World War II calendar
What happened on May 29 during World War II? This date brings together 5 events from 1940, 1941 and 1942, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.
Although designed as a breakwater rather than a passenger pier, the East Mole allowed destroyers and larger vessels to berth in deeper water. Boarding directly from the mole was far faster than ferrying every soldier from the beach. The majority of Dynamo's evacuees ultimately left through the harbour.
Continue in Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo →The destroyer Wakeful was torpedoed and sank with heavy loss of life. Grafton was then torpedoed while assisting survivors, and Grenade was sunk by air attack in Dunkirk harbour. The Isle of Man packet Mona's Queen was lost to a mine. The day demonstrated that the Channel crossing and harbour approaches could be as dangerous as the beaches.
Continue in Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo →
The Heraklion evacuation force came under sustained German air attack after daylight on 29 May. The convoy had embarked about 4,000 troops, but mechanical trouble and repeated bombing disrupted the formation as it moved toward Egypt. The destroyer Imperial became unmanageable and its passengers had to be transferred before the ship was sunk. Hereward was later disabled and lost, while the cruisers Dido and Orion were hit. Orion carried large numbers of soldiers and suffered particularly heavy casualties among crew and embarked troops. Playfair records that about 800 of the…
Continue in Battle of Crete →The Australian and Greek defenders at Rethymno had prevented the German airborne force from taking the airfield on 20 May and continued to contain the landing groups for more than a week. Their position became untenable only after German ground forces advancing from the west reached the sector. The garrison had little reliable communication with Creforce headquarters and did not receive the evacuation plan in time to join the movement toward Sfakia. Food and ammunition were running down as German reinforcements approached by road. Most of the remaining defenders were…
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Forecasts indicated acceptable conditions over Cologne for the night of 30 May. The city offered a clear navigational feature in the Rhine and a large built-up area around the aiming point. The final decision was delayed until the morning of the operation, leaving groups only hours to calculate fuel, bomb loads, routes and timings.
Continue in Operation Millennium →