Friday 3 November 1939

Troops of 51st Highland Division march over a drawbridge into Fort de Sainghain on the Maginot Line, 3 November 1939.

Western Front: Nothing much happening on a cold, dreary 3 November 1939 day. A fairly typical "Phoney War" day.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiralty announces that the US City of Flint has been spotted proceeding southward within Norwegian territorial waters. The wandering ship has been making headlines around the world as it seeks a place of refuge.

The City of Flint itself realizes that it is either being watched or about to be discovered by the British, so the German crew takes a gamble and puts it into the port of Haugesund. It anchors in the harbor despite Norwegian refusals to permit sanctuary. The Norwegians then board the ship and return it to the American crew who heretofore had been imprisoned. They sail off to Bergen. The Germans, meanwhile, are interned at Kongsvinger Fortress for entering a neutral port without permission.

Convoy HG 7 departs from Port Said bound for Liverpool, while Convoy OG 5 forms at Gibraltar.

US Government: The Senate passes the House bill amending the US neutrality laws to enable England and France to purchase US arms on a "cash-and-carry" basis. In addition, the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937 are repealed, meaning US ships and citizens are forbidden to enter the European war zone; this is easily avoided by re-flagging US ships to flags of neutral nations, a process that has been ongoing already. The National Munitions Control Board is given jurisdiction over all arms imports and exports, and licenses are required to export arms and munitions.

"Cash-and-carry" is considered important because Britain and France borrowed so much to pay for war goods during World War I that they had difficulty repaying it.

South Africa: Prime Minister Smuts promises on behalf of his country to help defend British territories in Africa.

Finland: Talks about the borders renew for the third time. The Finns make some counter-proposals. A key stumbling block is that Finland refuses to allow a Soviet base in Finland (the Baltic States such as Estonia and Latvia already have been forced to do this). Pravda publishes a scathing attack on Finland which is picked up by other media.

British Government: Announces that over 500,000 tons of contraband have been seized from vessels. Some of that "contraband" would be disputed by the owners.

The blackout is reduced by an hour due to numerous complaints from businesses and trade unions. It commences half an hour after sunset and runs to half an hour before sunrise.

American Homefront: "Drums Along the Mohawk" starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford is released. "The Lion Has Wings" receives a wide release in Great Britain. "The Flying Deuces" starring Laurel & Hardy is released. "Popeye: Never Sock a Baby" also is released by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures.

November 1939

November 1, 1939: The Jet Flies Again
November 2, 1939: The Soviets Devour Poland
November 3, 1939: Amending the Neutrality Act
November 4, 1939: Roosevelt Signs Neutrality Laws
November 5, 1939: The Spirit of Zossen
November 6, 1939: First Dogfight
November 7, 1939: More Lies About SS Athenia
November 8, 1939: Hitler Almost Killed
November 9, 1939: The Venlo Incident
November 10, 1939: Dutch Panic
November 11, 1939: Poignant Armistice Day
November 12, 1939: Peace Efforts Made and Rejected
November 13, 1939: First Bombing of Great Britain
November 14, 1939: The Dyle Plan
November 15, 1939: Elser Confesses to the Bürgerbräukeller Bombing
November 16, 1939: Martial Law in Prague
November 17, 1939: International Students Day
November 18, 1939: Magnetic Mines
November 19, 1939: Walls Around the Warsaw Ghetto
November 20, 1939: First RN Submarine Victory
November 21, 1939: Salmon & Gluckstein on the Prowl
November 22, 1939: British Recover A Magnetic Mine
November 23, 1939: HMS Rawalpindi Sunk
November 24, 1939: Japanese Enter Nanning
November 25, 1939: The Olympics are a War Casualty
November 26, 1939: Soviets Stage an "Incident" at Mainila
November 27, 1939: German Marriage Becomes Perilous
November 28, 1939: Judenrats in Poland
November 29, 1939: The Soviets Prepare to Invade Finland
November 30, 1939: Winter War Begins

2019

Monday 30 October 1939

The German-American Bund marches in New York City, 30 October 1939.

Western Front: There is some local activity all along the front, including artillery fire, but no major operations on 30 October 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-56 torpedoes British battleship HMS Nelson, but the two torpedoes are defective and fail to explode. Nelson is the flagship of the Home Fleet, and its loss would have been of immense propaganda value.

Defective torpedoes have been a problem for the Germans since the beginning of the war. Several German U-boat attacks have failed, and U-boats lost, because of them. U-boat Captains are returning from missions furious with anger at lost opportunities and the resultant peril of detection. German technicians at the Torpedo Directorate are working furiously to isolate the problem and find a solution, which seems to have something to do with the detonators. No solution is yet in sight, but reports from the field are flowing in about the continuing problem.

U-59 (Oberleutnant zur See Harald Jürst) sinks the British anti-submarine trawler HMS Northern Rover west of the Shetland Islands. There are no survivors, 27 perish.

U-13 (Kapitänleutnant Karl Daublebsky von Eichhain) torpedoes and sinks 4,666-ton British merchant Cairnmona. Three die, 42 survive. It is part of convoy HX-5.

U-37 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartmann) stops 3,693-ton freighter Thrasyvoulos, finds contraband, disembarks the crew, and sinks it.

The City of Flint makes it back to Tromsø. The Norwegians finally put an end to the saga, which is causing an international incident. They provide the ship with an armed escort to make sure that the freighter leaves Norwegian waters and does not continue provoking the British.

The British Admiralty reports that two of its destroyers were attacked by German bombers south of the Dogger Bank, with no damage.

The British detain the US freighter Scanpenn in the Orkneys, and they detain the US freighter Hybert at the Downs.

European Air Operations: Various reports of Luftwaffe reconnaissance over the northeast and southeast England, but no shoot-downs. There also are Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights over France.

The RAF, in turn, makes reconnaissance flights over north German airfields.

German/Soviet Relations: A Soviet purchasing mission places orders for German warships, ship engines, and turrets.

British Government: There is a government White Paper on the conditions in German concentration camps and the mistreatement of Poles, Jewish people, and others.

Poland: The USSR formally annexes its share of occupied Poland.

Latvia: Germany and Latvia sign a treaty for the evacuation of ethnic Germans from Latvia.

British Homefront: "The Lion Has Wings" is released. It is the first film about the current conflict and has actual war footage.

American Homefront: The German American Bund, which is very active on Long Island, has a parade on East 86th Street in Manhattan. The organization also goes by the name German American Federation (German: Amerikadeutscher Bund, also Amerikadeutscher Volksbund).

Future History: Grace Slick is born in Highland Park, Illinois. She becomes famous as a singer with the Jefferson Airplane (later Starship) in the 1960s and various other incarnations of the group thereafter.

Grace Slick in twenty years after her birth on 30 October 1939.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2019