1-Jan-40: Finns Repulse Red Army Assault; Two Million Brits Liable for Military Service; Danes Express Doubts About Continued Independence; Soviets Recall Ambassador to Italy
Today is 1-Jan-40, the 93rd day of World War II; there are 2,070 days left in the conflict.
On the first day of the new year, the British make two million men between the ages of 20 and 27 liable for military service. The French re-establish rail links with Spain after they were closed for three-and-a-half years due to the Spanish Civil War. The prime minister and foreign minister of Denmark address their nation and relate their doubts that Denmark can continue to be independent in 1940. The Soviets recall their ambassador to Italy after anti-Soviet demonstrations in Rome related to the Winter War. The Finns repulse Soviet probes along the Mannerheim Line. And continued flooding after the 27-Dec earthquake pushes the Turkish death toll past 32,000.
27-Dec-39: Earthquake Kills 8,000 in Turkey; Poles Executed for Warsaw Shootings; Red Army Ends Mannerheim Line Attacks; Finns Launch Offensives; US Protests British High Seas Seizures; First Indian Troops Arrive in France
Today is 27-Dec-1939, the 88th day of World War II; there are 2,075 days left in the conflict.
An earthquake strikes Turkey during very cold winter weather and kills an estimated 8,000 people, rendering thousands more homeless. Among the worst hit are the region of Tokat and the Black Sea areas of Samsun and Ordu.
Poles kill two German army noncommissioned officers in a bar in the Warsaw suburb of Wawer. In retaliation, German officials execute the owner of the bar by hanging and select 120 Poles from the streets for execution by shooting.
The Red Army ends its attack on the northern end of the Mannerheim Line after failing to advance. The Finns evacuate the citizens of Viipuri and launch offensives against the Soviet Eighth and Ninth armies.
The United States embassy in London passes a protest to the British government concerning the Royal Navy’s seizure of US mail bound via the Atlantic for Europe.
British empire military troops continue to arrive to bolster the allied war effort; the British Expeditionary Force in France is strengthened by the arrival of the first troops from India.
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.
9-Dec-39: First British Soldier to Die in WWII Killed on Western Front; Finns Halt Soviet Attacks; Soviet-German Relations Strained by Winter War; Germans Deport 1,800 Jews to Soviet-Occupied Poland, Only 200 Survive Winter Trek
Today is 9-Dec-1939, the 70th day of World War II; there are 2,093 days left in the conflict.
The first British soldier to be killed in World War II dies leading a patrol along the Western Front. He is Corporal Thomas Priday of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. His death is the first of some 382,700 British soldiers, sailors and airmen who will die in the war through 1945. The death comes as British King George VI completes his five-day visit to the troops on the line.
The Finns successfully halt Soviet attacks in the Winter War near Suomussalmi and mount a successful night attack on the Soviet Ninth Army near Kollaa. The Soviets claim, via the news agency TASS, that Germany is providing supplies and war materiel to Finland; the reality is that Italy is supplying the arms and shipping them via Germany. Still, the report strains USSR/German relations. The League of Nations meets in Geneva to consider mediation or intervention in the Winter War.
The Germans deport 1,800 Jews from occupied Poland and force march them from their homes in Hrubieszow and Chelm over the new border into the Soviet occupation zone on the other side of the Bug River. Only 200 survive the wintertime trek.
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.
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.
14-Nov-39: Allies Meet Secretly with Belgians; Dyle Plan Accepted; Dutch, Belgian Royal Peace Offers Rejected by Germany; Prague Demonstration Violently Suppressed; Sikorski Arrives in London
Today is 14-Nov-1939, the 45th day of World War II; there are 2,118 days left in the conflict.
Allied military commanders on the Western Front meet secretly with Belgian military commanders in mostly inconclusive meetings, but there is agreement that British and French troops should immediately advance to a position known as the “Meuse-Antwerp Line,” southeast of Brussels, if the Germans invade. The secret agreement is referred to as the “Dyle Plan” or “Plan D” after the Dyle River.
