Given dates for the start and end of the phase may vary somewhat. In France the period from the official declaration of war on Germany on September 3 until the German invasion on the Benelux and France is known as drôle de guerre ("strange war"). This term was coined by the French journalist Roland Dorgelès who was reporting about the military inactivity on the Franco-German front. In Poland, which felt betrayed by her western allies, the term dziwna wojna ("strange war") is used for the period after all offensive operations ...
The Allies' only major military actions during the Phony War were at sea. Notable events among these were the following:
In October 1939 the obsolete battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk in Scapa Flow by the U-boat U-47.
In November 1939 German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was attacked by the cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles in the Battle of the River Plate and trapped in Montevideo harbour where she was scuttled.
On April 10, 1940, the mining of Norwe ...
The debacle of the British campaign in Norway, which actually was an offspring of the never-realised plans to aid Finland, forced a famous debate in the House of Commons during which the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was under constant attack. A nominal vote of confidence in his government was won by 281 to 200, but many of Chamberlain's supporters had voted against him whilst others had abstained. The humiliated Chamberlain found it impossible to continue to lead a National Government or to form a government of national unity ( ...
