Daniel Orr's Blog, page 95

June 11, 1937 – Interwar period: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin executes eight high-ranking Red Army officers in the Great Purge

On June 11, 1937, following a secret trial, eight senior Red Army officers were executed for purportedly conspiring against the regime of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. In the aftermath, a purge was carried out throughout the Red Army echelons, which resulted in 37,761 officers and commissars dismissed from the service, 10,868 arrested and 7,211 condemned for anti-Soviet crimes.

The suppression of the Red Army was only one aspect of the Great Purge, which included Communist Party and government officials, repression of wealthy landlords, widespread police surveillance, suspicion of saboteurs, counter-revolutionaries, imprisonment, and arbitrary executions. Between 1937-1938 which was the peak of the purge, between 700,000 and 1.2 million people were killed.

The purge of the Red Army affected 3 of the 5 Field Marshals , 13 of 15 Army commanders, 8 of 9 Admirals, 50 of 57 Army Corps commanders, and 154 of 186 divisional commanders; a total of 34,000 officers were sent to labor camps in Siberia or were executed. As a result of the sheer number affected, by 1939, very few in the Soviet High Command and newly appointed officers who had been promoted more for party loyalty than military competence, knew how to implement the Red Army’s Deep Battle in actual warfare. The Deep Battle concept was the main Soviet offensive strategy that envisioned coordinated use of massive land, sea, and air power to advance deep and quickly inside enemy territory to achieve complete tactical and strategic victory. 

June 10, 1935 – Chaco War: Bolivia and Paraguay sign a truce

On June 10, 1935, in a truce mediated by the Argentinean government, Paraguay and Bolivia agreed to end the Chaco War.

Background

During the 1930s, Paraguay and Bolivia went to war for possession of the North Chaco, a dry, forbidding expanse of scrub and forest that lay between the two countries.  The North Chaco forms a part of the larger Gran Chaco Plains, a vast region that extends into northern Argentina, western Paraguay, eastern Bolivia, and a small section in western Brazil.

During the colonial era, the Gran Chaco Plains was administered by the Spanish government as a separate territory.  In the early 1800s, the Gran Chaco Plains became disputed territory when the South American countries surrounding it gained their independences.  The delineation of the borders around the Gran Chaco Plains was not pursued
actively, however, because of the region’s harsh climate and the mistaken belief that it contained few natural resources.

Through conquest from wars later in the 1800s, many areas of the Gran Chaco Plains were annexed by the victorious countries.  Eventually, what remained undecided was the North Chaco, the region straddling Paraguay and Bolivia and located west
of the Paraguay River and north of the Pilcomayo River.

War

Fighting broke out in June 1932 with the Paraguayan forces soon taking the initiative. But by March 1935, their offensive had sputtered. Thereafter, the Paraguayan Army realized that while it had achieved its military objectives in the North Chaco, it could not go any further into Bolivia without incurring heavy
losses.

While some politicians on both sides demanded for the continuation of the war, the governments of Paraguay and Bolivia were alarmed that the huge human and economic tolls were bringing their
countries to ruin.  War casualties had reached 100,000 dead, with nearly 60% of that figure suffered by Bolivia.  On June 10, 1935, in a truce mediated by the Argentinean government, Paraguay and Bolivia
agreed to end the war.

Aftermath

The territorial issue of the North Chaco was brought before an arbitration panel consisting of members from South American countries.  In its decision, the arbitration panel awarded 75% of the North Chaco to Paraguay, and the rest (25%) to Bolivia.  The panel’s decision also stipulated that Paraguay must grant Bolivia access to the Paraguay River, as well as to specified ports and rail facilities inside Paraguay. (Excerpts taken from Wars of the 20th Century: Volume 1.)

June 9, 1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria

On June 9, 1967, Israeli forces captured the Golan Heights from the Syrian Army during the Six-Day
War.

The Six-Day War pitted the state of Israel against the Arab countries of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Mounting tensions and occasional fighting had taken place in the period leading up to the war. On May 18, 1967, the Egyptian government expelled the UN peacekeepers from the Sinai, and then sent army units to the Egypt-Israel border, thereby militarizing the Sinai Peninsula.  A few days later, Egypt prevented Israel commercial vessels from entering the Straits of Tiran.  Israel had earlier warned that it would consider blocking its ships from the Tiran straits as a provocation for war. On May 28, 1967, Israel prepared for war with a call up of reservists.  Three days later, foreign embassies in Israel instructed their citizens to leave in anticipation for war.  On June 1, Israel finalized its war plans.  Then in a meeting held on June 4, Israel’s civilian and military leaders set the date for war for the following day, June 5.

