Monday 15 April 1940

General Carton de Wiart arrives.

Norway: The Vidkun Quisling puppet government, which nobody recognizes and which is completely ineffective, "resigns" (it was never officially installed) on 15 April 1940 under German pressure. The Germans are not interested in fulfilling Quisling's fantasies of being a sort of Viceroy, but rather in crafting a government that can actually accomplish something. The Quisling government is replaced by an Administrative Council composed of Norwegian lawyers and bureaucrats, and its leader is Ingolf Christensen. Quisling is gone but definitely not forgotten, and he remains lurking in the shadows.

King Haakon broadcasts an appeal to the people of Norway asking for their continued support. He intends to leave the country because his presence is causing casualties among the people defending him.

Norway Army Operations: The Norwegian 3rd Infantry Division, 2100 troops, surrenders north of Kristiansand. Units of the German 138th Mountain Regiment advance via a fortified train east from Trondheim toward Sweden, the objective being to secure the "waist" of the country.

At the Battle of Dombås, Oblt. Schmidt and his men begin the day at Hågåvollen, a farm on the highway five kilometers south of Dombås. They are blocking the main road through the region. The men left behind on the road catch up, so Schmidt has about 60 men with him. The Fallschirmjäger blow up the railway line nearby in three places, which closed the line for 24 hours.

The Norwegians know there is a German force in the area, but know little else. Kaptein Eiliv Austlid of the Norwegian army is tasked with clearing the road, which King Haakon and the rest of the government would use as an escape route. He brings two heavy machine gun platoons with 41 men. The Norwegian counterattack fails in deep snow. Austlid is killed while storming the dug-in Germans, who are elite soldiers, and 28 of the Norwegians are captured. At the end of the day, the German Fallschirmjäger remain in control of the road. Their true objective, the Dombås rail station, appears out of reach, but the German troops are disrupting Norwegian plans by their mere presence.

Hegra Fortress has been reactivated by a scratch Norwegian force largely composed of locals. The mothballed fort may be old, but has huge cannon and plenty of ammunition. Some 250 Norwegian volunteers from local gun clubs man the ramparts. The commanding officer, Norwegian artillery major Hans Reidar Holtermann, already has rejected demands from the Germans that he surrender.

At 05:30, the Germans attack. Advance Norwegian units at the Hegra road bridge and railway station retreat to the fortress, destroying the bridge before they leave. The German troops, clad in dark uniforms, then have to run across the frozen Stjørdal River under the fortress' guns. The Norwegians lose five men killed and 8 taken prisoner.

With the Germans advancing, the guns of the fortress open up. Everyone is helping, including the local telephone operator who serves as a spotter. The fortress guns knock out three German artillery pieces.

The Germans pursue the Norwegians down the road to the fortress. At one point, they stop at some field fortifications and make a temporary stand. They inflict casualties, including the German platoon leader Oberleutnant Hans-Joachim Herrmann. The Germans retreat, and the Norwegians capture arms, ammunition and equipment. By day's end, though, the Germans have occupied most of the surrounding area and the Luftwaffe is flying reconnaissance over the fortress (one aircraft crash-landing).

At Narvik, British Major-General Joseph Mackesy is being encouraged by Vice-Admiral Whitworth in HMS Warspite, Admiral of the Fleet Dudley, and others to land his troops in the port itself after a naval bombardment. However, he has no idea how many German troops are defending the port, and sees little value in a preparatory naval bombardment that will wreck whatever value the port has. In addition, half of his troops have been diverted south to Namsos, and his 24th Brigade is not equipped for an opposed landing by determined German troops. Accordingly, Mackesy decides to disembark his men slightly north of Narvik and wait for better weather conditions to march over and take the town.

The Germans in Narvik are confident. Theodor Broch, Mayor of Narvik, states: "Gazing across the shell-torn port, a German officer said to me: 'Your friends the British will never come."

