Welcome to War Diary:
The Diary of Mike Rogers
War Diary: The Diary of Mike Rogers provides a daily look at the events during WW2, through the eyes of a 13-year old boy. Starting in September 1939, read as Mike lives through the Battle of Britain, the Dunkirk Evacuations, and many Military actions across Europe, Africa and the Far East culminating in reflections of a bygone age.
Diary Key Events - 1939
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Sept 1 -
Germany invades and bombs Poland. Britain mobilised
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Sept 3 -
War declared on Germany by Britain at 11am - by France at 5pm
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Sept 18 -
Aircraft carrier Courageous sunk
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Oct 14 -
Old Battleship Royal Oak sunk
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Oct 19 -
Turks sign treaty to help Allies
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Nov 3 -
Finland invaded by Russia
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Dec 18 -
Graf Spee scuttled in south of Montevideo harbour
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Dec 28 -
and after… Tremendous earthquakes in Turkey. Whole towns wiped out in dozens
Diary Key Events - 1940
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Mar 13 -
Finland gives in to Russia
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Apr 9 -
Denmark and Norway invaded by Germany. Denmark gives in. Resistance in Norway
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May 10 -
Holland and Belgium invaded by Germany. Allied troops rush into Belgium.
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May 30 -
BEF embarking from Dunkirk for England
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Jun 13 -
Paris falls
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Jun 17 -
France falls
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Jun 24 -
Armistice signed between France and Italy
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Aug 7 -
Italian Invasions of British Somaliland starts
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Sept 7 -
London bombed. Big fire in East London docks started. Nightly London raids start
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Oct 6 -
German and Italian Troops enter Roumania
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Oct 28 -
War declared between Italy and Greece. We have promised to help Greece. Empress of Britain sunk
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Nov 5 -
Roosevelt elected as President for 3rd term in USA
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Dec 9 -
Greeks captured Argirocastro. British Offensive in Egypt begins
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Dec 12 -
British troops captured Sidi Barrani
Diary Key Events - 1941
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Jan 6 -
Bardia fell to Australian troops
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Jan 29 -
General Metaxas died.
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Mar 25 -
Yugoslavia signed pact with Axis
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Apr 6 -
Germany declared War on Yugoslavia and Greece. Addis Ababa captured
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Apr 19 -
Mr Koryzis, Greek Prime Minister committed suicide
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May 3 -
Hostilities in Iraq begin
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May 10 -
Hess, Hitler’s deputy fled by plane to Britain
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May 27 -
Bismarck, Germany’s great battleship sunk by Torpedoes
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May 30 -
Rashid Ali signs armistice in Iraq
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Aug 7-8 -
First Russian raid on Berlin
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Aug 15 -
First news of the Atlantic meeting of Mr Churchill and President Roosevelt received
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Aug 28 -
Mr Menzies Australian PM resigned
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Sept 3 -
Battle for Leningrad began
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Nov 8 -
Greatest yet RAF raid on Germany and Berlin
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Nov 14 -
Ark Royal Sunk
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Nov 20 -
British offensive began in Libya. Russian evacuated Kerch
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Dec 7 -
War declared on Finland, Romania and Hungary
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Dec 7-8 -
War declared by Japan on Great Britain and USA
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Dec 11 -
German and Italy declared War on USA
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Dec 25 -
Hong Kong surrendered
Diary Key Events - 1942
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Jan 2 -
Manila, capital of Philippines fell to Japs. Bardia Occupied
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Feb 8 -
First Jap landings in Singapore Island
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Feb 15 -
Singapore fell to the Japanese
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Mar 4 -
First RAF raid on northern France on the Renault works in Paris
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Apr 6 -
Ceylon had its first air raid - from a Jap carrier
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Apr 20 -
First US troops arrived in India
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May 8 – 11 -
Coral Sea Naval Battle Japs v US Navy
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May 31 -
RAF’s first 1,000 bomber raid
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Jun 5 -
Battle of Midway Islands US vs Japs (naval). Germans attempted at this time to get Sebastopol
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Aug 9 -
Gandhi and Congress leaders arrested
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Nov 4 -
German Army in Egypt in full retreat
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Nov 13 -
Tobruk occupied by 8th Army
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Dec 20 -
Darlan assassinated
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Dec 29 -
French Somaliland joined Allies
Diary Key Events - 1943
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Jan 23 -
8th Army enter Tripoli
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Jan 27 -
News realised of Casablanca Conference
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Feb 1 -
8th Army captured Zuara. Announcement of Mr Churchill’s visit to Turkey
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Feb 6 -
Russian captured Yeisk
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Feb 11 -
General Eisenhower appointed Commander-in-Chief of North Africa
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May 12 -
End of Tunisian Campaign. General Von Arnim surrendered
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Jul 19 -
Rome bombed for the first time.