After negative responses are recorded in Paris and London to a previous joint offer of peace negotiations given by Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina and Belgian King Leopold II, it is noted in Berlin that the Germans are also responding in the negative. The war will continue.
In Prague, police violently disperse a Czech Fascist Party demonstration injuring 12 marchers.
Polish President-in-Exile General Wojtech Sikorski, having been based in France since the German invasion of his country, arrives in London for an official visit.
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.”
29-Oct-39: OKH Takes Fall Gelb Revision to Hitler; Kriegsmarine Gives Go to Passenger Liner Attacks; Chinese Defections to Japanese Increase; Red Army Occupies Agreed Bases in Latvia
Today is 29-Oct-1939, the 59th day of World War II; there are 2,134 days left in the conflict.
The German High Command of the Army, OberKommando des Heeres (OKH), in response to Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s order, brings him a revision to the plan for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), the invasion of France. The main portion of the invasion force is moved slightly to the south and the force directed at Holland is weakened somewhat. Debate continues within OKH as to if and how Fall Gelb could be modified further.
The German Kriegsmarine issues permission to its warships and U-boats for attacks passenger ships which are traveling in convoys.
The United States military attache in Tokyo reports to Washington that the numbers of Chinese defections to the invading Japanese are increasing. The report says that there are now over 100,000 Chinese under arms and they are known as Huang Hsieh Chun (Imperial Assisting Troops).
The first Red Army troops assigned to bases in Latvia as a result of the recently concluded Lativan-Soviet agreement arrive and begin their occupation.
An official French communique reports that all is quiet along the western front; the British move larger numbers of heavy artillery into positions along their positions facing the Belgian border.
28-Oct-39: Molotov Takes Aggressive Stance Towards Finns; Tiso Named First President of Slovakia; Himmler Issues Lebensborn Decree; RAF Shoots Down First Bomber
Today is 28-Oct-1939, the 58th day of World War II; there are 2,135 days left in the conflict.
After a series of failed negotiations, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov addresses the Supreme Soviet in Moscow and asserts the right and duty of the USSR to adopt strong measures to insure its security, vis-a-vis Finland. He demands territorial concessions from the Finns.
In Bratislava in the former Czechoslovakia, Joseph Tiso is named the first president of the First Replublic of Slovakia. Meanwhile in the Czech capital of Prague, German police forces fire on student demonstrators who were marching in observance of the 20th anniversary Czechoslovakian independence.Later in the day, ethnic Germans fight with Czech nationalists; a student is killed and 16 are wounded. The Germans arrest over 3,000 people.
German Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issues a Lebensborn (“Fount of Life”) decree. The Lebensborn program was started in 1935 and provided for maternity homes and financial assistance to the wives of SS members and to unmarried mothers; it also sets up orphanages and relocation programms for children. The purpose was to increase birthrates of pure Aryans in the German Reich. In the decree, Himmler wrote:
“Beyond the boundaries of bourgeois laws and customs which may in themselves be necessary, it will now become the great task, even outside the marriage bond, for German women and girls of good blood, not in frivolity but in deep moral earnestness, to become mothers of the children of soldiers going off to war … On the men and women whose place remains at home by order of the state, these times likewise more than ever the sacred obligation to become again fathers and mothers of children.”
London reports indicate that the British Expeditionary Force in France has enough food for its 200,000 soldiers to last for over 45 days; more supplies are on the way.
The Royal Air Force meanwhile shoots down a German Luftwaffe Heinkel He-111 bomber east of Dalkeith, southeastern Scotland. It is the first German aircraft to be shot down over the British Isles in the Second World War; two injured survivors are captured by authorities on the ground. The He-111, a plane of Luftflotte 2 had been attacking shipping in the North Sea from a base in far northern Germany.
22-Oct-39: 22-Oct-39: Dr. Goebbels Claims Churchill Lies; Allies Leave Ankara After Successful Pact Inked; Soviets Conduct Elections in Formerly Polish Territories; Western Front Artillery Duels Continue in Rain
Today is 22-Oct-1939, the 52nd day of World War II; there are 2,141 days left in the conflict.
