11-Nov-39: Germans Say Neutrality of Low Countries Is Assured; BEF Holds Armistice Day Ceremonies on French Battlefields; In Radio Broadcast, Queen Elizabeth Exhorts British Women
Today is 11-Nov-1939, the 42nd day of World War II; there are 2,121 days left in the conflict.
In response to invasion preparations in Holland and general nervousness expressed by the three Low Countries (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg), the German Foreign Ministry issues a statement the promises the Germans will continue to respect the neutrality of the countries in question and respect their territorial integrity. German patrols and artillery are largely quiet along the Western Front further to the south.
The British Expeditionary Force observes the anniversary of the World War I armistice (11:00 11-11-18) by holding ceremonies on the sites of some of the most intense fighting of that war. holds Armistice Day services amid the great battlefields of the First World War.
In a broadcast from Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth declares that the women of the British Empire will take a prominent role in the new struggle; she says British women “have real and vital work to do … keeping the Home Front, which will have dangers of its own, stable and strong.”