Showing posts with label Bürgerbräukeller. Show all posts

Friday, April 29, 2016

November 13, 1939: First Bombing of Great Britain

Monday 13 November 1939

13 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com HMAS Adventure cruiser mine damage

Mine damage to HMAS cruiser Adventure after being mined.

European Air Operations: November 13, 1939 marks a key "first": the first Luftwaffe bombing of Great Britain. The Luftwaffe bombs the Shetland Islands (home of Royal Navy bases) twice, with tragic results: a rabbit is killed. Otherwise, there are no casualties or damage to property. The RAF and anti-aircraft guns help to drive the bombers off. In addition, another raid, on the East Coast, is driven off by the RAF.

There is an air raid warning in Paris, with anti-aircraft guns firing for the first time. It turns out just to be German reconnaissance.

Battle of the Atlantic: During the night, Kriegsmarine destroyers (Zerstörer) Z20, Z18, Z19, Z21 lay mines in the mouth of the River Thames. This pays off quickly.

British destroyer HMS Blanche hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary. It is the first destroyer loss for the Royal Navy (of course, the battleship HMS Royal Oak and other vessels have been lost before).

Cruiser HMAS Adventure also hits one of the Thames mines. It makes it back to port with 23 lives lost.

Freighters SS Ponzano and SS Matra also hit the mines and sink.

U-26 (Kplt. Klaus Ewerth) torpedoes 4,285-ton French freighter Loire off Malaga, Spain. Everyone perishes. U-26 is the U-boat that previously entered the Mediterranean (the only U-boat managing to do that).

Royal Australian Navy destroyers Stuart, Vampire, Vendetta, Voyager, and Waterhen sail for the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.

US freighter Black Hawk is detained by the British at Ramsgate.

Battle of the Pacific: British vessel Sirdhana hits a British mine at Singapore and sinks.

Holland: Prime Minister de Greer states that there does not appear to be any imminent danger - the (unknown to the public, but not to the Allied authorities) 12 November 1939 date of Hitler's planned Fall Gelb having passed.

Finland: Negotiations in Moscow end. The Finns head home to Helsinki. If there is one single stumbling block, it is the Soviet demand for a base at the port of Hanko. The Finnish government somewhat paradoxically relaxes some defensive measures.

Soviet Union Government: Stalin orders plans for the invasion of Finland.

As part of a plan of subversion of Finland, the NKVD begins recruiting Finnish expatriates in the Soviet Union to govern the country after the conquest and, perhaps, formulate a casus belli.

South Africa: The government forms a South African Seaward Defense Force.

Canada: General Henry Crerar establishes Canadian military headquarters.

Switzerland: The government expels Otto Strasser due to anti-Hitler comments made to a foreign newspaper in October. Strasser is an NSDAP member who broke from the majority of the party over Hitler's dominance and became an exile. This expulsion is undoubtedly due to the ongoing investigation of the 8 November 1939 Munich Bürgerbräukeller bombing. The inference is that the anti-Hitler exile Strasser may have been involved in that bombing, and Switzerland does not wish to be seen as harboring an assassin.

Holocaust: Former Abwehr agent Oskar Schindler signs lease for his private German enamelware factory in Krakow. He uses his contacts to secure contracts to provide cookware to the Wehrmacht

Igor Sikorsky continues developing his VS-300 prototype helicopter for the US Army. This picture dated 13 November 1939 shows numerous modifications to the main landing gear with swiveling wheels, dual tail rotor pedals, dampers on the main rotor flapping hinge, and a “T” bar to provide a horizon reference. These are noticeable changes from Sikorsky's recent first flight configuration.

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

November 12, 1939: Peace Efforts Made and Rejected

Sunday 12 November 1939

12 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Admiral Byrd snow cruiser

Admiral Byrd's snow cruiser snarls traffic in Massachusetts, 12 November 1939.

Western Front: Unintentionally furthering the appearance of a "Phoney War," on 12 November 1939 there is a concert staged by ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) for British and French troops in France, starring Maurice Chevalier and Gracie Fields.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-41 (Kapitänleutnant Gustav-Adolf Mugler) torpedoes 11,019-ton Norwegian tanker Arne Kjøde near the Outer Hebrides. Five men die and 34 survive. It also torpedoes (after disembarking the crew) and sinks 275-ton British freighter Cresswell. Six men die and seven live on the Cresswell. These are vessels flying under neutral flags, but that is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Survivors of the Cresswell reportedly are sheltered by the attacking U-boat for six hours. The seven survivors later are picked up by another trawler.

British vessels Carmarthen Coast and King Egbert are sunk by mines.

German vessels Mecklenburgh and Parana are scuttled to avoid capture by the Royal Navy.

The Home Fleet escorts a British iron ore fleet from Narvik.

Convoys OA 34 and OB 34 depart from Southend and Liverpool, respectively.

U-37 (an identical U-boat to U-41) at Lorient in 1940.