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Jul 25 -
Mussolini resigned from Dictatorship of Italy
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Jul 29 -
German troops pouring into Italy
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Aug 14 -
Italians have declared Rome an open city
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Aug 24 -
Berlin got heaviest attack as yet
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Oct 14 -
Italy declared War on Germany. 5th establishing bridgehead over the Volturno River
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Nov 6 -
Kiev fell to Red Army
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Dec 1 -
Cairo Conference
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Dec 3 -
Tehran conference. 5th Army also opened offensive on Italian Front
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Dec 27 -
Scharnhorst sunk
Diary Key Events - 1944
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Jan 7 -
Opening of Russian Winter offensive in Dnieper Bend
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Jan 21 -
Heaviest yet raid on Berlin
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Jan 31 -
Battle for Pacific Marshall Islands began
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Feb 15 -
Monastery on Monte Cassino bombed today
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Mar 31 -
Russians over the Roumanian Border
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May 12 -
All out Allied attack in Italy begun
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Jun 4 -
Rome fell
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Jun 6 -
Allied invasion of Europe from West began. Forces landed in Normandy
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Jun 16 -
First full-scale flying bomb attack against Southern England
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Jun 23 -
Russians opened a full-scale summer offensive on Central Front
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Jun 25 -
American troops in Cherbourg
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Jul 31 -
US column in Normandy took Avenches. British in Le Beny Bocage. Red Army reached outskirts of Warsaw
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Aug 15 -
Allied Forces landed in South France, on the Rivera
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Aug 23 -
Roumania capitulated
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Aug 30 -
Red Army on Ploesti. In France, battle of “flying-bomb coast” began
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Sept 3 -
British and Canadian forces in Belgium
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Sept 4 -
British forces reached Holland. Brussels in Allied hands Antwerp fell
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Sept 5 -
US troops entered Luxembourg. Russia declared War on Bulgaria
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Sept 11 -
American took fight to German soil. Churchill Roosevelt talks on Japan at Quebec.
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Sept 16 -
Allied forces landed on Palau and Halmahera Islands in Pacific
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Oct 5 -
British forces landed in Greece
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Dec 11 -
Biggest force of US bombers go out from England attacking the Reich
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Dec 20 -
Burma; Allied troops crossed Chinese border for first time. Good progress continued on SW Coast front
Diary Key Events - 1945
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Jan 9 -
US landings on Luzon in Philippines
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Jan 13 -
Russian winter offensive began
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Feb 3 -
Over 100 fortresses gave Berlin its heaviest day raid
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Mar 6 -
Cologne captured by US 1st Army
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Mar 9 -
Tokyo had first Super Fort fire-raid
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Mar 14 -
RAF dropped first 22,000lb earthquake HE bomb
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Mar 25 -
British and American troops over the Rhine linked up Hodges broke out of the Remegen bridgehead
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Apr 17 -
German rout in Italy starting
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Apr 25 -
Berlin completely encircled
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Apr 29 -
Mussolini shot in Milan. British crossed lower Elbe
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May 1 -
Germans say Hitler dead
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May 2 -
German Armies in Italy surrender. Berlin fell to the Russians
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May 5 -
All German troops in North Germany, Denmark and Low countries surrendered - except those in the Czechoslovakia area
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May 8 -
VE Day
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Jul 10 -
2,000 planes over Japan
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Jul 14 -
US warships shelled Japan for first time
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Aug 5-6 -
First Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan.
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Aug 8 -
Russia declared War on Japan
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Aug 9 -
Second Atomic Bomb despatched on Japan
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Aug 15 -
VJ Day
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Project 77
London, United Kingdom - alanbeardsley@war-diary.co.uk