Dombås Station, the objective of the battle nearby.

Norway Naval Operations: With the preliminary force having arrived on 14 April, the main body of the 24th British Guards Brigade arrives at Harstad.

In addition, the British 146th Territorial Brigade (a reserve formation) continues arriving at Namsos, north of Trondheim. Legendary General Carton de Wiart (VC, DSO) arrives to command. His Short Sunderland flying boat is attacked by a German fighter along the way and his aide is wounded, but de Wiart gets through as usual. Once on the ground, de Wiart orders immediate advance south toward Trondheim.

Norway Air Operations: The RAF raids Stavanger-Sola airfield again, this time with 11-15 bombers (sources vary), then another dozen during the night. More damage is done to the hangars, and some seaplanes are destroyed.

In addition, Fleet Air Arm aircraft raid shipping at Bergen, setting afire one transport, a small store ship, and a large flying boat. One of the attacking planes is lost.

The Luftwaffe continues sending Ju 52 transport planes to supply the isolated German garrison at Narvik. They land on frozen Lake Hartvigvann. HMS Furious sends airstrikes against them.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-49 (Kapitänleutnant Kurt von Gossler) is sunk near Narvik by British destroyers HMS Fearless and HMS Brazen. There is one fatality, 41 survive and are taken as prisoners.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Snapper sinks two Kriegsmarine minesweepers, M-1701, and M-1702.

Destroyer USS Wainwright (Lt. Commander Thomas L. Lewis) is commissioned.

Convoy US 3 departs from Victoria, Australia for Egypt. It carries the Australian 18th Infantry Brigade.

Western Front: The main plan for the defense against the Germans, Anglo-French Plan D, changes slightly. Now, the French 7th Army, which is mechanized and under the command of General Henri Giraud, will move into southern Holland upon a Wehrmacht attack.

German/Swedish Relations: Birger Dahlerus brings with him to Berlin the commander of the Swedish Navy, Vice-Admiral Fabian Tamm. They meet Hermann Goering at the Air Ministry. Tamm warns that Sweden would defend its borders "Against everybody who tries to force their way across Sweden's frontiers."

US/Japanese Relations: Japanese Foreign Minister Arita Hachiro announces at a press conference that Southeast Asia comes under Japanese dominion because it is "economically bound [to Japan] by an intimate relationship of mutuality in ministering to one another's needs." He apparently refers to potential German conquests in Europe when he affirms that Japan takes this responsibility seriously:

"In view of these considerations, the Japanese Government cannot but be deeply concerned over any development accompanying an aggravation of the war in Europe that may affect the status quo of the Netherlands East Indies."

US Navy: In an administrative shuffle, the Naval Reserve command responsibility for naval districts is changed. Responsibility for naval districts is transferred to the Naval Reserve Policy Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. This is done because the importance of the districts is about to be upgraded.

French Navy: The government presses forward with an ambitious naval construction project that will include 2 new battleships and three heavy cruisers.

Denmark: With the German occupation a fait accompli, the Danism military de-mobilizes its troops.

Bolivia: General Enrique Penaranda inaugurated as president.

Holocaust: In occupied Poland, Gauleiter Hans Frank announces his plan to make Krakow "Jew-free" by deporting any Jews left there to labor camps.

British Homefront: The government reports that there are only 972,695 people unemployed. This is 148,518 less than in March 1940 and the lowest monthly total since 1920. Hitler has lowered unemployment in both Germany and in Great Britain.

Future History: Events of World War II remain vividly alive in the memory of the Norwegian people. In 2009, Captain Eiliv Austlid, who led the brave charge up a hill toward the German line at Dombås and fell with a bullet through the chest, was awarded the War Cross with Sword, Norway's highest military decoration.

Captain Eiliv Austlid posthumously received Norway's highest military decoration on October 2, 2009, for his actions on 15 April 1940.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel

2019

Sunday 27 August 1939

The first jet airplane that flies, the He 178.

