| Military history of Gibraltar during World War II • Timeline of events • .jpg) as it leaves Gibraltar on a patrol, 1942 (Imperial War Museum) | |
|---|---|
| Late 1939 | Construction of a solid surface runway begins in Gibraltar. |
| 9 Sep 1939 | No. 202 Squadron RAF is ordered to Gibraltar. |
| 25 Sep 1939 | No 200 (Coastal) Group is formed as a subordinate formation to HQ RAF Mediterranean. |
| Jun 1940 | 13,500 civilian evacuees are shipped to Casablanca in French Morocco. |
| 13 Jul 1940 | Following the creation of Vichy France, Gibraltarian civilians are returned to Gibraltar prior to movement to other locations. |
| Jul 1940 | Evacuees are shipped to the Atlantic island of Madeira and to London. |
| 9 Oct 1940 | 1,093 refugees re-evacuated to Jamaica. |
| 10 Mar 1941 | Operation Felix, the German plan for the invasion of Gibraltar, is amended to become Operation Felix-Heinrich, which delays the invasion until after the fall of the Soviet Union, effectively putting an end to German invasion plans. |
| Late 1941 | Plans for Operation Tracer, a stay-behind plan to be put in place in the event of an invasion of Gibraltar, are formulated. |
| Jan 1942 | Equipment trials for Operation Tracer begin. |
| Mid-1942 | Operation Tracer is pronounced ready for deployment. |
| Jul 1942 | Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed Allied Commander-in-Chief of Operation Torch. |
| 5 Nov 1942 | Eisenhower arrives in Gibraltar to take command |
| 4 Jul 1942 | A Liberator bomber from RAF Transport Command takes off from Gibraltar and crashes, killing Władysław Sikorski, Polish military and political leader |
| Nov 1943 | Resettlement Board established. |
| 6 Apr 1944 | First group of 1,367 repatriates arrives on Gibraltar directly from the United Kingdom. |
| 28 May 1944 | First repatriation party leaves Madeira for Gibraltar. |
| 8 May 1945 | Victory in Europe Day |
