1st and 71st Anniversary of 'The Wizard Of Oz' movie

August 12th, 1940 & 2010

To the world in 1940, the movie 'Wizard Of Oz' starring Judy Garland was one year old. It has withstood the test of time to become the classic it is today at 71 years old. Here are 71 facts about the movie.

1) So frightening was Margaret Hamilton's performance as the Wicked Witch of the West that most of her scenes were heavily edited or cut entirely.

2) When the script was written, the part of the Wizard had been earmarked for WC Fields.

3) Judy Garland's white dress was actually pink as it was easier to shoot in Technicolor.

4) A sequel using the original cast was mooted, but scrapped after Garland became such a big star and Hamilton expressed doubts over the feasibility of such a project.

5) The film has numerous lines in Premiere magazine's poll to find the 100 Greatest Movie Lines. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" came in at No 24.

6) "There's no place like home" came in at No 11.

7) "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" was at No 62.

8) "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" was No 99.

9) The same magazine named it one of the 20 most overrated movies of all time.

10) Judy Garland's childlike physique was achieved with the help of a corset.

11) Several actors playing Winged Monkeys were injured when the piano wires holding them up snapped during a shoot on the haunted forest scene.

12) An unused screenplay was written by Ogden Nash.

13) Reports suggest each Munchkin earned $50 per week, while Toto bagged $125 per week.

14) Jell-O crystals were stuck over all the horses in the Emerald City palace to lend them their colour. The scenes were shot speedily, before the horses began to lick them off.

15) The running time is 101 minutes, but the original cut was 112 minutes – only audiences at test screenings have seen the additional 11 minutes.

16) MGM toned down the gore in L Frank Baum's novel, which involves scenes showing "Kalidahs" (tiger-bear hybrids) being dashed to pieces in a crevasse, the Tin Woodman using his axe to decapitate a wildcat and 40 wolves, and bumblebees stinging themselves to death against the Scarecrow.

17) The production costs came in at $2,777,000 – a vast sum for the time. On initial release, the film only earned $3m.

18) MGM head Louis B Mayer had the idea of changing the colour of the slippers from silver to ruby.

19) The song Over the Rainbow came in at No 1 on the American Film Institute's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Songs in American Films. It was adopted by American troops in Europe in World War II as a symbol of the United States.

20) The film is rated No 1 on the AFI's 2008 list of the 10 greatest fantasy films.

21) In their 2007 list, the AFI ranked it as the 10th greatest film of all time.

22) So scary were the costumes worn by Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley that they had to eat meals in their dressing rooms, lest they alarm other diners in the MGM cafeteria.

23) Bert Lahr's costume weighed 90 pounds

24) In 1989, a pair of real ruby slippers were made to mark the 50th anniversary. These are valued at $3m.

25) Louis B Mayer's trigger for getting the film into production was to trump the critical and commercial success of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

26) Five different directors and 14 writers were involved in various stages of pre-production.

27) Judy Garland won an Oscar Juvenile Award in 1939 for her role; a gong she would later refer to as the Munchkin award.

28) L Frank Baum received $75,000 for the rights to his book.

29) Standard industrial paint, bought from a hardware store several blocks away from the studio, was used to coat the bricks on the Yellow Brick Road.

30) The oft-quoted line "Fly my pretties, fly" is a falsely remembered bit of dialogue – it's actually "Fly, Fly, Fly."

31) The fire that engulfs the Witch's hands as she's trying to remove the ruby slippers is actually apple juice spewing out of the shoes – the film was then sped up to make it look more like fire.

32) The uniforms of the Flying Monkeys match those worn by the Witch's castle guards (or Winkies).

33) A recycled bit of score from the film Marie Antoinette (1938) can be heard during the castle escape film – the music for both films was composed by Herbert Stothart.

34) To show Dorothy's house falling from the sky, a miniature house was dropped onto a sky painting on the stage floor, then the film reversed to make it appear the film was falling towards the camera.

35) Jack Haley's Tin Woodsman costume was so stiff that he had to lean against a board if he wanted a rest.