Luftwaffe: A private project pursued for several years by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke at its own expense pays off when, on 27 August 1939, it stages the first flight ever of a jet aircraft.

In March 1936, Professor Fields at the University of Gottingen had written to Ernst Heinkel regarding one of his students. Hans-Joachim Pabst von Ohain had been working on a novel concept, a gas turbine using its exhaust as a means of propulsion. Pabst had even gotten a patent on the idea. Heinkel himself had been the same age as Pabst when he had gotten his own big break in the aircraft field, so he was open to the idea of a breakthrough by someone that was only 24 years old.

Heinkel gave the young inventor his own hangar to work in. Other manufacturers such as Junkers and BMW heard about the project, studied the patent and also became interested in the jet concept. The burst in interest ultimately led to the Jumo 003 engine which was the first practical jet for use in military aircraft. The British also had begun working on their own jet design, but Frank Whittle remains far behind and his prototype "Gloucester" jet would not fly until 15 May 1941.

Pabst von Ohain continued working, and by September 1937 he had his first jet engine, the  HeS1 (S from Strahi = jet). Flight tests under a He-118 commenced in May 1939, by now with a HeS3 engine. The RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium), which directed Luftwaffe development, though, exhibits only mildly interest.

Erich Warsitz, who previously had flown the first rocket-powered plane in June 1939, performs the test flight at Heinkel's "Marienehe" factory airfield, in today's Rostock-Schmarl district. The test is a complete success and the experimental plane more than meets expectations. The RLM, though, remains unimpressed because the plane can stay in the air for no longer than ten minutes and with a top speed of "only" 378 mph (598 km/hour), which still beats any conventional aircraft of the day. The RLM chooses not to finance development (it secretly has other jet projects in the works with the other manufacturers), so Heinkel continues developing jet aircraft using its own funds. His project turns into the He 280, a solid jet aircraft ready years before the Me 262 but which never enters combat.

Only one He 178 prototype was built. It later was put on display in Berlin but destroyed in a 1943 air raid. After the war, Ernst Heinkel considers the RLM's tepid interest in jet technology to have been a classic blunder that helped cost Germany the war. After the war, Pabst von Ohain was brought to the US in Operation Paperclip and spent decades teaching and developing his ideas, primarily at Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio.

German diplomacy: Birger Dahlerus returns from London with a polite but fairly neutral letter from Lord Halifax. He gives it to Goering, who immediately takes it to Hitler about 20 minutes past midnight on 27 August 1939. Hitler, who keeps late hours, reads the letter and sends for Dahlerus. The latter recalls later that Hitler was virtually incoherent and kept repeating the same phrases over and over, as if in a dream or on drugs, about annihilating England with U-boats and airplanes. Hitler eventually calms down and gives Dahlerus a new set of proposals for peace, which Dahlerus immediately flies back to London. Dahlerus returns to Berlin later in the day. The British position throughout is interesting, but not at all accommodating of Hitler's demands for peace, which include the return to Germany of Danzig and the Polish Corridor and other specific concessions.

Poland: In a football (soccer) game later memorialized as "The Last Game," Poland beats Hungary 4-2.

Another view of the first jet aircraft.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019

Monday 7 August 1939

Hermann Goering arrives at the Bredstedt train station on 7 August 1939 for the drive out to the Dahlerus farmhouse. Crowds of local people had been alerted to expect a special visitor due to elaborate police precautions, and some can be seen in the foreground. Strangely, the meeting is still considered "Top Secret" by the German government.

German/English Diplomacy: After weeks of preparation, on 7 August 1939 Hermann Goering participates in a secret meeting with a random group of English industrialists. The meeting is arranged by unofficial Swedish diplomat Birger Dahlerus and held at his wife's farmhouse in northern Germany.

