28-Dec-39: Soviet Division Destroyed; Red Army High Command Regroups; Fritz Thyssen Protests German Actions to Hitler; Polish Deportations More Frequent; HMS Barham Hit by Torpedoes; British Start Meat Rationing; Japanese Bomb Lanchow
Today is 28-Dec-1939, the 89th day of World War II; there are 2,074 days left in the conflict.
The Soviet Red Army’s 163rd Division of the Ninth Army is destroyed by the Finns near Suomussalmi after attempts to relieve it by the 44th Division were turned back (and the 44th itself was destroyed). Training, tactics, and even cross-country skiing abilities all play a role in the Finnish successes. After successive failures to crack the Mannerheim Line throughout the Winter War, the Soviet high command orders preparations for a better-coordinated assault on the Finns.
German industrialist Fritz Thyssen, who played a key role in fundraising efforts and bankrolling the early National Socialist German Worker’s Party, as well as urging President Paul on Hindenburg to appoint appoint Adolf Hitler to the Reichskanzler post, writes a remarkable protest letter to Hitler from exile in Switzerland. Thyssen had been Prussian State Councillor for life, a member of the Reichstag for Dusseldorf East, and head of the institute for research into the corporate state, Standische Wirtschaftsordnung.
A devout Catholic, he resigned his posts and fled the country after protesting Hitler’s ongoing persecutions of religious communities, as well as the Non-Aggression Pact of 23-Aug-39 between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Thyssen was particularly upset by Reichkristallnacht, 9-10-Nov-38. The pogrom was triggered by the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a German-born Polish Jew named Herschel Grynszpan. The assassination touched off a oordinated attack on Jews and their property; 91 were murdered, 25,000 to 30,000 were arrested, 267 synagogues were destroyed and thousands of homes and businesses were ransacked by Hitler Jugend, the Gestapo and the SS. His property was confiscated and his citizenship revoked by Hitler after Thyssen left the country.
Thyssen’s letter to Hitler states:
“My conscience is clear. I know that I have committed no crime. My sole mistake is to have believed in you, our leader, Adolf Hitler, and in the movement initiated by you — to have believed with the enthusiasm of a passionate lover of my native Germany.
“Since 1923 I have made the greatest sacrifices for the National Socialist cause, have fought with word and deed, without asking any reward for myself, merely inspired by the hope that our unfortunate German people would finally recover. The initial events after the National Socialists come to power seemed to justify this hope, at least as long as Herr von Papen was vice-chancellor.
“A sinister development followed these events. The persecution of the Christian religion, taking the form of cruel measures against the priests and insults to the Churches, led me to protest in the early days, for instance when the police president of Dusseldorf issued a protest to Marshal Goering, It was in vain.
“When, on November 9th, 1938, the Jews were despoiled and martyrized in the most cowardly and brutal manner, and their temples razed to the ground throughout Germany, I also protested. To reinforce this protest, I resigned my office as state councillor. This, too, as in vain.”
Thyssen will eventually be arrested by Vichy French authorities and sent to a concentration camp. He will be freed by the Allies in 1945, but will convicted by a German court for being a former National Socialist leader. The court will order Thyssen to hand over 15% of his property to victims of the regime; he will die in 1951.
The Germans policy of ousting Poles from critical areas and bringing in ethnic Germans to colonize the former Polish areas begins to hit its stride. The whole population of Kalisz, 70,000 people, are deported and replaced by ethnic Germans from the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
On the high seas, the German Kriegsmarine’s unterseeboot U-30 torpedoes the British Battleship HMS Barham off the coast of northwest Scotland. The ship does not sink, but is laid up for repairs for three months.
The British government in London announces that the rationing of meat will go into effect immediately.
The Japanese Imperial Army conducts repeated bombing raids on the northwest Chinese military supply base at Lanchow.
26-Dec-39: Red Army Suffers More Losses; Finns Dig In Near Salla; Swedes Call Up Reserves; Royal Navy Mines Eastern British Coast; Australians Reach Wales
Today is 26-Dec-1939, the 87th day of World War II; there are 2,076 days left in the conflict.