36) The film is meant to be one of the most watched in the western world, partly because of its heavy presence on TV schedules.

37) The head winged monkey is called Nikko – also the name of the Japanese town home to the shrine featuring the Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil monkeys.

38) In 2007, the Munchkins were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Seven of them attended the ceremony: Mickey Carroll, Ruth L Robinson, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Karl "Karchy" Kosiczky and August Clarence Swenson.

39) Baum thought up the name for Oz when looking at his filing cabinets, organised A-N and O-Z.

40) Jack Haley regularly claimed that making the film was far from enjoyable. "Like Hell, it was; it was work!", he was say.

41) Judy Garland couldn't stop giggling while filming the scene in which Dorothy slaps the Cowardly Lion. So the director, Victor Fleming, took her aside and slapped her. She returned to the set and filmed the scene in one take.

42) The line "What makes the dawn come up like thunder?" in the Cowardly Lion's speech about courage is a reference to a line in Rudyard Kipling's Mandalay: "An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!"

43) The tornado was a 35-foot-long muslin stocking, spun around among miniatures of a Kansas farm and fields in a dusty atmosphere.

44) Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute CBS Radio adaptation of the movie on Christmas Day 1950 with Judy Garland reprising her film role as Dorothy.

45) In 1985 Disney made a sequel to Wizard of Oz named Return to Oz. It has since become a cult classic.

46) The musical Wicked is based on the Witches of Oz. It's essentially a back story to The Wizard of Oz, and shows the Wicked Witch of the West is a positive light.

47) The stage version of The Wizard of Oz returns to London's West End in February 2011. The role of Dorothy was decided by BBC talent show Over the Rainbow, which aired in spring 2010.

48) Four sets of slippers were used in the film, one pair of which was stolen from a museum in Minnesota in 2005. They were insured for $1m.

49) The film won two Oscars for best original score and best original song, and was nominated for best art direction, best cinematography and best effects.

50) A Cairn terrier called Terry played the role of the dog Toto.

51) Spotlights and shadows from camera equipment are visible on the grass as Dorothy and the Scarecrow dance off singing "We're off to see the Wizard".

52) Hamilton was hospitalised with severe burns after a botched explosion in a take of the moment in which she disappears into a cloud of smoke.

53) In the final version of this scene Hamilton is clearly visible making her exit through a trap door.

54) In the original novel, the gift given to the Tin Man is not a heart clock but a stuffed satin heart put into the Woodsman's chest and then patched over with tin.

55) When George Cukor started as the director, Garland wore a blond wig and heavy, "baby-doll" makeup. Cukor changed Judy Garland's and Margaret Hamilton's makeup and costumes and instructed Garland to act more naturally, necessitating wholescale reshoots.

56) Most actors on the five-month shoot worked six days a week and had to arrive at the studio at four and five in the morning to be fitted with makeup and costumes. They would then work till seven or eight at night.

57) The early Technicolor process required a huge amount of lighting, which would often heat the set to over 100 degrees.

58) Jack Haley's aluminium paste makeup gave the actor a severe eye infection.

59) Margaret Hamilton's makeup could not be ingested, so she lived almost entirely on a liquid diet during filming.

60) A persistent rumour suggested one of the Munchkins can be seen having committed suicide by hanging himself in the background of one scene. But it's been proved false: it was actually a wild crane used in the forest scene.

61) When Margaret Hamilton returned from hospital following her burns accident, she refused to do the scene in which she flies on a broomstick that billows smoke, so the directors brought in stand-in Betty Danko instead. Danko was severely injured doing the scene.

63) The New York premiere at Loew's Capitol Theater on 17 August 1939 was followed by a live performance with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. They would continue to perform there after each screening for a week, extended in Rooney's case for a second week and in Garland's to three.

64) The film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress, which selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1989.

65) In June 2007, the film was listed on Unesco's Memory of the World Register.

