1940: Britain's Darkest Hour
Explore 1940: Britain's Darkest Hour on Ever-When, an interactive timeline of history from the Big Bang to the present day.
Key events on this timeline
- Battle of Britain (1940)
- Fall of France (1940)
- Dunkirk evacuation (1940)
- Churchill becomes Prime Minister (1940)
- Battle of Britain Day breaks the daylight assault (1940)
- The Blitz (1940)
- France signs the armistice at Compiègne (1940)
- 'We shall fight on the beaches' (1940)
- The panzers cross the Meuse at Sedan (1940)
- Eagle Day opens the Luftwaffe's main assault (1940)
- The Coventry Blitz (1940)
- The Norway Debate topples Chamberlain (1940)
- Winston Churchill's first premiership (1940)
- The Royal Navy fires on the French fleet (1940)
- Norwegian Campaign (1940)
- Battle of the Atlantic (1939)
- The raid on Taranto (1940)
- Phoney War (1939)
- Mussolini declares war on Britain and France (1940)
- Britain raises the Home Guard (1940)
- Lend-Lease Act (1941)
- The destroyers-for-bases deal (1940)
- Vichy France (1940)