The Soviet Red Army continues its attacks on the northern end of the Mannerheim Line in Finland, but have little success and suffer heavy losses. The Finns continue to hold advance positions near Salla.
Neutral Sweden calls up its military reservists due to continued signs of trouble between the Germans and Norwegians and the ongoing Winter War in Finland.
The British Royal Navy lays a barrier of mines from Moray Firth in the north of Scotland all the way south to the Thames Estuary in England. Pembroke, Wales, receives the first unit of the Royal Australian Air Force to reach the war zone.
23-Dec-39: Finns Suffer Winter War Setback; IRA Steals Irish Army’s Ammunition; South Americans Protest River Plate Battle
Today is 23-Dec-1939, the 84th day of World War II; there are 2,079 days left in the conflict.
After several recent success, the Finns suffer a setback when they counterattack the Soviet Red Army on the Karelian Isthmus and are repulsed. 1,500 casualties result and the counterattack is called off when night falls. The Soviets and Finns are beginning to experience stalemate in the Winter War.
Irish Republican Army troops steal 1.1 million rounds of small arms ammunition, the entire reserves of the Irish Army, from Phoenix Park. The army and police forces retaliate with large-scale searches and manage to recover most of the ammunition during the next 11 days.
More fallout from the River Plate battle on the border between Uruguay and Argentina ensues as the two, along with other South American countries, send notes to Germany, France and Britain protesting illegal fighting inside the security zone of neutral countries. They also issue a protest concerning detention and destruction of German merchant vessels by the British Royal Navy.
20-Dec-39: Red Army Attacks in Finland Weaken; Graf Spee’s Commander Commits Suicide in Buenos Aires; US Seeks to Prevent Export of Technical Data
Today is 20-Dec-1939, the 81st day of World War II; there are 2,082 days left in the conflict.
The Soviet Red Army attacks on the Mannerheim Line in the Battle of Summa are beginning to weaken, while the Finns cut off the Soviet 122nd Division at Salla, near the White Sea.
Captain Hans Langsdorff, commander of the German Kriegsmarine’s Admiral Graf Spee,, scuttled in the River Plate, commits suicide in his hotel room while interned by the Argentinians in Buenos Aires. British Royal Navy experts recover radar equipment from the German ship and begin a detailed examination of it.
The United States Navy’s Tuscaloosa arrives in New York harbor with 579 survivors of another German ship which was scuttled by its crew, the Columbus. They are disembarked on Ellis Island for processing.
In a further enhancement to its policy of neutrality, the United States issues regulations preventing the export of technical data which could help the production of aviation fuel in nations at war.
19-Dec-39: Battle of Summa Continues in Finland; Germans Scuttle Ship Off US Coast; British Scientists Develop Anti-Magnetic Mine Method
Today is 19-Dec-1939, the 80th day of World War II; there are 2,083 days left in the conflict.
The Battle of Summa in Finland continues with the Soviet Red Army attacking the Mannerheim Line continuously, with little success.
The Germans successfully launch a surface raiding ship, the Atlantis, but suffer a loss when the Kriegsmarine is forced to scuttle the liner Columbus 300 miles off the United States Atlantic coast. The ship had been stalked by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Hyperion, a destroyer, and the US Navy’s USS Tuscaloosa. The American ship broadcast the position of the German liner at regular intervals during the journey, and it had been unable to shake off the Tuscaloosa. With the Hyperion moving in for a kill, the German crew decided to scuttle the ship rather than risk their capture or destruction. The Germans have a case to protest the American action, since it violates neutrality policies, but decide not to press the issue.
A group of British Admiralty scientists headed by doctors D. F. Goodeve and E. C. Bullard successfully develop the degaussing method which cancels the magnetic field of ships, eliminating the threat of Germany’s magnetic mines, which have been causing such havoc in the waters around the British Isles since the beginning of the war. The method works by producing an opposite magnetic field and requires stringing an electric cable from a generator around a ship’s hull.