66) Last year the San Francisco Chronicle devoted a film section front page to the film, in which Mick LaSalle declared that the film's "entire sequence, from Dorothy's arrival in Oz to her departure on the yellow brick road, has to be one of the greatest in cinema history — a masterpiece of set design, costuming, choreography, music, lyrics, storytelling and sheer imagination."

67) A prequel to Wizard of Oz is scheduled to be released in 2013. The working title is Oz: The Great and Powerful. It will be directed by Spider-Man's Sam Raimi and is likely to star Robert Downey, Jr.

68) The pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd music album The Dark Side of the Moon with the visual portion of the film produces moments where the film and the album appear to correspond with each other in a music video-like experience. This juxtaposition has been called Dark Side of the Rainbow.

69) The Observer Music Monthly voted it the greatest film soundtrack of all time.

70) On the Rotten Tomatoes website, 100% of critics give the film positive reviews.

71) The film is at No 10 on the BFI's list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.

(copied from Google Anniversary Commemorative article)

The beginning of The Desert Fox

In all my reading of World War II, both European and Pacific theaters, from both allied and enemy points of view, the one soldier's story that stands out from the rest for me would be that of General Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944). To fully understand his current status as Germany's greatest war hero, and his downfall during the war, a few more details than just the battles he fought with tanks need to be understood. There are many books and treatises but my favorite has to be David Irving's "Rommel: The Trail Of The Fox", garnered from some 2000 letters Rommel wrote to his wife Lucie and his own diary. This book is available as a free download online, just google it.

Condensed below are excerpts from Wiki detailing the events leading up to the fall of France, and while launching his career as an innovative general and figurehead of German propaganda, so to began his unpopularity with Germany's morally bankrupt military leaders.

On 6 February 1940, only three months before the invasion, Rommel was given command of the 7th Panzer-Division, for Fall Gelb ("Case Yellow"), the invasion of France and the Low Countries. This string-pulling provoked resentment among fellow officers. The Chief of Army Personnel had rejected Rommel's request on the grounds of his having no experience with armor, instead suggesting he was more suitable for commanding a mountain division lacking a commander. Rommel had, however, emphasized the use of mobile infantry and had come to recognize the great usefulness of armored forces in Poland. He set about adapting himself and learning the techniques of armored warfare rapidly and with great enthusiasm. In fact, his division became known as the "Ghost Division" because the pace and extent of their attacks put them so far forward that they were frequently out of communication with the rest of the army, leaving their exact position unknown to this day.

On 10 May 1940 a part of XV Corps under General Hoth (nod to Star Wars fans: origin of the name?), advanced into Belgium to proceed to the Meuse river near the Walloon municipality of Dinant. At the Meuse, 7th Panzer was held up owing to the bridges having been destroyed and to determined sniper and artillery fire from the Belgian defenders. The Germans lacked smoke grenades, so Rommel, having assumed personal command of the crossing, ordered a few nearby houses to be set on fire to conceal the attack. The German Panzergrenadiers crossed the river in rubber boats, with Rommel leading the second wave. The Division dashed further inland, always spurred on by Rommel and far in front of any friendly forces.

On 20 May Rommel's tanks reached Arras. Here he wanted to cut off the British Expeditionary Force from the coast and Hans von Luck, commanding the reconnaissance battalion of the Division, was tasked with forcing a crossing over the La Bassée canals near the city. Supported by Stuka dive bombers, the unit managed to force a crossing. The British launched a counterattack (the Battle of Arras) on 21 May with Matilda tanks, and the Germans found their 3.7-cm guns useless against the heavy armor. A battery of 88 mm guns had to be brought up to deal with the threat, with Rommel personally directing the fire.

After Arras, Hitler ordered his tanks to hold their positions, while the British, in Operation Dynamo, evacuated their troops at Dunkirk, and the 7th Panzer Division was given a few days of much-needed rest. On 26 May, 7th Panzer continued its advance, reaching Lille on 27 May. For the assault on the town, General Hoth placed his other tank division, 5th Panzer Division, under Rommel's command, to the chagrin of its commander, General Max von Hartlieb. The same day, Rommel received news that he had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross; he was the first divisional commander to be so honored during the campaign. This award, which had been secured for Rommel at Hitler's behest, caused more animosity among fellow officers, who were critical of Rommel's close relationship with Hitler. They believed that this was further evidence that Hitler seemed to give Rommel preferential treatment.