War news is mostly quiet today. German Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment Dr. Josef Goebbels uses a radio broadcast to attack British First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. Churchill is a liar, he claims.
After the conclusion of successful talks and a pact with the Turks, British General Archibald Wavell and French General Maxime Weygand depart in triumph from Ankara.
In India, which is still a part of the British Empire, the independence-minded Congress Party declares that it will not support the war effort and condemns the imperialism of the Empire.
The Soviet Union conducts elections in the newly won territories of the western Ukraine and western Belorussia, which had formerly belonged to Poland.
The Germans and French continue to conduct sporadic artillery duels along their common border; due to heavy recent rains, the no-man’s land along the front has been turned into a sea of mud.
21-Oct-39: Four of Nine Heinkel He-115 Seaplanes Downed; Ethnic Germans Repatriated from Italy; General Gamelin Won’t Attack Germans, He Says
Today is 21-Oct-1939, the 51st day of World War II; there are 2,142 days left in the conflict.
Over the North Sea, the British Royal Air Force and German Luftwaffe engage during an attack by the latter on a British ship convoy. The British ships and planes escape unscathed, but the Germans are not as fortunate; four out of nine of the Heinkel He-115 seaplanes are downed by the RAF.
Further out in the North Atlantic, a French Force de Raide, which includes the then-fastest destroyers on the oceans, spends over a week escorting a large convoy of ships during the crossing. It also intercepts a hostile German Kriegsmarine ship.
In yet another in a series of such arrangements, the Germans and Italians ink an agreement which provides for the transfer of more ethnic Germans back into the Third Reich, this time in the South Tyrol (which formerly belonged to Austria.
Along the Western Front on the continent, French and German artillery units exchange sporadic fire during a heavy downpour, while in Paris, Allied Commander-in-Chief General Maurice Gamelin indicates that he does not intend to attack the Germans across the Siegfried Line. Instead, he will wait until the Wehrmacht attacks in force, then withdraw France’s troops to behind the “impregnable” Maginot Line, thus halting the attack.
19-Oct-39: German OKH Presents Plan for Fall Gelb, the Invasion of France; Turks Ink Treaty With Allies; Brits Note Increase in Road Fatalities Due to Blackout
Today is 19-Oct-1939, the 49th day of World War II; there are 2,144 days left in the conflict.
German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s Führer-Anweisung N°6, Directive No. 6, was issued on 9-Oct, directing the Army to prepare for an invasion of France through the Low Countries as soon as possible. Today, General Franz Halder, Chief of Staff of Oberkommado des Heeres, the High Command of the Army, hands Hitler OKH’s plan for the execution of the Führer’s order. Called Aufmarschanweisung N°1, Fall Gelb, or “Deployment Instruction No. 1, Case Yellow,” the main features of the plan call for the German left wing to fight a holding action on the French border facing the Maginot Line, while the main attack will be thrust through the middle of Belgium towards the French border. The plan also calls for a simultaneous invasion of Holland.
The plan seems, at first glance, to mirror the World War I Schlieffen Plan, which called for a sweeping envelopment action through Belgium and down the coast of the English Channel, wrapping around Paris and destroying the French Army. The German Army’s failure to execute the plan fully in 1914 (its right wing swung to the north of Paris instead of south) ended ultimately in stalemate and defeat on the Western Front in 1918.
Fall Gelb actually differs from the Schlieffen Plan, however. Gelb is based on an unimpressive, conventional frontal attack which would sacrifice an estimated 500,000 German soldiers in order to push the Allies back only as far as the Somme River. Gelb estimates that the Heer’s strength would thus be exhausted and would only be recovered in 1942, at which time the main attack against France could begin. Hitler is reportedly “disappointed and unimpressed” by the initial plan, to say the least. He will act immediately and decisively to change Gelb.