The highly unusual meeting is held at Sönke-Nissen-Koog, Germany, a remote location on the western shore near the Danish border. At the meeting are:

• Brian Moutain
• Sir Robert Renwick
• Charles MacLaren
• T. Mensforth
• A. Holden
• Stanley Rawson
• Charles Spencer

Some of the British civilians just happen to be summering in Germany, whilst Mountain, Renwick, MacLaren, and Mensforth come across especially for the lunch meeting.

The meeting, despite its elaborate preparation and clandestine nature, has no discernible purpose. It is set up casually by Dahlerus, to whom the idea comes spontaneously after visiting England himself and then running into some of his new English industrialist friends back in Germany. Dahlerus himself knows Goering through his boss, Swedish Electrolux tycoon Axel Wenner-Gren, who had met Goering years previously through the family of Goering's first wife Carin von Rosen. While Wenner-Gren himself likes to dabble in diplomacy, he leaves the heavy lifting to his flunky Dahlerus to keep his hands clean.

The whole affair is just another of Goering's "back channel" freelance attempts at unofficial negotiation to see if he can prevent a large war from developing despite whatever action Hitler may take in Poland. He might be cold-blooded and callous, but Goering knows full well that the Wehrmacht, and in particular his Luftwaffe, are not ready yet for a general European War. Goering also feels that Foreign Minister Ribbentrop is incompetent and a war-monger who is creating in Hitler a false impression that the British will not fight. In addition, he would like to score points with Hitler and undercut Ribbentrop by neutralizing England. Goering apparently does not inform Hitler of the meeting out of fear that Hitler will forbid him from making any peace gestures and perhaps feel that Goering is becoming timid.

Goering lectures the British men on, among other things, Germany's growing ability to synthesize gasoline from coal. The discussion is pleasant but also vaguely threatening. After several hours, Goering ends the meeting by proposing a toast to peace. Not a trained diplomat, Goering does not appear to have a set agenda for the affair. He is "winging it" and apparently feels it is enough to be friendly and that this alone will create an atmosphere conducive to further negotiations. It doesn't.

Spencer gives a full report on the meeting to the Foreign Office which accurately predicts the meeting which Hitler will have at Berchtesgaden on 14 August to plan Case Yellow, the invasion of Poland. Goering appears to be expecting some British response to his gesture, but nobody in England really knows what the question posed had been. The British thus make no response and nothing comes of the meeting. Goering henceforth relies on Dahlerus for his unofficial diplomatic meddling, which inevitably goes nowhere.

Hermann Goering photographed on the way to the 7 August 1939 meeting.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019

Sunday 3 September 1939

Winston Churchill and other top leaders on 3 September 1939.

World Affairs: At roughly 11:15 a.m. on the Sunday morning of 3 September 1939, British Prime Minister Chamberlain broadcasts a brief speech to the country. After setting forth the particulars, he concludes, "consequently, this country is at war with Germany." King George VI also delivers a speech later in the day, an event later recalled in the film "The King's Speech." He states, "all my long struggle to win peace has failed."

Behind the scenes, the Germans are still trying to prevent the declaration right up to the last second. Their unofficial diplomat, Birger Dahlerus, remains on the phone to Whitehall from Berlin as the speech is made, attempting to broker a deal. Both Alexander Cadogan and Lord Halifax, however, remain adamant: no deal without a prior German withdrawal from Poland.

Australia Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies immediately confirms with his own radio address that his country also is at war with Germany. France declares war at 5 p.m. India and New Zealand follow suit. Belgium reaffirms its neutrality, with King Leopold assuming command of the Belgian Army.


British Government: Winston Churchill, a long-time war hawk now proven correct, resumes his World War I post as First Lord of the Admiralty. A Ministry of Economic Warfare (blockade) is established. The House of Commons meets on a Sunday for the first time since 1820.

Battle of Poland: While Polish radio reports nothing but victories, spiked by the welcome news that England has declared war in Poland's support, mass evacuations continue of government officials and their families from Katowice, Krakow and other threatened cities.

