War Cabinet which includes Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act is passed. All men aged 18–41 are now potentially liable for conscription. 7 September 1939 The National Registration Act is passed, introducing identity cards. 23 September 1939 Petrol rationing introduced. 27 September 1939 The first war tax is revealed by the Cabinet, including a significant increase in income taxes. 1 October 1939 Call-Up Proclamation: all men aged 20–21 who have not already done so must apply for registration with the military authorities. 6 October 1939 With the end of formal Polish resistance the Phoney War begins; It lasts until April 1940. There was little military action, although the Allies (Britain and France) began economic warfare, and shut down the German surface raiders. They created elaborate plans for numerous large-scale operations designed to swiftly and decisively cripple the German war effort. These included opening a French-British front in the Balkans; invading Norway to seize control of the Germany's main source of iron ore; and a strike against the Soviet Union, to cut off its supply of oil to Germany. Only the Norway plan came to fruition, and it was too little too late in April 1940. November 1939 London schools start to reopen because of evacuee children returning to the capital. 1940 January 1940 35% of London schoolchildren had returned from evacuation. 8 January 1940 First food rationing introduced. May to June 1940 Further evacuation of 160,000 children from London and relocation of children who had been settled near vulnerable coastal areas. Winston Churchill gives a series of famous speeches in Parliament: "Blood, toil, tears, and sweat", "We shall fight on the beaches" and "This was their finest hour." 7 May 1940 The debate on the recent military failure in Norway leads (on 10 May) to Chamberlain's resignation. 10 May 1940 Germany invades France and the Low Countries, ending the Phoney War. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister and forms an all-party coalition government. 12 May 1940 Internment of all German or Austrian males aged between 16 and 60 begins, starting with those living nearest to the south and east coasts. 14 May 1940 In a BBC radio broadcast Anthony Eden calls for the creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) militia – renamed on 23 July the Home Guard. 22 May 1940 The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 is passed, granting the government