On 28 May, while making the final push into Lille and far in front of friendly forces, 7th Panzer came under heavy fire from French artillery. Rommel drove his forces on, capturing Lille, trapping half of the French First Army, and preventing their retreat to Dunkirk. After this coup, Rommel's forces were again given time to rest.

Rommel, resuming his advance on 5 June, drove for the River Seine to secure the bridges near Rouen. Advancing 100 kilometres (62 mi) in two days, the Division reached Rouen only to find the bridges destroyed. On 10 June, Rommel reached the coast near Dieppe, sending his "Am at coast" signal to the German HQ.

On 15 June, 7th Panzer started advancing on Cherbourg. On 17 June, the Division advanced 35 kilometres (22 mi), capturing the town on the following day. The Division then proceeded towards Bordeaux but stopped when the armistice was signed on 21 June. In July, the Division was sent to the Paris area to start preparations for Operation Seelöwe, the planned invasion of Britain. The preparations were half-hearted, however, as it became clear that the Luftwaffe would not be able to secure air superiority over the Royal Air Force.

The Day the First Bomb Fell

Today marks the 65th anniversary of America's atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. And for the first time ever, a U.S. representative participated in the annual commemoration.
Hiroshima's mayor welcomed Washington's decision to send U.S. Ambassador John Roos to Friday's commemoration, which began with an offering of water to the 140,000 who died in the first of two nuclear bombings that prompted Japan's surrender in World War II.
The site of the world's first A-bomb attack echoed with the choirs of schoolchildren and the solemn ringing of bells Friday as Hiroshima marked its biggest memorial yet. At 8:15 a.m. -- the time the bomb dropped, incinerating most of the city -- a moment of silence was observed.
On August 9, 1945, three days after Hiroshima, the U.S. bombed Nagasaki, killing around 80,000 people. Japan surrendered a week later, on August 15, thereby ending WWII.

(from edited Huffington Post article, picture from Life.com/1945 Bernard Hoffman)

Erroll Flynn, the war years

The Tasmanian-born Flynn had looks, charm and athleticism to spare. He became an overnight sensation with the swashbuckling 1935 classic "Captain Blood" and followed that with 1936's "The Charge of the Light Brigade," 1938's "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and 1940's "The Sea Hawk."

That success notwithstanding, Flynn, who became a U.S. citizen in 1942, was turned down by every branch of the military because of a weak ticker, recurrent malaria, chronic back pain, chronic TB and a variety of venereal diseases. So the actor fought World War II in five eclectic action-adventure movies, which are being released on DVD this week by Warner Home Video.
Here's a look at the films:

"Desperate Journey"
Made in early 1942 before his rape trial, "Desperate Journey" is the least successful of the films in this collection. Directed by Raoul Walsh, it's almost a comedic romp through Germany. The film revolves around an RAF Flying Fortress whose crew is assigned to bomb deep into Germany. After they are shot down, they must take on the Nazis to get back to England. Flynn plays a charming Australian and Ronald Reagan is a fun-loving American.

"Edge of Darkness"
Far more dramatic is this adventure, directed by Lewis Milestone, about the inhabitants of a small Norwegian fishing town who rise up against the Nazis. Flynn is at his heroic best as the leader of the resistance.
Production was difficult because Flynn was dealing with the rape trial and had trouble concentrating on acting. But perhaps the biggest scandal was that Flynn spent his downtime romancing costar Ann Sheridan, who was married to George Brent.

"Northern Pursuit"
With Walsh directing again, Flynn stars as a Canadian Mountie of German descent who captures a downed Luftwaffe pilot (Helmut Dantine) who is also the head of a secret spy ring. Flynn is recruited to pretend he is sympathetic to the Nazi cause in order to crush them.

