forty-seven days. German occupation covered northern and western France, while the Pétain government retained administration over the unoccupied zone and the French Empire under the armistice framework. About 1.8 million French servicemen were in captivity. The campaign ended as a military phase while its political consequences opened immediately: occupation, Vichy rule, Free French organisation abroad, prisoner-of-war captivity, resistance and continuing warfare from the empire and overseas bases.

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Cologne showing extensive bomb and fire damage after Operation Millennium in May 1942. — Cologne after the raid of 30–31 May 1942 · U.S. Department of Defense. Department of the Army.

June 25, 1942 Operation Millennium

A third mass raid

A third thousand-aircraft operation struck Bremen later in June. Bomber Command could assemble exceptional forces, but it could not sustain them every night. Operational Training Units had to return to training, aircraft required repair, and the command still lacked the navigation and marking system needed for consistently concentrated attacks.

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Searchlights and anti-aircraft tracer over Cologne during Operation Millennium, 30–31 May 1942. — Royal Air Force official photographer · Imperial War Museums C 2615 · Public domain

June 25, 1942 · 23:00 Area Bombing Begins

Bremen exposes the limit of the thousand-bomber experiment

Bomber Command assembled another mass force for Bremen: 1,006 aircraft according to the official history, including 272 from Operational Training Units and 102 from Coastal Command. Cloud again covered the target. Early crews bombed on Gee and later aircraft used the glow of fires through the cloud as their main guide. Serious damage was caused at the Focke-Wulf works and in the city, but forty-nine aircraft failed to return. Twenty-two of the losses came from one training group, almost all with pupil crews. The raid therefore imposed exactly the cost…

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HMS Black Prince home from Normandy after the naval bombardment supporting the advance on Cherbourg, 1 July 1944. IWM A 24478 · IWM Non-Commercial Licence Source

June 25, 1944 Operation Overlord

Task Force 129 bombards the port

The battleships USS Texas, Arkansas and Nevada, with cruisers and destroyers, closed the coast to engage the batteries covering Cherbourg. The batteries fired back with accuracy: Texas took a hit on her navigating bridge, and several ships were damaged. Ashore, the 79th Division fought its way into Fort du Roule on the height above the city, silencing the guns that dominated the harbour approaches.

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German prisoners of war captured during the Soviet summer offensive march through Moscow on 17 July 1944. — Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-696-0426-14A · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source

June 25, 1944 · 18:00 Operation Bagration

Five German divisions are encircled at Vitebsk

Soviet forces met west of Vitebsk and enclosed five German divisions from Third Panzer Army. Permission for most of the trapped formations to break out arrived only after the escape corridor had narrowed and Soviet troops were already controlling key roads. One division was still ordered to hold the city itself. The pocket demonstrated the operational cost of the fortified-place policy. Vitebsk had been intended to anchor the northern front, but once the Soviet pincers passed it, the garrison could no longer protect the neighbouring sectors or retreat in good…

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