Peace Efforts: King Carol of Romania offers to mediate between the two sides. King George and French President Lebrun offer muted words in response to the recent Dutch/Belgian peace initiative. The initiatives all get quickly shot down.

The peace initiatives from continental powers are not being taken well by the British and French because of the sneaking suspicion that they are acting in favor of Hitler.

Allied Relations: The Dutch and Belgian foreign ministers meet at Breda.

Finnish/Soviet Relations: The Soviets issue a statement expressing dissatisfaction with the current status of negotiations.

British Propaganda: First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill broadcasts a speech summing up the conflict to date, stating, “If words could kill, we should be dead already.”

German Opposition: There are said to be thousands of people arrested in the continuing Munich Bürgerbräukeller bomb explosion. Those detained include the usual victims of the Germans - such as Jews - but also people who have very tangential relationships to the affair. For instance, Munich locksmith Max Niederholer, who sold an item used in the bomb to the prime suspect, Johann Georg Elser, is being subjected to imprisonment and beatings. Elser's home town of Königsbronn becomes known by the Gestapo as "Assassinville" and is treated as an outlaw city. The net is being cast wide.

American Homefront: Admiral Byrd continues his demonstration drive of his Snow Cruiser with unintended results. At Framingham, Massachusetts, on November 12, 1939 traffic is snarled for 20 miles in a jam that involved 70,000 automobiles, as the curious flock for a glimpse of the gigantic Snow Cruiser. It is the ultimate rubbernecking attraction.

"Winged Victory of Samothrace" being removed for protection from the Louvre, as seen in the 12 November 1939 New York Times.

November 1939

Thursday, April 28, 2016

November 9, 1939: The Venlo Incident

Sunday 9 November 1939

Heinrich Himmler and fellow officers (including Reinhard Heydrich and Gestapo Müller (the two on the right)) during the investigation of the Bürgerbräukeller in November 1939 (Federal Archive).

German Opposition: On 9 November 1939, Johann Georg Elser is being held at Munich Gestapo Headquarters, one of many suspects of the 8 November 1939 bombing of the Bürgerbräukeller. At some point, he is identified by a waitress, Maria Strobl, as an odd patron who only drank one beer during his visits. Another witness, a storekeeper, identifies Elser as the man to whom he sold a a 'soundproofing insulation plate' to deaden the sound of ticking clocks. The head of the Vienna Gestapo, Franz Josef Huber, comes in and asks to see Elser's knees: they are bruised from his work in tight spaces planting the bomb. During the interrogation, Elser is savagely and repeatedly beaten. Heinrich Himmler himself, who could have been killed by the bomb, participates.

There is a sense of outrage throughout the German apparatus that is genuine and destructive. For instance, on this day, SS guards at Buchenwald Concentration Camp march 21 Jewish inmates out to a wall and shoot them in retaliation. Food rations for the entire camp are suspended for three days.

German Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels has the propaganda apparatus blame Great Britain for the Bürgerbräukeller explosion.

Battle of the Atlantic: The 961-ton British freighter Carmarthen Coast strikes a mine and sinks near Seaham Harbour. Two perish.

U-34 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Rollmann) stops Norwegian freighter Snar off southern Norway, then seizes it due to "contraband" (pulpwood). U-34 also searches Danish ship N.J. Ohsen and Norwegian ship Gimle, but allows them to proceed.

The Royal Navy destroyer Isis captures German vessel Leander off Cape Finisterre and starts bringing it to Scotland.

U-26, one of three U-boats previously ordered to enter the Mediterranean passes through the heavily guarded Straits of Gibraltar.

Spies: The Gestapo arrests/kidnaps two British spies (MI6), Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best. The MI6 agents are attempting to contact the German opposition at the Dutch border town of Venlo. They have been meeting with a "Major Schaemmle," who in reality is loyal Gestapo officer Walther Schellenberg. Schellenberg has been "playing" them. Himmler ordered them to be abducted from just across the border as part of his investigation of the Bürgerbräukeller plot, as their information may help identify the culprits. A neutral observer at the meetings, Lieutenant Dirk Klop, is killed during the abduction.

The Venlo Incident undermines MI6 operations throughout Greater Germany. The captured officers have lists of British agents and provide other useful information. While they could be shot on sight under the rules of war, the two British secret agents are imprisoned instead.

Finland: The Finnish emissaries, Paasikivi and Tanner, rescind their government's offer to yield the Gulf of Finland islands in a meeting with Stalin and Molotov. Stalin is incredulous and asks, "Nothing doing?" Molotov tries to buy the Hanko Peninsula, and the Finns refuse. The Finns pack their bags and leave. Negotiations are over.

South Africa: A German plot to march on Johannesburg and Pretoria and sabotage vital industries is alleged.

Poland: Odilo Globocnik appointed SS and police leader in the Lublin district, the intended capital of the Jewish state.