The Six-Day War was fought in three sectors: the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

Golan Heights sector of the Six-Day War

Battle for the Golan Heights

On June 5, Syria opened the northern sector of the war with its artillery batteries in the Golan Heights
shelling Israeli settlements in the plains below.  Syrian planes also attacked areas of Upper Galilee.  On the night of June 5, Israeli planes attacked Syrian airbases and destroyed nearly half of all Syrian planes on the ground.  The Syrian Air Force then moved its remaining planes farther away from the battle zones and ceased to be a factor for the rest of the war.  As in the other theaters of the war, Israel gained air domination on the Syrian front, which again proved decisive.

During the early stages of the war, Israel’s forces were concentrated in the Egyptian and Jordanian sectors; therefore, Israel’s strategy in the north was
merely to hold on and defend territory with undermanned forces.  Syrian offensives, however, generally were limited in strength and effectiveness.  On June 6, a Syrian infantry and armored attack on Tel Dan, Dan, and She’ar Yashov was turned back by Israel air strikes and fierce local resistance.  A large Syrian offensive into Galilee was aborted because of logistical and communications problems.

On June 9, as the victory over Egypt and Jordan became apparent, Israel’s military leaders approved the offensive against Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.  Earlier, Syria and Israel had accepted a
United Nations Security Council resolution for a ceasefire, but Israeli authorities decided to attack in order to eliminate the Syrian threat, particularly the artillery batteries, which had caused so much trouble to Israel’s northern communities and was a major cause for the war.  The operation was feared to be costly, however, as the Golan Heights, at its steepest points in its northern section, was situated on a rocky escarpment 500 meters from Israel’s plains below.  Syrian defenses on the Golan Heights consisted of 40,000 troops and 250 tanks, and a series of strong fortifications of concrete bunkers, machine gun nests, pillboxes, and artillery emplacements.  The forward
approaches were open fields laid with thousands of land mines.

On the morning of June 9, Israeli planes attacked Syrian positions on the Golan Heights.  The air strikes continued for four hours, but failed to cause significant damage to the defenses.  Towards the noon hour, Israel ground units went on the offensive.  The Israel Army High Command decided to attack on the Golan Height’s northern section, which was the
steepest – but also the least defended, based on reconnaissance information.  After sappers cleared land mines, armored bulldozers moved forward to create a road.  Following behind the construction crews and equipment were the battle tanks and other armored units.  The Israeli Army’s objective was the strategically located Qala, whose capture would allow the Israelis access to the Masada/Quneitra Road, the main thoroughfare through the Golan Heights.  Qala’s capture also would permit the Israelis to attack other Syrian positions from the rear.

The Israeli advance was met with heavy fire from Syrian defenses atop the escarpment, which knocked out many bulldozers and tanks.  Some Israeli units also lost their way and ended up in the direction of Za’ura.  After five hours and sustaining considerable losses, the Israelis reached the top of the heights, helped considerably by cover from Israeli planes.  To protect the flank of the Qala offensive, another infantry and armored thrust was made further north to attack 13 Syrian positions at Tel Fakhir.  After seven hours and intense fighting that involved hand-to-hand combat, the Israelis overran Syrian positions, with considerable losses on both sides.

The Israelis also launched operations in the southern Golan Heights, whose slopes were more gradual than in the northern section.  After several hours of fighting, the Syrian southern defenses at Dardara and Tel Hilal collapsed.  By the evening of June 9, Israeli forces were pouring in across the length of the Golan Heights.  Considerable numbers of Israeli reinforcements arrived from the Egyptian and Jordanian sectors, creating massive traffic congestions in Israeli streets as soldiers and war equipment were being moved to northern Israel.  Fighting continued throughout the night as the Israelis attempted to extend their lines.

Syrian fortifications throughout most of the Golan Heights remained intact despite the Israeli
breakthrough.  On the morning of June 10,
however, the Syrian government mistakenly announced that Quneitra, where the Syrian regional military headquarters was located, had fallen to the
Israelis.  Panic broke out in the Syrian defenses in the Golan Heights as soldiers and officers abandoned their positions and fled to Damascus, Syria’s capital.  As Israeli forces entered and occupied Quneitra and other Syrian positions in the Golan Heights, they found considerable amounts of weapons, ammunitions, and military equipment that had been left behind by the Syrian Army.  By the evening of June 10, Israel gained control of the Golan Heights, as a UN ceasefire came into effect.  Because of the fighting, some 80,000 Syrian civilians were displaced.