18-Dec-39: Soviet Attacks Continue on Various Finnish Defenses; Germans Down Half of British Air Raid Bombers Over Heligoland; Hitler Meets Quisling Again, Offers Aid; Graf Spee Fallout Continues
Today is 18-Dec-1939, the 79th day of World War II; there are 2,084 days left in the conflict.
Attacks by the Soviet Red Army continue on the Mannerheim Line around Summa, along with bombing of Helsinki from the air and shelling of battery positions along the Finnish Baltic coast. The United States Navy in Washington D.C. announces that 40 aircraft will be sent to aid the Finns in their Winter War against the Soviet Union.
The last daylight raid of the British Royal Air Force for 1939 occurs and results in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight. 22 armed Wellingtons are sent by Bomber Command to reconnoiter Wilhelmshaven. They are intercepted by 50 German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me-109 and Me-110 fighters, which shoot down 12 of the Wellingtons. The 50% casualty rate induces Bomber Command to abandon daylight raids for over four months.
German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler holds another meeting with Norway’s Vidkun Quisling in Berlin; the Norwegian fascist is promised financial support in return for any assistance he extends to the Germans during their upcoming invasion of Norway.
The aftermath of the Admiral Graf Spee continues to unfold; 1,039 German Kriegsmarine officers and sailors of the pocket battleship are interned by the Argentinians in Buenos Aires, while the British promote Commodore Henry Harwood of the HMS Ajax, considered the victor of the battle, to rear admiral.
17-Dec-39: Soviet Attacks Hammer Mannerheim Line at Summa, Are Repulsed; Finns Refine Successful Tactics, Destroy Two Red Army Divisions; First Canadian Division Lands in Liverpool; French Claim German Reconnaissance Flights Increased Over Western Front
Today is 17-Dec-1939, the 78th day of World War II; there are 2,085 days left in the conflict.
The saga of the Admiral Graf Spee German pocket battleship comes to an end in front of a large crowds lining the quays on both sides of the River Plate in South America. The ship had been in port at Montevideo, Uruguay, for several days for rest, repairs, and refueling, but British ships and diplomats moved to flush her out. The succeeded in have the Uruguayans insist that Spee leave her anchor (but not too quickly so that other Royal Navy ships have a chance to arrive) and have stationed HMS Ajax HMS Achilles at the mouth of the estuary. The drama is carried live worldwide via radio and attracts a large audience.
As the deadline for leaving port passes, the Graf Spee gets underway in the estuary, but suddenly stops; her crew is ordered to scuttle the ship rather than risk battle with heavy British forces. The battleship sinks, the crew is saved, not hostile shots are fired and the crowds on shore are treated to a rare spectacle.
The Soviet Union attacks again Finnish positions along the Mannerheim Line around Summa. A familiar pattern for the attacks emerged; tanks penetrate Finnish positions during the day; infantry support for them are head off until nightfall, then the Finns destroy the tanks during the night by emerging from deep hiding places. Finland claims two Red Army divisions have been destroyed and that they have captured 36,000 soldiers and surrounded another 20,000 troops.
The First Canadian Division lands the first troops on British soil upon their arrival in Liverpool with over 7,500 men under command of Major-General McNaughton. The force used five ocean liners to make the crossing; officers were kept in suites and the enlisted men in first class cabins.
French forces along the Western Front note that there has been an increase in German Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights over the front lines in recent days.
15-Dec-39: Battle of Soumassalmi Begins; Finns See Battlefield Success, Attempt to Open Negotiations, But Refuse to be Conquered; Uruguay Ousts German Battleship; Chamberlain Visits British Expeditionary Force in France
Today is 15-Dec-1939, the 76th day of World War II; there are 2,087 days left in the conflict.
The Battle of Soumussalmi begins during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The Finns destroy the Soviet 139th Division at Tolvajarvi as well as the 75th Division. The Finns broadcast an appeal for negotiations to end the conflict to the Soviets, but are firm in saying that attempts to annex any part of Finland will be resisted to the last. “The Finns will never submit to a foreign yoke,” the broadcast states.