Łódź is officially annexed to the Reich, becoming its tenth largest city. It is renamed to Litzmannstadt in honor of a German General of World War I.

Walter Schellenberg, the architect of the Venlo Incident.

November 1939

November 8, 1939: Hitler Almost Killed

Wednesday 8 November 1939

8 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Hitler Bürgerbräukeller Munich

Hitler giving his speech at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, 8 November 1939. A commenter below helpfully identified the two SS men sitting in the front row as panzer leaders Hans Pfeiffer and Max Wünsche. Needless to say, sitting there was a huge honor.

German Opposition: November 8, 1939, is the 16th Anniversary of the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler always commemorates it by returning to the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich where the major steps in the attempted coup took place. As usual, his old cronies from the old days are there, including:

Joseph Goebbels,
Reinhard Heydrich,
Rudolf Hess,
Robert Ley,
Alfred Rosenberg,
Julius Streicher,
August Frank,
Hermann Esser and
Heinrich Himmler.

Hitler begins the speech 30 minutes earlier than usual to a packed house. He condemns the British as warmongers and for the first time predicts a five-year war. He can't fly home due to the weather, so he leaves earlier than he might otherwise to board his train for the ride back to Berlin.

Thirteen minutes later, at 21:20, a time bomb explodes that is concealed in a building support pillar near the speaking platform. Eight people are killed and 63 injured, sixteen seriously. Hitler, of course by now is on the train.

As usual, when something terrible happens and nobody knows the cause, people jump to various theories. Most blame Hitler himself, conjecturing that he planted the bomb himself to discredit the hard-core opposition to him that he may have gotten an inkling of at his dramatic meeting just a few days before, on 5 November 1939. However, this is unlikely, because Joseph Goebbels blames the British, and if it were a unified effort to discredit domestic foes, Goebbels would be on board with that theory.

George Elser.

That night, border control at the Swiss border at Konstanz is unaware of the bombing. However, they detain a carpenter, Johann Georg Elser, with what appears to be suspicious items (wire cutters, sketches of bombs, and a postcard of the interior of the Bürgerbräukeller). It is just odd enough for them to detain Elser, 25 paces from the Swiss border. During interrogation, news arrives of the attempt on Hitler's life, and Elser is returned to Munich for interrogation. However, he remains one of many suspects, including the entire staff of the Bürgerbräukeller.

Hitler rarely is in a specific public place at a specific time, varying times and places of visits with very little notice or none at all. The anniversary of the Putsch is a very rare exception. This unpredictability has been Hitler's best defense against assassinations in the past, and it is the breakdown in this pattern which placed him in jeopardy. If the bomb plot had succeeded, Hermann Goering, who was not at the event despite being a Putsch veteran, would have acceded to power. Goering being a confirmed opponent to the conflict (but always bowing to Hitler's wishes), the vast majority of World War II might have been averted.

The venue of Hitler's speech at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, 8 November 1939.

Western Front: There are three minor German attacks along the border.

European Air Operations: A New Zealand operates at extreme altitude over an RAF aerodrome in France and brings down a Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane.

A Heinkel 111 is reportedly shot down over the North Sea.

Battle of the Atlantic: US freighters Express and Exeter are detained, the first by the British, the second by the French. The Express is released the same day, along with the freighters Tulsa and Wacosta, which has some of its freight seized as contraband.

U-26 conducts a frustrated attempt to lay mines off heavily guarded Gibraltar.

Convoy OB 32 departs from Liverpool, OA 32G departs from Southend, SL8 departs from Freetown, HXF 8 departs from Halifax.

Collaborator Girls: British party girl Unity Mitford, one of Hitler's pre-war favorites and a member of his inner circle, is in the hospital in Munich following a suicide attempt. She had shot herself in the head due to her conflicting loyalties upon the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939. Hitler genuinely cares for Unity and, before his big speech, goes out of his way to visit her. He pays her bills, then arranges for her safe conduct home to England and her family via Switzerland.

Poland: Gauleiter Hans Frank takes office and plans to transfer 600,000 Jews and 400,000 Poles to un-annexed but German-occupied Poland. He plans this to begin 1 December 1939.

Holland: there are reports of German troop movements just across the border. The government authorizes the widening of the defensive areas just behind the border which will be flooded upon a German invasion.

Finland: The government takes a hard line in its negotiations with the USSR. Commander-in-chief Marshal Mannerheim instead favors trying to reach a settlement but is overruled.

Unity Mitford with Hitler before the war.

World War Two Daily

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Friday, April 29, 2016

November 13, 1939: First Bombing of Great Britain

Monday 13 November 1939

November 1939

November 12, 1939: Peace Efforts Made and Rejected

Sunday 12 November 1939

November 1939

Thursday, April 28, 2016

November 9, 1939: The Venlo Incident

Sunday 9 November 1939

November 1939

November 8, 1939: Hitler Almost Killed

Wednesday 8 November 1939

November 1939