Aftermath

Israel achieved victory in one of the shortest wars in history, allowing it to expand its territory by three-fold; it had gained control of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

June 8, 1928 – Chinese Civil War: Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces capture Peking (renamed Beijing) in the Northern Expedition

In July 1927, the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang launched the Second Northern Expedition, aimed at defeating the Beiyang government and other regional warlords and reunifying China under its control.  In the aftermath of the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule, China had fragmented into many regional domains controlled by warlords. The onset of the Northern Expedition also marks the start of the Chinese Civil War (1927-1950).

The Kuomintang launched its military campaign along three fronts: the left-wing/Communist faction advanced westward toward Wuhan; a right-wing force headed east for Shanghai; and Chiang’s forces, at the center, advanced for Nanjing.  Ultimately, the three fronts achieved their military objectives.  Within six months, the Kuomintang had defeated 34 warlords along its path towards the central regions of China.

In Nanjing, Chiang began a violent purge of Communist elements of the Kuomintang.  During his military training in the Soviet Union, Chiang had determined that Communism, as well as democratic and other Western political ideologies were inapplicable to China.  Chiang was a social conservative who believed that Communism was incompatible with China’s traditional values.  His resolve to eliminate Communism reached the intensity of an obsession.

Chiang began his purge in Shanghai where his soldiers killed thousands
of unsuspecting Communist civilians who had filled the streets to welcome the
Kuomintang Army’s arrival.  Other purges
soon followed in Canton, Xiamen,
Ningbo, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Changsha,
where thousands of Communists also were killed.

The remaining Communists went into hiding, some in urban
areas, but the vast majority in the countryside, where they began working with
and mobilizing the peasants and villagers. 
With the purges, the alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communist
Party of China ended.  The Soviet Union also stopped its support for Chiang.

In August 1927, in response to the purges, the Communists in
Nanchang broke
out in rebellion.  Chiang sent his forces
to Nanchang, where they easily quelled the
rebellion and forced the Communists to flee to the hinterlands of southern China.  Another Communist rebellion in Hunan led by Mao Zedong,
then a regional commander, was put down as well.  Mao and his supporters were forced to retreat
to the Jiangxi
countryside.  There, they established the
Chinese Soviet
Republic, a quasi-government that
formed subordinate administrative councils called “soviets” in other provinces,
including Anhui, Fujian,
Guangdong, Henan,
Hubei, and Sichuan. 
Mao’s government gained widespread support from the local rural
population.  Initially, its small militia
was limited to conducting hit-and-run guerilla warfare against government
forces.  By mid-1932, however, Mao’s
militia, now known as the People’s Liberation Army, or colloquially, the Red
Army, had grown to 45,000 regulars and 200,000 auxiliaries.

Meanwhile, the left-wing Kuomintang faction, led by Wang
Jingwei, established Wuhan
as its capital, but the city soon was attacked by a warlord ally of
Chiang.  Wang’s government collapsed,
leaving Chiang as the undisputed leader of the Kuomintang.

The Nationalists (as Chiang’s army now was called) resumed
their campaign toward northern China.  In June 1928, they captured Beijing,
the capital of China’s
most powerful warlord, who thereafter pledged allegiance to Chiang.  Beijing’s
capture was significant, as the city was the symbolic and historical seat of
authority in China.  This achievement legitimized Chiang’s
government, as it meant the complete – albeit symbolic – reunification of the
country.  Chiang had achieved
reunification through military victories, as well as by making alliances with
many warlords scattered throughout northern, central, and southern China.

Soon, Chiang’s government became recognized by many
countries around the world.  From his
capital in Nanjing, Chiang began to rebuild China
along the modern Western model.  However,
his efforts would be fraught with difficulties and ultimately not be fulfilled.

Continuing Troubles In
May 1930, a territorial dispute in China’s Central Plains erupted into
a major war among regional warlords who had made alliances with the
Kuomintang.  Soon, Chiang’s government
was drawn into the war.  Over one million
soldiers fought in the conflict that claimed high casualty rates on all
sides.  Ultimately, Chiang succeeded in
quelling the rebellion.  He realized,
however, that China
was far from being reunited and that the warlords could pose a constant and
serious threat to his authority.  Unknown
to Chiang at that time, the real danger to his rule would be the Communists.