In the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, the neutrality of the country is put to a test as the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee puts in port to repair damage and take on fuel from a German tanker. The drama is followed around the world via radio. The Uruguayan government, bowing to pressure from the British, finally order the battleship to leave the port within 72 hours.
The British Expeditionary Force is visited by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain along its defensive line in France. The BEF is in contact with German forces around Metz.
14-Dec-39: League of Nations Expels Soviet Union, Urges Help for Finland; Winter War Continues; Hitler Orders Operational Planning for Invasion of Norway; Chinese Nationalists/Communists Clash in Ningxian; German Liner Attempts to Run British Blockade as US Ship Shadows Her
Today is 14-Dec-1939, the 75th day of World War II; there are 2,088 days left in the conflict.
The League of Nations, meeting in emergency debate in Geneva, formally expels the Soviet Union and names it an aggressor in violation of treaties with Finland, the League Covenant and the Pact of Paris. League member states are asked to give all possible assistance to Finland; the League will coordinate international aid programs for the Finns. The Soviets launch a new offensive near Petsamo, while the Finns continue to hammer away a the Soviet Eighth Army.
German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler orders the OKW – Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (armed forces high command) to begin preparations for the invasion of Norway under the codename Weserubung (Exercise Weber). He is now convinced he must secure Norwegian natural resources for the Reich before Britain cuts them off.
In the Asian theater, Chinese Nationalist forces occupy Ningxian after bitter fights with Chinese Communist troops.
The German liner Columbus departs the Mexican port of Vera Cruz in an effort to run the British blockade back to Germany. An American cruiser USS Tuscaloosa shadows the ship as part of neutrality patrol and broadcasts its location on open radio channels.
13-Dec-39: Finns Press Attacks on Soviet Eighth Army; River Plate Estuary Drama Unfolding Over Graf Spee; Royal Navy Sub Torpedoes German Cruisers; House of Commons Holds Secret Session
Today is 13-Dec-1939, the 74th day of World War II; there are 2,089 days left in the conflict.
A series of attacks by the Finns on the Soviet Eighth Army is the focus of action going into week two of the Winter War.
British Royal Navy Commodore Henry Harwood of the HMS Ajax is accompanied by the heavy cruiser Exeter and the light cruiser Achilles to the River Plate estuary in South America, on the border between Uruguay and Argentina in the hopes that the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee will put into port there. The battleship indeed appears at 06:16 hours and a fierce two-hour battle ensues. All three British ships suffer varying degrees of damage, as does the Graf Spee; the later ship’s captain, Hans Langsdorff, breaks off the engagement and heads for Montevideo. There, under international law, the ship is permitted temporary neutral sanctuary to make quick repairs and have wounded sailors treated. Ajax and Achilles take station at the mouth of the river ready for further action. The incident will be broadcast via radio around the world and attract millions of listeners over several days.
British Royal Navy submarine, Salmon, torpedoes two German cruisers, the Leipzig and Nurnberg. The former will remain out of service until 1941, when it will be usable only as a training ship. The latter ship is out of action until May 1940.
The British House of Commons meets in secret session for the first time since 1918 and the end of World War One. A terse statement is issued after the seven-and-a-half-hour debate, declaring that Parliament discussed “the organization of supplies for the prosecution of the war.”
12-Dec-39: Finns Launch Attacts on Soviet Eighth Army; Two Battles Start North of Lake Lagoda; Churchill Advocates Invasion of Norway; German Ships Sees Blockade Success; Hitler Orders Doubling of Mines and Ammunition Production
Today is 12-Dec-1939, the 73rd day of World War II; there are 2,090 days left in the conflict.
The Finns launch attacks against the Soviet Eighth Army successfully, but aren’t as successful against Red Army forces near Kollaa. Two battles north of Lake Ladoga get underway: Tovaajarvland and Kitela. For their part, the Soviets reject a League of Nations proposal for a ceasefire and mediation.
British First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill speaks in London to advocate an Allied invasion of Norway, saying, “It is humanity, and not legality, that we must look to as our judge.”