In Ankara, Turkey, after a day of talks between the British General Archibald Wavell, commander of British troops in the Middle East, and French General Maxime Weygand, former chief of staff, the “Ango-French-Turkish Treaty of Mutual Assistance” is inked by all parties. During the term of the 15-year treaty, the Turks undertake to aid the Allies if war begins in the Mediterranean as long as said aid does not bring Turkey into conflict with the Soviet Union. In exchange, the French give Ankara control of the disputed Sanjak of Alexandretta (the province of Hatay) in French Syria. The Syrians protest that the cession is illegal and the dispute over the province will continue even into the 21st Century.
Back in England, near the town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, two German Luftwaffe airmen are discovered after they drift ashore in a collapsible dinghy. They had been shot down over the North Sea two days previously.
The British Ministry of Transport notes that the wartime blackout, not enemy action, accounts for the most casualties so far; fatalities in road accidents increased from 617 in August, the last month of peace, to 1130 in September, the first full wartime month when the blackout was imposed, a 55% increase.
18-Oct-39: Nordic Leaders Have Conference in Stockholm; Germans Attempt Another Scapa Flow Attack; British, French Meet in Ankara, Turkey
Today is 18-Oct-1939, the 48th day of World War II; there are 2,145 days left in the conflict.
British General Archibald Wavell, the commander of British troops in the Middle East, and French General Maxime Weygand, the former chief of staff, fly into Ankara, Turkey, for consultations with the Turkish General Staff. The Germans respond by recalling their ambassador, former Chancellor Franz von Papen, for consultation in Berlin.
In Scotland, German Luftwaffe bombers again attempt an attack on the British Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, but this time are engaged by anti-aircraft defenses and no bombs are reported dropped.
At the same time in London, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announces that a total of eight German aircraft have been downed; this announcement is followed by a claim by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill that a third of the German Kriegsmarine’s Unterseeboot fleet has been sunk. Neither offers proof to back up their claims, which are dismissed by the German Ministry of Propaganda and Enlightenment and in broadcasts on Deutscher Rundfunk, German radio.
In a meeting in Stockholm proposed earlier in the month, Finnish President Kyösti Kallio meets with the King Christian X of Denmark, King Haakon VII of Norway and King Gustaf V of Sweden confer about the Soviet demands revisions of the Finnish-Soviet border. King Gustaf reports that German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler sent assurances to Sweden that Germany would remain strictly neutral if a war were to break out between the Soviet Union and Finland; at the same time, Hitler “strongly” advised the Swedes follow the same policy.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a telegram to the assembled Nordic heads of state, expressing solidarity in the cause of neutrality and peace:
“October 18, 1939
“His Majesty Gustav, King of Sweden, Stockholm.
“The Conference of the Nordic States convened by Your Majesty in Stockholm will be followed with deep interest by the Government and the people of the United States.
“Under the circumstances which exist this Government joins with the Governments of the other American Republics in expressing its support of the principles of neutrality and order under law for which the nations represented at the Stockholm Conference have, throughout their history, taken a consistent stand.
“Franklin D. Roosevelt”
King Gustav himself replied almost immediately to the president with a telegram of his own:
“Stockholm,October 18, 1939
“The President:
“On behalf of the heads of the Nordic States assembled in Stockholm I wish to convey you the expression of our warm and sincere appreciation of the message of sympathy which you have addressed to us. In our endeavors to manifest our firm resolve to pursue a neutral policy based on international law and order we have felt it as a precious support and encouragement to receive this message which has been warmly greeted by our peoples.
“Gustav R..”
At the conclusion of the conference, a communique was broadcast by the Swedish News Agency (Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå). The text of the communique stated:
“The kings of Denmark and Iceland, of Norway and of Sweden along with the president of the Republic of Finland got together in a meeting in Stockholm on the 18th to 19th of October 1939.