"Uncertain Glory"
Flynn gives an understated performance as a French roué on the lam for murder who decides to turn himself in as a saboteur in order to save the lives of 100 people in a small French village. Paul Lukas plays a dogged French detective. Walsh directed.
The film was made just after Flynn had signed a big new contract with Warner Bros. that granted him more power over story, casting and directors. He later told an interviewer that the role was "the best I've ever had."

"Objective, Burma!"
A more mature Flynn heads the ensemble cast of Walsh's lengthy but inspiring 1945 epic, which the British later condemned because the film paid no attention to the role that England played in Burma. It also has come under criticism for its depiction of the Japanese people, but in 1945 those negative depictions were de rigueur. A huge critical and commercial hit, the film was nominated for three Oscars, including for Franz Waxman's pulsating score.
Flynn was reportedly well-behaved on the set. Walsh later said that "Errol was on his good behavior because he was writing a book when I was not using him. Between being gung ho with his men and typing his life story, he had no time for anymore than half a dozen drinks, which to him was almost total abstinence."

DiMaggio had 'defective attitude' toward military in World War II

Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio held a “defective attitude” toward military service during his World War II service, U.S. Army documents recently published.

According to Army medical reports, DiMaggio exhibited a “conscious attitude of hostility and resistance” toward his duties. DiMaggio served for 2-1/2 years as a physical instructor in the Army’s Special Services division, though he never saw combat nor was deployed overseas.

The two reports were written shortly before DiMaggio’s discharge in September 1945 by officers in the Army’s Medical Corps. In the reports, doctors say DiMaggio complained of persistent abdominal pain he believed was an ulcer and led to repeated hospitalizations.

But Major Emile G. Stoloff wrote that “no evidence” of an ulcer could be found. Major William G. Barrett contended that DiMaggio was hoping his medical complaints would “lead to release from his present unhappy situation” in the military.

During the interviews, DiMaggio complained that the Army was using his status as a baseball star for public relations. Barrett said DiMaggio felt “exploited” by having to play in Army baseball games. The records note that DiMaggio “resisted all such attempts ”by Stoloff to investigate why DiMaggio exhibited an “aversion to the use of his special skill.”

At the time, DiMaggio was 30 and had recently divorced his wife, who had custody of his young son. The doctors described DiMaggio as being more interested in his personal problems than in his “obligations to adjust to the demands of the service.” Stoloff concluded DiMaggio could still be of use to the Army under certain conditions, including that he not be required to play baseball, sign autographs, or do interviews.

DiMaggio returned to the Yankees in 1946, winning the American League MVP one year later and leading the Yankees to a World Series title.

(edited from New York Post uncredited article)

The Fall Of France

May 12-14, 1940
German forces reach the Meuse River, the crossing of which is critical for the advance into France. Dive-bombers pound French positions and inflatable rats are used to establish bridgeheads at Sedan and Dinant on the 13th. Despite Allied air attacks, German armor advances westward rapidly, opening a 50 mile (75km) gap in the Allied line.

May 15, Air War, Germany
Britain launches its first strategic air attack on Germany with 99 aircraft hitting oil plants and railroad yards in the Ruhr region.

May 16-20, Western Front, France
The French General Reserve and units south of the German forces are ordered to form the Sixth Army to bolster the vulnerable Allied lines, but this fails to halt the German Bltizkrieg.
Brigadier Gerneral Charles de Gaulle's 4th Armored Division sttempts to counterattack around Laon-Montcornet on May 17-19 but fails.
German tanks reach Cambrai on May 18, and finally the seat at Abbeville two days later. It now becomes critical for the Allies to cut the 'corridor' made by the panzers or risk the isolation of their armies to the north from the forces in the south. The dismissal of General Maurice Gamelin, the Allied commander-in-chief, and the appointment of Maxime Weygand as his successor on the 19th further delays military decision-making, which reduces the potential for any action.

The appointment of Marshal Petain as Vice Premier on the 19th prepares France for its coming capitulation to Germany.