Chiang soon learned of the existence of the Chinese Soviet
Republic in Jiangxi led by a regional warlord, Mao
Zedong. He sent his forces to attack Jiangxi
and other Communist-held regions, starting the final phase of the Chinese Civil
War.

June 7, 1938 –Second Sino-Japanese War: Chinese Nationalist forces carry out the 1938 Yellow River Flood to halt the Japanese advance; some 500,000-600,000 Chinese civilians are killed

In July 1937, Japanese forces launched a pre-emptive, full-scale invasion of China, sparking the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese Army advanced rapidly into the heart of Chinese territory. By June 1938, the Japanese had taken control of all of North China. They also easily captured the coastal cities of China’s eastern provinces. The Nationalist strongholds of Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuhan also fell.

To stop the Japanese from advancing into western and southern China, Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek ordered that the dikes of the Yellow River be destroyed.  On June 5-7, 1938, the dikes on the south bank were demolished, and flood waters spilled into and destroyed vast stretches of farmlands in Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, . In the aftermath, the Nationalist government estimated that 800,000 people were killed while 10 million lost their homes. A 1994 study by the Red Chinese government placed the figures at 900,000 killed and 10 million displaced. Data from more recent studies put the estimate at 400,000-500,000 dead and 3-5 million displaced. The difficulty with ascertaining exact figures is that at the time of the flooding, local officials had already fled from the areas, leaving no government control. Because of the sheer numbers of deaths and displaced and the extensive destruction generated, the 1938 Yellow River Flood is regarded as the “largest act of environmental warfare in history”.

(taken from Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 1 )

Chiang Kai-shek

Chiang committed major military blunders.  At Nanjing, for instance, he allowed his forces to be trapped and destroyed.  Consequently, the Japanese killed 200,000 civilians and soldiers in the city.  Then in a scorched earth strategy to delay the enemy’s advance, Chiang ordered the dams destroyed around Nanjing, which caused the Yellow River to flood and kill hundreds of thousands of people.  Furthermore, as the Nationalist forces retreated westward, they set fire to Changsha to prevent the city’s capture by the Japanese, but this resulted in the deaths of 20,000 residents and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more, who were not told of the plan.

The Chinese people’s confidence in their government plummeted, as it seemed to them that the Nationalist Army was incapable of saving the country.  At the same time, the Communists’ popularity soared because, unlike the Nationalists who used costly open warfare against the Japanese, the Red Army employed guerilla tactics with great success against the mostly lightly defended enemy outposts in remote areas.

June 6, 1944 – World War II: The Allies launch Operation Overlord, with 155,000 troops landing on the beaches of Normandy

On June 6, 1944 (also called D-Day), the Allied 21st Army Group launched Operation Overlord, the invasion of the French coast of Normandy.  The operation was delayed by one day from its earlier planned June 5 because of a storm in the English Channel.  A lull in the inclement weather encouraged General Dwight D. Eisenhower, over-all commander of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), to proceed with the invasion.  Meanwhile in northern France, the bad weather lulled German authorities into believing that no invasion would take place, and on June 6, at the time of the Normandy landings, many high-ranking German commanders were away from their posts and participating in military exercises elsewhere.

The invasion began with British and American parachute and glider units making overnight landings in Normandy on the flanks of the target area, and securing bridges, exit routes, and capturing other key objectives.  In the early morning of June 6, Allied air and naval units launched a massive bombardment of the Normandy coast and the immediate interior, which was followed by the landing of the ground forces.  With a massive supporting naval armada of some 7,000 vessels, including 1,200 warships, 4,100 transports, and several hundreds auxiliary vessels, Allied land forces ferried by amphibious landing crafts hit the Normandy coast at five points: in the western sector, U.S. forces in the beaches codenamed Utah and Omaha, and in the eastern sector, the British at the beaches named Gold and Sword, and the Canadians at Juno.

The British and Canadians established beachheads after encountering only moderate German resistance, while U.S. forces at Utah beach at the extreme right, facing the weakest resistance of all the sectors, also easily gained a foothold.  At Omaha beach, U.S. forces met fierce enemy fire and suffered heavy casualties from the entrenched defenders occupying the high ground overlooking the beach.  The Germans at Omaha Beach also comprised the veteran 352nd Infantry Division, the strongest formation in Normandy.  Here, the Americans faced the real danger of being thrown back into the sea.  The rapid landing of more troops and tanks, and more decisively, the bombardment of German positions by Allied warships and planes allowed the Omaha situation to ease by mid-day.  By the end of D-Day (June 6), four of the five beachheads were secured, while Omaha was still being cleared and consolidated, and also still subject to distant enemy artillery fire. (Excerpts taken from World War II in Europe.)