In adherence to British Admiralty instructions to refrain rom unrestricted submarine warfare, the British submarine Salmon allows the 52,000-tonne German ocean liner Bremen to proceed; the ship arrives in Bremerhaven from Murmansk, a successful run through the British blockade complete.
German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler orders the doubling of production of sea mines and ammunition.
10-Dec-39: Finns Appeal for More Aid from Civilized Nations; US Grants Finland $10 Million in Credit; Soviets Accidentally Sink German Ship; League of Nations Still Meeting; First Canadian Troops Hit the High Seas in Convoy for Europe
Today is 10-Dec-1939, the 71st day of World War II; there are 2,092 days left in the conflict.
The Helsinki government issues a general appeal to the rest of the world for aid in the Winter War, stating it has been attacked by the Soviet Union without cause; “our position as the active outpost of western civilization gives us the right to expect the active resistance of other civilized nations.” The United States government grants Finland $10 million in credit for agricultural supplies, which they say is possible mainly due to Finland being the only nation to have repaid its war debts from the First World War back to the United States.
The Soviet navy commits an embarrassing error when its submarine S-1 sinks the German ship Bolheim near the Finnish coast in the Gulf of Bothnia. And the Finns continue to have some surprising success in the field as they halt Red Army divisions north of Lake Ladoga during the Battle of Kollaa, which began on 7-Dec. League of Nations discussions on the League’s response to the Winter War continue in Geneva.
The Canadians successfully send their first troops to the European theater via five ocean liners under heavy escort in convoy departing from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
8-Dec-39: Soviet Attacks Grind Down; British Attach Polish Squadrons to RAF; Raeder Urges Hitler to Invade Norway; Hitler Meets Quisling for First Time; Italians Confirm Axis; Americans Protest British Blockade of Germany
Today is 8-Dec-1939, the 69th day of World War II; there are 2,094 days left in the conflict.
As the second week of the Winter War begins, attacks of the Soviet Ninth Army grind to a halt in the face of stiff Finnish resistance near Kuhmo.
The British decide that Polish exile squadrons may be attached to the Royal Air Force.
German Kriegsmarine Admiral Erich Raeder has a conference with Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler; the main topic is a possible invasion of Norway. Hitler also meets Vidkun Quisling, the head of the Norwegian National Unity Party. The introduction is arranged by Alfred Rosenberg, the National Socialist party’s political and racial expert (and self-styled “party philosopher”). These two events will have great significance for the Norwegians in 1940.
The Italian Grand Fascist Council meets in Rome to confirm Italy’s alliance with Germany in an “Axis,” but also votes to remain neutral in the ongoing war.
The United States government officially protests Britain’s blockade of Germany. The protest states, “Whatever may be said for or against measures directed by one belligerent against another, they many not rightfully be carried to the point of enlarging the rights of a belligerent over neutral vessels and their cargoes, or otherwise penalizing neutral states or their nationals in connection with their legitimate activities.” This position (and neutrality) will remain the American position for another two years.
7-Dec-39: Scandinavian Countries Declare Neutrality; Soviets Blockade Finnish Coast, Continue Attacks; German Battleship Sinks Last Victim as British Sail to Intercept; King George VI Meets French Leaders
Today is 7-Dec-1939, the 68th day of World War II; there are 2,095 days left in the conflict.
Sweden, Denmark, and Norway decline to come to the aid of their neighbor, Finland; each declares its neutrality in the Winter War. The Soviets announce a blockade of the Finnish coast and attack positions at Kollaa north of Lake Ladoga, while entering Suomussalmi on the east side of Lake Kianta.
The ninth (and last) victim of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, the SS Streonshalh, is sunk south of Trinidad. A British cruiser squadron sails toward South America in an attempt to intercept the battleship in the River Plate estuary between Uruguay and Argentina.
Still visiting in France, British King George VI has lunch in Paris with President Albert Lebrun and Prime Minister Edouard Daladier.
