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JUNE 27

1940
All French ships in British ports are seized by the Royal Navy.

German troops reach Franco-Spanish border.

Romania agrees to cede Bessarabia to the USSR.

French C-in-C in Syria accepts armistice terms.

Japanese troops occupy part of the Hong Kong peninsula.

1941
German forces capture Bobruisk and Przemysl. Hungary declares war on the Soviet Union and agrees to send troops to help Army Group South.

Denmark severs diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

1942
World War II Today: June 27 - The FBI announced the capture of eight Nazi saboteurs The FBI announced the capture of eight Nazi saboteurs who had been put ashore from a submarine on New Yorks Long Island.

Convoy PQ-17 sets sail from Iceland. It consists of 35 merchants, 3 rescue ships and 2 tankers for refueling and is heavily loaded with 297 aircraft, 594 tanks, 4246 lorries and gun carriers, plus an additional 156,000 tons of cargo. The convoy is to be guarded by 21 close escorts, 7 warships from a cruiser covering force and a further 19 warships in a distant covering force. All told 1 aircraft-carrier, 2 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 23 destroyers, 4 corvettes, 3 minesweepers, 2 AA ships, 4 ASW trawlers are to protect the convoy. Additionally, 15 submarines, six of them Russian are placed ahead of the the convoy.

Dr. Heinisch, the German administrator in the Przemysl area, issues a public instruction. Every Ukrainian or Pole who attempts by any means whatsoever to impede the campaign for the deportation of Jews, will be shot. Every Ukrainian or Pole found in a Jewish quarter looting Jewish homes will be shot. Every Ukrainian or Pole attempting to conceal a Jew will be shot. In the next month, 24,000 Jews from western Galicia, Heinischs district, pass through Przemysl. All are taken to Belzec and killed.

German troops begin to outflank the British positions at Mersa Matruh. As this happens the British start to withdraw towards the El Alamein line, confirming radio intercepts that had indicated they would.

1944
The British gain Hill 112 in Normandy.

The Red Army recaptures Orsha on the Dnieper and destroys the trapped German 53rd Korps near Vitebsk. Further gains are reported by the Russians at Mogilev to the South of Vitebsk.

The American Army captures the port city of Cherbourg, France.

1945
The U.S. Sixth Army reaches Aparri, effectively ending the campaign on Luzon.

In a sure sign the war is winding down, the Ford company lays off workers at its Willow Run airplane factory near Detroit. The employee force is reduced to 4,000, from a peak of 42,000 workers making B-24 bombers.