<Tr> <Td> 1939--40 Winter Offensive </Td> <Td> First large - scale Chinese counter-offensive operation . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of the River Plate </Td> <Td> The Admiral Graf Spee chased into Montevideo harbour and later scuttled . </Td> </Tr> <Table> <Tr> <Td> Battle of the Atlantic </Td> <Td> Name given to the conflicts in the Atlantic Ocean between 1940 and 1945 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Winter War <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> Battle of Kollaa </Dd> <Dd> Battle of Honkaniemi </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Td> <Td> <Dl> <Dd> </Dd> <Dd> The only tank battle during the Winter War . </Dd> </Dl> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> German invasion of Denmark </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Drøbak Sound </Td> <Td> Took place on the first day of the German invasion of Norway . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battles of Narvik </Td> <Td> Minor Allied victory in Norway . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Namsos </Td> <Td> Failed Allied attempt to halt the Germans in Norway . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Invasion of Iceland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of the Netherlands </Td> <Td> Germany defeats the Dutch in Europe during the opening stages of the first operation of the Battle of France, "Case Yellow" (Fall Gelb). </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Belgium </Td> <Td> Germany defeats Belgium during the continuation of Fall Gelb . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of France <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> Battle of Dunkirk </Dd> <Dd> Battle of Arras </Dd> <Dd> Battle of Boulogne </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Attack on Mers - el - Kébir </Td> <Td> Operation "Catapult". Feared by the possibility of some French ships moored in the French Algeria could fall in Axis hands, the Royal Navy proceed to a bombardment of Mers - El - Kebir . One French warship is sunk and three others damaged . The operation is in fine a failure as most of the French ships leave to Toulon, southern France . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Britain </Td> <Td> The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) fails to defeat the British Royal Air Force as the precondition for the invasion of Britain . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> British Somaliland </Td> <Td> Italian conquest of British Somaliland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> First Battle of French Indochina </Td> <Td> The forces of Imperial Japan successfully invade French Indochina but leave the Vichy French forces in control . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Dakar </Td> <Td> An unsuccessful attempt by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar from Vichy French control . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Greco - Italian War <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> Battle of Pindus </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> </Td> <Td> Italian forces invade Greece from Albania and are repelled . Greek counter-attack drives Italians back into Albania . <Dl> <Dd> </Dd> </Dl> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Gabon </Td> <Td> Free French forces under General Charles De Gaulle take Libreville, Gabon, from Vichy French forces . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Taranto </Td> <Td> British carrier - based planes destroy the Italian fleet in Taranto Harbor . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Hundred Regiments Offensive </Td> <Td> Major offensive by the Chinese Red Army against the Imperial Japanese Army . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Battle of Sidi Barrani </Td> <Td> The first he first big British attack of the Western Desert campaign . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> Battle of the Atlantic </Td> <Td> Name given to the conflicts in the Atlantic Ocean between 1940 and 1945 . </Td> </Tr>

Where did the first battle of ww2 take place