May 20
The German Army reaches the English Channel, cutting the Allied forces in two. The commander-in-chief, von Brauchitsch, wants to round up trapped Anglo-French and Belgian troops, but Rundstedt decides to halt and regroup his forces. Eager to preserve his panzers for conquest of Paris, Hitler confirms these orders giving Goring's Luftwaffe the chance to distinguish itself by destroying the Allied armies in the Dunkirk Pocket. However, the sands reduce the effect of aircraft's bombs. British aircraft resist the attacks enabling the Allies to prepare for evacuation.

May 21-28, Dunkirk
British tanks battle with the 7th Panzer Division at Arras until May 23. General Heinz Guderian moves toward Boulogne and Calais unaffected by the Allied "Weygand Plan", which attempts to split the tank spearhead from troops and supplies in the German 'corridor".
On the 27th, British start evacuations of troops, "Operation Dynamo", including French and Belgian, from the beaches at Dunkirk to England.
Surviving constant harassment by German shelling, the evacuation doesn't end until June 3rd. Over 300,000 soldiers are taken to England, two-thirds of them British, but without their equipment and weapons. Another 200,000 are evacuated from other ports. This tremendous feat was possible by establishing a defensive perimeter between several canal lines, and by using any available ship, pleasure craft, commercial or personal fishing boats, and naval vessels brave enough to make the crossing and recrossings under fire. Despite many losses, few boats within range turn down the call.

May 28, King Leopold of Belgium surrenders, suffering 7550 men killed. The surrender leaves the left flank of the Allied line increasingly vulnerable, and there is no hop of holding out in Belgium.

May 31, United States
President Franklin D. Roosevelt launches a billion-dollar defense program to bolster the armed forces.

June 1-9, Norway
After Britain and France reveal to the Norwegians that they are to begin an evacuation, troops begin to withdraw. King Haakon and his government leave for Britain on the 7th, and 24,500 troops are evacuated. The king finally orders the Norwegians to stop fighting on June 9th, after losing 1335 men. Entire Allied losses include 5600 men, one carrier, two cruisers, nine destroyers plus other smaller craft, and 100 aircraft. German losses total 3692 men, 19 warships, and 242 aircraft.

June 4th, the Germans occupy Dunkirk and capture 40,000 French troops.

June 5-12
The German Army resumes its offensive, moving south and west into France using 119 divisions under "Operation Red". Guderian takes the French defensive Maginot Line in the rear and encirles a large part of the remaining French Army, which is now totally demoralized.
General Fedor von Bock's Army Group B attacking along the Somme River, reaches the Seine River west of Paris by June 9th. General von Rundstedt's Army Group A, moving toward the Moselle River in front of the Maginot Line, launches an offensive east of Paris.
Rundstedt's tanks, reinforced by Army Group B panzers, overcome resistance to break through at Chalons-sur-Marne on the 12th.
France's response, the Weygand Line, stretching along the Somme and Aisne Rivers, aims to protect Paris and the interior. Some of France's 65 divisions fight determined actions, but many units lack manpower and equipment. Air attacks and ligistical problems also undermine General Maxime Wegand's vulnerable forces.

June 8th, North Sea War
The German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sink three empty vessels and the British carrier Glorious while hunting for convoys from Norway. These losses are blamed on the British failure to provide sufficient naval escorts.

June 10th
Italy's Benito Mussolini eager to capitalize on France's collapse, declares war on Britain and France moves troops into southern France.
The French government leaves Paris, first to Tours, then to Bordeaux.
Some 11,000 British and other French troops begin to evacuate from St. Valery and Le Havre to Britain.

June 12-14, Mediterranean Sea War
Britain launces a naval bombardment against the Italian base of Tobruk, Libya. The French Navy bombards the ports of Genoa and Vado on the 14th. British air raids are also made on Turin and Genoa. Libyan and East African airfields are raided.

June 13
President Roosevelt signs a $1.3 billion navy bill to improve the service. Shipments of arms also leave the country in response to Winston Churchill's request for surplus weapons.
Paris is declared an "open city" in order to save it from destruction and all French forces withdraw south of the capital.

