22-Nov-39: German Mines Found Near Thames Estuary; British Introduce Savings Scheme; Romanian Cabinet Resigns
Today is 22-Nov-1939, the 53rd day of World War II; there are 2,110 days left in the conflict.
British police are notified that German magnetic mines have been found in the Shoeburyness mud flats near the Thames Estuary. They are from a batch parachuted down by a Luftwaffe Heinkel He-111 aircraft. Due to the use of the mines, the British previously announced reprisals; today, the French government announces its own reprisal rules.
The British introduce a national savings scheme and reintroduce a World War I-era effort to help neutral shipping. The savings scheme is urged to help the nation finance the war; it carries the slogan “Lend to Defend the Right to be Free.” Navicerts are issued again; first used in 1915 in the first year of the First World War, they are used to certify neutral ships carrying cargo considered not harmful to the Allied war effort.
The Romanian cabinet resigns en masse in Bucharest.