6-Dec-39: Red Army Attacks Islands, Mannerheim Line; Roosevelt Sends Sympathy to Finns; Italians Send 50 Aircraft to Helsinki; Germans Decry Neutral Countries’ Behavior; HMS Jersey Torpedoed; Aktion T4 Euthanasia Program Claims Mental Patients
Today is 6-Dec-1939, the 67th day of World War II; there are 2,096 days left in the conflict.
The Finns celebrate Independence Day even as the Red Army presses its attack during the Winter War. US President Franklin Roosevelt sends a message of sympathy to Finnish President Kyösti Kallio. The Italians deliver 50 aircraft to Finland to help its defensive effort. At the same time, the Red Army lands on seven islands in the Gulf of Finland and heavily attack the Finns on the Mannerheim Line.
The Germans send a note to members of the foreign press in Berlin claiming neutral countries such as Holland are exhibiting a lack of resistance to the ongoing British blockade of the continent. The Dutch respond with a “semi-official” protest. Meanwhile, German Luftwaffe seaplanes and Kriegsmarine destroyers continue to lay mines of the eastern British coast; the destroyers torpedo the British destroyer HMS Jersey during the operation.
After planning during the summer and ramping up efforts during the fall, the German Schutz Staffel euthanizes mental patients in the asylums at Stralsund and Chelm. The program, known as Aktion T4, will eventually claim an estimated 200,000 lives of disabled and other classes of people within Germany deemed “unfit.” Aktion T4 was formulated by the director of the private chancellery Philipp Bouhler and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s personal physician Karl Brandt.
5-Dec-39: Finn Resistance Stiffens on Mannerheim Line, New Tactics Exploited; Soviets Claim No Longer at War; Finns Bomb Murmansk; Churchill Declares Germans Have Sunk to Lowest Form of Warfare Imaginable
Today is 5-Dec-1939, the 66th day of World War II; there are 2,097 days left in the conflict.
The Finnish Second Corps, manning the Mannerheim Line, the main defensive strongpoint on the Karelian Isthmus, encounters forward units of the Soviet Seventh Army during the sixth day of the Winter War. The Finns begin to master tactics designed to exploit the Red Army’s weaknesses, such as separating tanks from supporting infantry troops and destroying them in close combat from hidden positions. Meanwhile, Finnish Blenheim bombers raid the Soviet’s airbase at Murmansk, surprising the forces there.
A League of Nations proposal to end the Winter War is rejected by the Soviet government on the grounds that the USSR is no longer at war, since it reached a peace agreement with the Communist-led Finnish Democratic Republic alternate government, which had also requested the Red Army’s intervention on 1-Dec.
A day after the HMS Nelson, flagship of the British Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, is damaged by a magnetic mine, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons and declares that Germany has “descended to the lowest form of warfare that can be imagined;” he says the Germans first abandoned the gun for the torpedo and have now abandoned the torpedo for the mine.
4-Dec-39: Finns Fortify Aaland Island; Soviets Continue to Bomb Helsinki, Forcing Evacuation of Much of City’s Population; King George VI Inspects Troops; HMS Nelson Damaged by Mine
Today is 4-Dec-1939, the 65th day of World War II; there are 2,098 days left in the conflict.
The Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland continues. The Soviets reject a mediation offer from Sweden and the Finns fortify the island of Aaland in the Gulf of Bothnia. Soviet air bombing forces the evacuation of the capital Helsinki and its populations shrinks to just over 50,000.
Britain’s King George VI inspects troops of the British Expeditionary Force and the Royal Air Force which have deployed to France. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy Home Fleet’s flagship, HMS Nelson, suffers damage but does not sink after encountering a German magnetic mine near Loch Ewe, Scotland.
3-Dec-39: Soviets Press Forward in Finland; Swedes Call Up Reserves; British Accidentally Drop First Bomb on German Territory
Today is 3-Dec-1939, the 64th day of World War II; there are 2,099 days left in the conflict.
The Soviet Eighth Army pushes the Finnish Army backwards near Suojarvi; the Finns send reinforcements near Kuhmo, where the Soviet Ninth Army’s 54th Division is pressing forward. The Winter War is in its fourth day. To the west, the Swedes create a minefield off their east coast and call up army reserves.