The Polish troops are already retreating eastward. The 1st and 4th Panzer Divisions cross the Warta River and are bombed by Polish bombers in the Radom-Plotrkow sector without much effect. The German capture Czestochowa. General Guderian's XIX Corps crosses the Polish Corridor in the north.

Stukas sink the Polish destroyer Wicher at Hela.

Battle of Britain: at 11:28 a.m., barely ten minutes after the conclusion of Chamberlain's speech, there is a false alarm of an air raid in London, with people taking to the shelters for the first time.

European Air Operations: Shortly after the declaration of war, the RAF sends a Bristol Blenheim of No. 139 Squadron out of Wyton on a mission to obtain photographic reconnaissance of the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. It returns unscathed.

That night, 10 Whitley bombers of Nos. 51 and 58 Squadrons drop 6 million anti-German leaflets over Hamburg, Bremen and the Ruhr industrial area without incident.

Battle of the Atlantic: The German Kriegsmarine has 17 U-boats on station guarding the western approaches to Great Britain in preparation for war. Germany announces an immediate blockade. The U-boats are under orders to follow the German Prize Ordinance taken almost literally from the Naval Protocol of 1936. The Kriegsmarine interprets this to mean that U-boats are to attack all merchant ships in convoy, and all that refused to stop or used their radio upon sighting a submarine. [This is pursuant to evidence and testimony of Admiral Karl Doenitz at the Nuremberg trials following World War II.]

Having sailed the previous day from Liverpool for Montreal despite strong indications that war was about to break out, liner SS Athenia is proceeding westward as the day begins. At roughly 200 nautical miles (370 km) northwest of Ireland and 60 nautical miles (110 km) south of Rockall, U-30 under the command of Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp spots her. Mistaking her for a troopship or other armed vessel, Lemp fires two torpedoes, and one strikes on her port side toward the stern. Several ships rush to the Athenia's assistance, including, somewhat ironically, the large yacht the Southern Cross, owned by Dahlerus' boss at Electrolux, Axel Wenner-Gren. They get there well before the Athenia sinks, which takes a full 14 hours.

Sinking of the SS Athena on 3 September 1939.

There is much controversy about the sinking, which brings home the reality of the war to the startled public. The Germans disclaim responsibility in order to avoid an incident with the United States: among the 98 passengers and 19 crew members who perished were 28 Americans. While the attack is after the declaration of war, the manner of the sinking is illegal under international law due to it being a passenger liner. The Kriegsmarine under Admiral Raeder, along with the Propaganda Ministry, willfully misrepresent the incident as not being their fault in the press. The truth only comes out at the Nuremberg trials following the war, when it is still a very touchy subject.

German Government: Reinhard Heydrich, in his capacity as head of the State Security Police and the Security Service, issues a decree to the heads of all police officers. The decree states in part that "Any attempt to undermine the unity of the German people and its determination to fight must be ruthlessly suppressed." It calls for the arrest of anyone that speaks out against the war, though anyone who can be straightened out through "educational means" should be treated lightly.

Nobody is pleased with Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, who had repeatedly assured Hitler that Great Britain, in particular, would never declare war over Poland. Ribbentrop falls into disfavor from which he never really recovers. Goering somewhat vicariously yells at him: "Now you've got your... war! You alone are to blame!"

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

Friday 1 September 1939

Old German battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein opens fire on the morning of 1 September 1939.

Preliminary Fact: The previous night, the Germans had implemented "Operation Himmler." This involved the staging of "provocations" along the German/Polish border, most famously at the radio station at Gleiwitz. Hitler has used this operation to build a propaganda "justification" for an invasion of Poland.

Germany, Air Operations: Case White, the invasion of Poland, begins. At 4:40 a.m., the Luftwaffe attacks the Polish town of Wieluń, causing extensive damage and killing an estimated 1200 civilians and soldiers. Later, air attacks commence against Kraków, Łódź, and Warsaw.

