Today in World War II History—June 14, 1940 & 1945
German troops parading down the Champs Élysées in Paris, 14 June 1940 (German Federal Archive: Bild 146-1994-036-09A)
85 Years Ago—June 14, 1940: German troops take Paris and fly the swastika over the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower—German soldiers must climb 900 steps to do so, because French soldiers cut the elevator cables.
Gen. Sir Alan Brooke orders evacuation of all British troops from France, defying Churchill and French Gen. Weygand.
Germans send first prisoners to Auschwitz concentration camp—728 Polish political prisoners.
Britain bans ringing of church bells, which is reserved for invasion alerts.
US 96th Division on the top of Yaeju-Dake Hill, Okinawa, Japan, 18 Jun 1945 (US Army photo)
80 Years Ago—June 14, 1945: British arrest German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Hamburg; he will be executed after the Nuremberg Trials.
On Okinawa, US Tenth Army takes Yaeju-Dake peak and US Marines take Kunishi Ridge.
Premiere of Frank Capra’s War Comes to America, the final documentary in the Why We Fight series.