The British Royal Navy’s HMS Renown, fresh from sinking the German’s Watussi off the coast of South Africa, puts in to Cape Town alongside the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.
The first British bomb to fall on German land is the result of an accidental release by one of the Royal Air Force 115th Squadron’s Wellington bombers after a bomb fails to drop over targeted shipping in the Heligoland Bight and subsequently drops off over the island of Heligoland.
2-Dec-39: Red Army Lands Near Petsamo as Advance Proceeds Slowly; League of Nations Asked to Mediate; 1940 Olympics Cancelled; Western Front Quiet; Germans, British Score High Seas Sinkings
Today is 2-Dec-1939, the 63rd day of World War II; there are 2,100 days left in the conflict.
The Red Army lands near Petsamo, Finland, in order to join up with the Fourteenth Army nearby. The Red Army advance into Finland proceeds slowly and has yet to reach Finnish defensive lines. The Finns ask the League of Nations in Geneva to mediate the dispute with the Soviet Union, while the International Olympic Committee, meeting in Lausanne, announces that the Helsinki Olympic Games planned for 1940, have been cancelled.
Pro-Finnish demonstrations are held across Italy, while Pope Pius XII in the Vatican condemns the Soviet invasion.
The French report that the Western Front is quiet and that both French and German air forces are completely inactive. The British extend conscription to all men between the ages of 19 and 41; occupational deferments will be limited.
Action continues on the high seas. The Blue Star Line steamer Doric Star, sailing towards Britain from New Zealand and Australia, is sunk by the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic; the British cruiser HMS Renown sinks a German ship, the Watussi off the coast of South Africa.
29-Nov-39: Soviets Break Off Relations With Finland, Ramp Up Invasion Preparations; Spain Ratifies Pact With Germany; German Freighter Sunk Off American Coast While US Ship Watches; US Says Ready to Mediate in Finland/USSR Dispute
Today is 29-Nov-1939, the 60th day of World War II; there are 2,103 days left in the conflict.
The Soviet government breaks off diplomatic relations with Finland; the Finns respond by offering to hold renewed discussions over their territorial dispute and suggest conciliation or arbitration by a neutral third party in accordance with their 1932 non-aggression pact. The Soviets announced they were backing out of the pact the day before, and that no such negotiations were possible. Soviet People’s Commisar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov warns the Red Army it must be prepared for “any eventuality.”
The Spanish government ratifies a friendship pact with Germany; it includes secret protocols allowing German use of Spanish ports and the coordination of police and propaganda efforts.
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer reports that jewels, gold and gifts have been received from foreigners in an effort to help finance the Allied war effort.
The British Royal Navy ship Diomede sinks the German freighter Idarwild off the coast of the United States. The American naval ship USS Broome had been following the German ship, but the German government makes no comment on the American non-intervention in the sinking.
In other American news, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull announces that the Roosevelt administration is prepared to mediate the escalating dispute between Finland and the Soviet Union.
Fritz Kühn, considered the Fuehrer of the American National Socialists and officially titled the leader of the German-American Bund, is found guilty on charges of grand larceny and forgery.
27-Nov-39: Finns Deny Responsibility for Mainila Incident; Germans Give Ultimatum to Citizens Married to Jews; No Nobel Peace Prize Will Be Awarded; Sweden Protests Mining; Japanese Complete Occupation of Nanking
Today is 27-Nov-1939, the 58th day of World War II; there are 2,105 days left in the conflict.
The Finns deny they were behind artillery fire which killed four Soviet soldiers in the USSR village of Mainila, claiming the shells came from the Soviet side of the border and suggest a mutual withdrawal of both countries’ troops.
The German government announces that German citizens married to Jews have one year to obtain a divorce from their spouses.
The Nobel Committee in the Norwegian Parliament announces that it will not award a Nobel peace prize for 1939 due to ongoing and escalating hostilities around the world.