“At the meeting the general situation was first scrutinized from the viewpoint of each country. Special focus was given to difficulties that in the present serious international situation might be met as to retaining the right of self-determination in matters of neutrality, the principle the countries so often have pointed out and also confirmed in their neutrality declarations when the war broke out. It was stated in one voice that the governments are resolute and determined, working in close cooperation, to maintain their full neutrality. They intend to let their approach to the future questions be steered by what is needed to enforce this neutral status of complete self-determination. They demand that their right to this opinion, laying on the basis of friendly relations with other countries, will be respected by all parties.
“By reminding of the declaration, given by the Nordic kings during the Great War at the meeting of the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish governments in 1917 in Oslo, which stated that despite of what length or whatever form the war might take, friendly and confidential relations between governments should be maintained, the present meeting unanimously accepted that Denmark and Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden should conduct in the present crisis the same, successfully and in close cooperation carried out policy, as in the war of 1914-1918.
“The meeting also discussed the difficulties met by neutral states in commerce and shipping as consequences of the actions of the warring states. It was unanimously stated that on this matter the principles remain to be hold in line with the Copenhagen communique of 19th of September 1939, by maintaining usual commercial relations to all directions and mutually supporting the secure procurement of necessities.
“Likewise, unanimity prevailed over carrying out cooperation within the Oslo group and other neutral states for taking care of common interests.
In connection of the meeting the king of Sweden received cabled expressions of sympathy from the heads of states of neutral countries in America. These already publicized messages will be highly appreciated in the Nordic countries. The governments represented in the meeting have found in them valuable support in their efforts for the benefit of peace and international law.
“The Nordic governments remind of willingness to work for purposes of reconciliation. Already before breaking out of war this was expresses when their heads of state joined [Belgian] King Leopold’s appeal for peace. This willingness remains unchanged. They will with the greatest pleasure greet every sign showing that understanding between the warring parties is possible and that prospects can be seen to any contribution of neutral states in finding peace and security to all nations.”
12-Oct-39: Germans Begin Jewish Deportations in Central Europe; Chamberlain Rejects Hitler Peace Move; Finns Meet With Soviets for Border Negotiations
Today is 12-Oct-1939, the 42nd day of World War II; there are 2,151 days left in the conflict.
In a secret move, the German Central Office for Jewish Emigration, under the auspices of the Shutzstaffel (SS) begins to carry out the deportation of Jewish people in the Ostmark (the former Austria) and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the former Czechoslovakia). Deported Jews are moved by the SS into parts of now-occupied Poland. This first move to render the Greater German Reich Judenrein (Jew-Free) is under the direction of SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) Adolf Eichmann.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain officially announces that the government has rejected German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s 9-Oct Reichstag speech proposal for a European peace conference. Chamberlain declares that to “consider such terms would be to forgive Germany for all aggressions;” he further warns that Germany “must choose between permanent security arrangements in Europe and war to the utmost of our strength … since past experience has shown that no reliance can be placed upon the promises of the present German government.”
As the implications of this announcement are being felt around Europe, the War Office in London reports that the British Expeditionary Force has completed its planned deployment and is occupying its assigned stations along the border between France and Belgium, between the towns of Maulde and Halluin.
After a week of feverish military preparations in Finland for a possible Soviet invasion, representatives of the two countries finally meet to discuss the Soviets’ border proposals. These include the turnover of Finnish territory near Leningrad, control of islands in the Gulf of Finland, use of the port of Hanko and other alterations as far north as Murmansk. In return the Soviets offer some land concessions. However, the Finns inform their neighbors that they will only be able to agree to a limited range of concessions.
11-Oct-39: British Increase Mustard Gas Production; Finns Continue Military Preparations; Albert Einstein’s Letter Regarding Nuclear Bombs Reaches Roosevelt
Today is 11-Oct-1939, the 41st day of World War II; there are 2,152 days left in the conflict.
In London, the British War Office orders an increase in the weekly production of mustard gas from 310 to 1,200 tons. British Secretary of War Leslie Hore-Belisha announces that the country now has a total of 158,000 troops on the ground in France.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax meet with Polish government-in-exile Foreign Minister August Zaleski. And the British and Soviet governments ink a trade agreement which provides for the exchange of Soviet timber for rubber and Cornish tin.