June 5, 1940 – World War II: German forces launch Fall Rot (“Case Red”), the invasion of Paris and southern France

Background

On May 26, 1940, the British High Command implemented Operation Dynamo, the Allied naval evacuation from Dunkirk, with the first troops numbering 28,000 being evacuated by ships to southern England on that day.  Then, the Allies received a stunning blow when on May 27, Belgian King Leopold III asked the Germans for an armistice, and the next day, May 28, 1940, the monarch formally surrendered the Belgian Army.  The sudden Belgian capitulation exposed the Dunkirk perimeter’s eastern flank, seriously jeopardizing the evacuation.  However, fierce resistance by 40,000 French troops, the trapped remnants of the French 1st Army at Lille against four German infantry and three armored divisions (comprising 110,000 troops, 800 tanks) stalled the German advance that allowed 70,000 more Allied troops to escape to Dunkirk.  But as a result of the 4-day siege at Lille, the French 1st Army was destroyed.

Battle of France

The Dunkirk evacuation, lasting from May 26 to June 4, 1940, was successfully carried out: under fierce, constant German air, artillery, and tank fire, and a gradually shrinking perimeter as the Germans broke through the defensive lines, hundreds of small vessels, including privately owned fishing boats and pleasure craft from southern England, were used to assist ships of the British Royal Navy to evacuate Allied troops from the harbor and beaches of Dunkirk.  Of the 222 British Royal Navy vessels and 665 other requisitioned boats that took part, 6 British and 3 French destroyers, 24 smaller Royal Navy vessels, and 226 other ships were lost.  Also, 19 other British destroyers were damaged, as were over 200 other British and Allied vessels.  On June 4, 1940, German forces broke through the last defense line and entered Dunkirk, capturing some 40,000 French troops who had failed to make the evacuation.  In total, 331,000 Allied troops were evacuated, of whom 192,000 were British and 139,000 were French.  But the British Army left behind all its heavy weaponry and equipment: 700 tanks, 45,000 trucks, 20,000 motorcycles, 2,500 artillery pieces, and 11,000 machine guns.

Case Red

The German Army now turned its attention to the south, to the conquest of Paris and the rest of France.  With 140 divisions (130 infantry and 10
panzer) in a reconfigured Army Groups A and B (and Army Group C inside Germany facing the Maginot Line), the Wehrmacht massed along a 600-mile front along the Somme and Aisne rivers stretching from Sedan to the Channel coast (the French Weygand Line).  Facing the Germans were 64 French divisions comprising three Army Groups, including 110,000 French soldiers who had been evacuated in Dunkirk
but were repatriated to France via Brittany and Normandy.  Also arriving were two other Allied infantry divisions, one British and one Canadian, supplementing one British infantry and elements of one armored division as well as Czech and Polish formations already in France, a combined total of 173,000 troops.

The debacle in Belgium greatly depleted French military resources: France’s best units, comprising
over 60 divisions, were lost, as were elite tank formations and a considerable number of heavy equipment and weapons.  However, increased moral and resolve swept through the remaining French
Army: officers and men were fighting for France’s survival, supply and communication lines were closer, and army commanders and surviving units had gained battle experience.  General Weygand implemented a “hedgehog” defense-in-depth network of mutually
supporting fortified artillery positions, supported by armor and air cover, aimed at inflicting heavy losses to the attacking German forces.

On June 5, 1940, German forces launched Fall Rot (“Case Red”), the invasion of Paris and southern France. (Excerpts taken from World War II in Europe.)

June 4, 1944 – World War II: The Allies capture Rome

On June 4, 1944, U.S. forces entered Rome
unopposed after the city had been vacated by the Germans. Adolf Hitler, who ordered the retreat, balked at another Stalingrad-type attrition battle in the Italian capital.  Rome, which had been declared an “open city” and thus undefended, also had been subject to constant Allied air bombardment. 

German strategy for the defense of Italy relied on the natural defensive features, particularly the Apennine Mountains which form a “spine” along much of the length of Italy, as well as the numerous rivers. To the north, by the time of the Allied attack on the alpine region in northern Italy, German defenses verged on complete collapse.