In Stockholm, the Swedish government protests the mining of its territorial waters by the German Kriegsmarine. In ongoing reprisals for the German mine-laying campaign, the British government orders the seizure of German exports carried on the high seas.
Imperial Japanese Army troops complete the occupation of the city of Nanking.
26-Nov-39: Artillery Shells Kill Red Army Soldiers in Mainila; Chamberlain Makes First Radio Broadcast of War; Polish Liner Sunk in North Sea
Today is 26-Nov-1939, the 57th day of World War II; there are 2,106 days left in the conflict.
In the Soviet Union, seven artillery shells explode in the village of Mainila, near the Finnish border; four Red Army soldiers die. The Soviet government accuses Finland in the incident and demands an immediate withdrawal of all Finnish troops from the Karelian Isthmus near Leningrad, since their presence is a “hostile act.” The Mainila Incident represents an escalation of the ongoing crisis between the two countries.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain makes his first radio broadcast of the war, denouncing the indiscriminate laying of mines by the German Kriegsmarine; he also announces the existence of the previously secret magnetic mines.
The Polish passenger liner Pilsudski is torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea killing 10.
24-Nov-39: Japanese Take Nanking; Germans Seize Property of Industrialist Ex-National Socialist; Belgians Register Concern; Royal Navy Rescues Sinking Survivors
Today is 24-Nov-1939, the 55th day of World War II; there are 2,108 days left in the conflict.
Over 100,000 Chinese troops attempt to repel the Imperial Japanese Army’s attack on Nanking but fail; the Japanese enter the city, breaking the Chinese winter offensive. The taking of Nanking represents the first Japanese victory in their drive westward into Kwangshi province, which is designed to break China’s links with Indochina to the south.
The German government in Berlin seizes the property and financial interests of iron and steel industrialist Fritz Thyssen, a former supporter of the National Socialists who fled to neutral Switzerland two months previously.
While the government of Belgium sends a note to the British government concerning announced reprisals against the Germans for laying magnetic mines, over 200 mines adrift in the North Sea wash up on the beaches of Yorkshire.
In the North Atlantic, the Royal Navy rescues five survivors of the Dutch tanker Sliedrecht, which had been sunk by a German Kriegsmarine Unterseeboot a week earlier. The survivors had endured the seven days before their rescue in an open life raft.
23-Nov-39: Scharnhorst, Gneisenau Interrupted During Raid, Sink British Ship; Magnetic Mine Defused; British, Germans Expand Rationing; Hitler Excoriates Generals; Polish Jews Ordered to Wear Star of David
Today is 23-Nov-1939, the 54th day of World War II; there are 2,109 days left in the conflict.
The German Kriegsmarine battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are interrupted during a raid mission by an encounter between Scharnhorst and the Rawalpindi, an armed British merchant cruiser. The merchant ship is armed with just four six-inch guns and is no match for Scharnhorst, which destroys Rawalpindi and kills all 265 crew members. The Royal Navy launches a search for the German ships, interrupting their raiding and forcing them to return to their home base, an escape which is aided by the Kriegsmarine’s ability to read British naval codes.
A day after more German magnetic mines (responsible for the loss of 50,000 tones of shipping in just over a month) are reported dropped by Luftwaffe planes in the Shoeburyness mud flats in the Thames Estuary, two British Royal Engineers officers/mine experts defuse a mine and recover it for study in an effort to develop countermeasures.
The British announce rationing for butter and bacon; the Germans announce food rationing for housepets.
In Berlin, German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler, frustrated with repeated delays in the invasion of France, orders the most senior generals of the Heer to a meeting in the Reichskanzlei, where he attacks them for their “lack of faith.” He tells them he has led the German Volk to “great heights … I am irreplaceable. … I shall attack France and England at the earliest moment. My decision is unchangeable.”
Meanwhile, in the General Gouvernement in occupied Poland, Dr. Hans Frank, governor of the territory, orders all Jews over the age of ten to wear armbands featuring a yellow Star of David for identification purposes.
What is left of the Polish leadership establishes a government in exile in Angers, France.