11 May 1940 | World War II Database

11 May 1940

King George VI of the United Kingdom signed the proclamation canceling the Whitsun holiday. ww2dbase [George VI | CPC]
Switzerland mobilized its military forces in response to the German invasion of the neutral Low Countries on the previous day. Civilians in towns near the German-Swiss border fled south. ww2dbase [CPC]
British troops landed on Dutch islands of Aruba and Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea. US President Roosevelt announced that these actions were not contrary to the Monroe Doctrine. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | CPC]
Germany occupied Luxembourg. In Belgium, German airborne troops captured the "impregnable" Fort Eben Emael while tanks crossed Albert Canal bridges in an attempt to move behind Belgian defensive lines. Troops of the German 9th Panzer Division crossed the Meuse River; at 1200 hours, they found an undefended bridge over the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal 50 miles from Rotterdam, where airborne troops of the German 22nd Flieger Division held on to bridges along the Nieuwe Maas River, awaiting the arrival of ground troops. Seven German armored divisions began to spearhead into the Ardennes Forest, brushing aside the few French cavalry units guarding this route into France. ww2dbase [Invasion of France and the Low Countries | CPC]
Winston Churchill named Lord Beaverbrook the head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. This ministry reported to the War Cabinet, and was responsible for setting aircraft production priorities. ww2dbase [Beaverbrook | CPC]
US President Roosevelt announced that the US was now officially recognizing the state of war between Germany and the Low Countries and reaffirmed American neutrality in that conflict. He restricted submarines of any of the nations involved in that conflict to use American ports and territorial waters, exclusive of the Panama Canal Zone. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed Anthony Eden as Secretary of State for War. ww2dbase [Anthony Eden | AC]

United Kingdom

Isaac Sweers arrived at the Thorneycroft shipyard in Southampton, England, United Kingdom by tow. ww2dbase [Isaac Sweers | Southampton, England | CPC]
Sir Archibald Sinclair replaces Sir Samuel Hoare as the British Secretary of State for Air. ww2dbase [London, England | AC]