Background

On May 19, 1944, a concentrated Allied offensive combining U.S. 5th and British 8th Armies finally breached the Gustav Line and the Monte Cassino hilltop was captured, forcing German 10th Army to fall back.  Just days later, May 23, U.S. VI Corps at Anzio broke out from the beaches and advanced northwest toward Rome, instead of attacking northeast for Valmontone to cut off German 10th Army, as planned.  This change in direction was ordered by General Clark, U.S. 5th Army commander, who probably wanted his forces, not the British, to capture Rome, which was in defiance of orders from his superior, General Alexander, chief of all Allied troops in Italy.  As a result, the Allies failed to encircle
German 10th Army at the Gustav Line.  German 10th Army escaped and, together with German 14th Army from Anzio, soon established new positions in northern Italy.  The Allied planning had also placed Rome inside the American sector, and not the British;
instead, the latter were tasked to bypass Rome
and pursue the retreating Germans.

On May 23, 1944, the Allies broke through the last of the three Winter Line positions, the Senger Line (renamed from Adolf Hitler Line).  Meanwhile, elements of U.S. VI Corps advancing on Rome were stalled by strong German resistance at the Caesar C Line, but exploited a gap and broke through on June 2, 1944.  American units entered Rome unopposed on June 4, 1944, which had been vacated by the Germans on orders by Hitler, who balked at another Stalingrad-type attrition battle in the Italian capital.  Rome, which had been declared an “open city” and thus undefended, also had been subject to constant Allied air bombardment.  The glory attached to
capturing Rome, which had predominated throughout the Allied campaign, was upstaged just two days later, June 6, 1944, when the Allies launched the much
more strategically important Operation Overlord, beginning with the amphibious landings on Normandy aimed at the re-conquest of France and occupied Western Europe, and ultimately the defeat of Germany.

June 3, 1940 – World War II: The Allies evacuate Dunkirk; German forces take control of northern France

On May 26, 1940, the British High Command implemented Operation Dynamo, the Allied naval evacuation from Dunkirk, with the first troops numbering 28,000 being evacuated by ships to southern England on that day.  Then, the Allies received a stunning blow when on May 27, Belgian King Leopold III asked the Germans for an armistice, and the next day, May 28, 1940, the monarch formally surrendered the Belgian Army.  The sudden Belgian capitulation exposed the Dunkirk perimeter’s western flank, gravely jeopardizing the evacuation.  However, fierce resistance by 40,000 French troops, the trapped remnants of the French 1st Army at Lille against four German infantry and three armored divisions (comprising 110,000 troops, 800 tanks) stalled the German advance that allowed 70,000 more Allied troops to escape to Dunkirk.  As a result of the 4-day siege at Lille, the French 1st Army was destroyed.

The Dunkirk evacuation, lasting from May 26 to June 4, 1940, was successfully carried out: under fierce, constant German air, artillery, and tank fire, and a gradually shrinking perimeter as the Germans broke through the defensive lines, hundreds of small vessels, including privately owned fishing boats and pleasure craft from southern England, were used to assist ships of the British Royal Navy to evacuate Allied troops from the harbor and beaches of Dunkirk.  Of the 222 British Royal Navy vessels and 665 other requisitioned boats that took part, 6 British and 3 French destroyers, 24 smaller Royal Navy vessels, and 226 other ships were lost.  Also, 19 other British destroyers were damaged, as were over 200 other British and Allied vessels.  On June 4, 1940, German forces broke through the last defense line and entered Dunkirk, capturing some 40,000 French troops who had failed to make the evacuation.  In total, 331,000 Allied troops were evacuated, of whom 192,000 were British and 139,000 were French.  But the British Army left behind all its heavy weaponry and equipment: 700 tanks, 45,000 trucks, 20,000 motorcycles, 2,500 artillery pieces, and 11,000 machine guns.

June 2, 1964 – The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded

On June 2, 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or PLO, was founded during the first Arab League Summit held in Cairo, Egypt. The PLO’s stated purpose was the “liberation of Palestine” through armed struggle and targeting much of its violence at Israeli civilians. The 1964 Arab League Summit also had as one of its objectives countering the “aggressive policies” of Israel, although at this time, some member states, notably Egypt, did not want to take armed action. Instead, the summit agreed to use a non-military tactic – that of diverting the Jordan River to deprive Israel of water.

With regards to Palestine, the summit agreed to assist in establishing a Palestinian entity, which led to the formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War where Israel became an independent state, some 750,000 Palestinians fled from Palestine and became displaced in surrounding countries. The summit was aimed at merging the various Palestinian groups to form a central organization in a united front against Israel. By 1969, Yasser Arafat, leader of a militant group called Fatah, became head of the PLO.