German troops enter Paris on June 14 as thousands flee the capital.
Germany's Army Group C, deployed from the Maginot Line to the Swiss border, breaks through French defenses, advancing in all directions, crossing the Rhine and Loire Rivers. All the coastal ports between Cherbourg and St. Nazaire are soon captured.

By the 15th, the evacuation of the remaining Allied troops in northwest France begins. "Operation Ariel" extends this to the Biscay ports by the 16th. Some 214,000 troops are saved, although 3000 perish when the liner Lancastria is sunk on the 17th.

Prime Minister Paul Reynaud of France releases France from its agreement with Britain not to make any separate peace, rejecting a union between the two countries. After losing support, he is replaced by Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain.
Petain requests Germany's armistice terms and the signing takes place at Compiegne, site of the World War I armistice agreement on the 22nd. Using the same railway carriage where the Germans surrendered in November, 1918.
Under the terms Germany occupies two-thirds of France, including the Channel and Atlantic coastlines. The south, which becomes known as Vichy France, will have a nominal French administration and keep its colonies.
Hitler imminently expects the surrender of Great Britain, which will enable him to turn his attention to the East. Meanwhile, the Soviets move into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and make them Soviet Republics.
After Italy's armistice with France on the 24th, a cease-fire occurs on all fronts. French casualties since May 10 total more than 85,000 men, British 3475, and German losses reach 27,074.

On June 27th, Britain announces a total blockade of the Continent.

Belgium Invaded

May 10-17th, 1940

Northern Front, Norway
The re-embarkation of Allied troops leaves the Germans in control of southern and central Norway. At Narvik in the north, 2000 German Alpine troops are slowly pushed back by 20,000 Allied troops.

Western Front, Belgium
Hitler moves to his forward headquarters, Felsennest (Cliff Nest) at Bad Munstereiffel, about 30 miles (48km) from the Belgian frontier, and issues the codeword 'Danzig' which sets off 'Fall Gelb' Operation Yellow, a strike through the Ardennes towards the English Channel to defeat the British and French.
Aircraft hit prearranged targets, while paratroopers prepared to seize vital objectives.
Before the Netherlands are attacked, a key frontier bridge is taken by "Brandenburgers", small groups of Dutch-speaking and sometimes Dutch-uniformed troops. Parachute troops are landed near The Hague and communications are soon in German hands.
Fort Eben Emael, guarding a bridge on the Begian border, is taken by German troops landing gliders on top of the caissons. Two panzer divisions move into Belgium.
Rotterdam is heavily bombed on the 14th to hasten the Dutch surrender. Rundstedt's Army Group A moves through southern Belgium, with a panzer corps under Guderian moving through the Ardennes' hills and forests.
The French, taken by surprise at armor coming through the "unpassable" Ardennes, wait for them to halt at the River Meuse. But Rommel's 7th Panzer Division crosses the river.
The same day, all of Guderian's panzers are across and racing through the open country beyond, with Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers clearing opposition before them. Their goal is to dislocate resistance.
General Ritter von Leeb's Army Group C covers France's Maginot Line, the subterranean forts and other defensive positions running along its border with Germany.
This is classic Blitzkrieg: to sustain the momentum of the advance by avoiding centers of resistance to strike the enemy's rear areas and lines of communication and supply. Bold commanders take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Rommel solidifies his position as a brilliant and take-hands-on charge of front-line tank combat strategist.

Dutch resistance to the German attack crumbles, despite opening the flood gates and mining the Rhine River to obstruct the enemy. German forces begin to approach the Allied Dyle Line, while Belgian defenders are driven back from the Albert Canal.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands escapes with the Dutch government to Britain on May 13. The city of Rotterdam is bombed before a cease-fire is declared on the 14th.


May 15th
The Dutch Army surrenders. One of Guderian's divisions is 40 miles (64km) beyond the Meuse and still advancing west.

May 17th
The Belgian capital, Brussels, is taken.