A mistaken German radio report is aired stating that the British government has fallen and that an armistice has been reached; for awhile, Germans joyfully celebrate until the news is corrected.
Further north, the Finns continue their preparations for Soviet military aggression by mounting machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery in some of the largest Finnish cities.
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt notes the Finnish preparations, which have been going on all week, and sends a personal appeal to Soviet President Mikhail Kalinin urging the Soviets to “make no demands on Finland which are inconsistent with the maintenance and development of amicable and peaceful relations between the two countries, and the independence of each.”
Behind the scenes in the White House, the president receives a remarkable an historic letter from scientist Albert Einstein.
The Germans had successfully split the uranium atom the previous December; this plus continued German aggression led some physicists (including Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner) to fear that the Germans might be working on an atomic bomb. However, Szilard and Wigner had no influence or contacts with anyone in the American government. In July 1939, they found someone who did: Albert Einstein. Szilard will claim that Einstein said the possibility of a chain reaction “never occurred” to him, but he grasped the idea very quickly.
A month later, after further consolations, Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt on behalf of Einstein, with Einstein’s signature attached. The letter finally reaches Roosevelt on 11-Oct, delivered by Roosevelt’s friend Alexander Sachs. Einstein would later acknowledge his full responsibility for the consequences of the letter and call it “the greatest mistake” of his life.
The letter to the president states:
“Sir:
“Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and, if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations:
“In the course of the last four months it has been made probable through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America — that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium,by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.
“This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable — though much less certain — that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove to be too heavy for transportation by air.
“The United States has only very poor ores of uranium in moderate quantities. There is some good ore in Canada and the former Czechoslovakia. while the most important source of uranium is Belgian Congo.
“In view of the situation you may think it desirable to have more permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America. One possible way of achieving this might be for you to entrust with this task a person who has your confidence and who could perhaps serve in an inofficial capacity. His task might comprise the following:
“a) to approach Government Departments, keep them informed of the further development, and put forward recommendations for Government action, giving particular attention to the problem of securing a supply of uranium ore for the United States;
“b) to speed up the experimental work,which is at present being carried on within the limits of the budgets of University laboratories, by providing funds, if such funds be required, through his contacts with private persons who are willing to make contributions for this cause, and perhaps also by obtaining the co-operation of industrial laboratories which have the necessary equipment.
“I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsäcker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in Berlin where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated.
“Yours very truly,
“(Albert Einstein)”
After reading the letter, the president will go on to form the Briggs Committee, which will begin the study of uranium chain reactions. The letter itself may be considered the start of a chain reaction of its own, which will culminate in the twin nuclear annihilations of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost six years later, with further consequences for mankind far into the future.
7-Oct-39: Himmler Appointed German Race Commissioner; British Expeditionary Force Completes Movement to French Soil; US Will Continue to Recognize Polish Exile Government
Today is 7-Oct-1939, the 37th day of World War II; there are 2,156 days left in the conflict.
On the Western Front, small units of German Heer troops raid French lines in the west and there are artillery duels between German and French forces between the Moselle and Saar rivers. Meanwhile, along the English Channel, 161,000 British troops, 24,000 vehicles and tanks and 140,000 tones of supplies are now on French soil as the cross-channel transport of the British Expeditionary Force is completed. Protected by the British and French navies, no troops or transports are lost during the operation.
In Berlin, German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler appoints Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler to the newly created post of Commissioner for Consolidation of the German Race and issues decree ordering that all ethnic Poles are to be evicted from German-occupied western Poland; those who refuse to leave are to be liquidated. Himmler’s brief as commissioner will be to eliminate persons of inferior ethnicity from the greater German reich.
In Washington, DC, the United States State Department announces that the government will officially extend diplomatic recognition to the Polish government-in-exile, located at the moment at Angers, France.