Operation Wasserkante, the air attack on Warsaw, is composed of four bomber groups but is hampered by poor weather. In addition, PZL P.11 fighters of the Pursuit Brigade shot down 16 German aircraft for the loss of 10 of their own. While a major Polish success, the Germans can sustain their losses, the Poles cannot.
Germany, Naval Operations:  SMS Schleswig-Holstein, a pre-dreadnought laid down in 1905 which had participated in the Battle of Jutland, opens fire at about 4:45 a.m. The target is a Polish ammunition depot at Westerplatte by the Port of Danzig. Many consider this the first "official" shot of the war, though an entire war machine was on the move at the time and indications are that other forces were in play before this action. Choosing this as the start was more due to the convenience of cameras being present that recorded the action than reality. The salvo initiates a ground attack on the depot that is initially unsuccessful.

In London, September 1st, 1939. Three  Kennedys - Joe Junior, Kathleen, and Jack - hurry to attend a special sitting of the British House of Commons. Their father, Joe, is the Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

Germany, Army Operations: Shortly before 5 a.m., German forces move across the frontier. The main attack, though, does not begin until 8 a.m., when the Wehrmacht attacks Mokra. Three pincers aim at Warsaw from East Prussia in the north, Slovakia (a German ally) in the south, and straight east from Germany proper.

The primary forces (53 Divisions) entering Poland under Army (Heer) Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch:

• Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) (Fedor von Bock);
• Heeresgrupped Sud (Army Group South) (Karl Rudolf von Rundstedt);

The individual armies are:

• 3rd Army (Georg von Küchler)
• 4th Army (Günther von Kluge)
• 8th Army (Johannes Blaskowitz)
• 10th Army (Walter von Reichenau)
• 14th Army (Wilhelm von List).

There are two Luftwaffe forces corresponding to the Army Groups and giving them dedicated support (one for each):

• Loftflotte 1 (Albert Kesselring);
• Luftflotte 4 (Alexander Löhr);

Poland, Army Operations: Polish forces successfully defend against an opening attack on the strategic Dirschau Bridge designed to capture it intact. Elsewhere, though, resistance is light.

Germany, Diplomacy: Chancellor Adolf Hitler announces the invasion to the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House (the Reichstag building having been burned in the 27 February 1933 Reichstag Fire). Hitler states that the hostilities are a defensive action. He further states, "If anything should befall me in this struggle, then my successor shall be party-member Goering." He does not ask for a declaration of war, but nobody is left in any doubt that war has commenced.

Hitler holds out hope, encouraged by German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, that Britain and France will not intervene. Unofficial/amateur Swedish diplomat Birger Dahlerus, at the behest of Hermann Goering, phones the permanent undersecretary of the British Foreign Office in London, Sir Alexander Cadogan early in the morning. He wants to broker some kind of understanding. Cadogan tells him that no talks are possible unless and until Germany withdraws from Poland. Around noon, Dahlerus goes to the British embassy in Berlin with the same proposal and is told the same thing.

Germany, Home Front: In sharp contrast to August 1914, when there were wild celebrations upon the outbreak of World War I in Germany and Austria-Hungary, there are few if any public demonstrations in Germany. Crews are busy securing various art treasures and buildings against air attack.

Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag on 1 September 1939.

Future History: Lily Tomlin is born on 1 September 1939. She gains fame in the 1960s and thereafter as a television/film/stage comedienne.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2020

Alfred Naujocks and the Gleiwitz radio tower.

Germany, Diplomacy: Following several days of covert diplomacy with Great Britain, France and Poland, events culminate on 29 August with a German ultimatum to Poland (the "Sixteen Points"). While the Sixteen Points are intentionally framed as reasonably as possible in order to appear attractive to the British, the Polish Ambassador Lipski, for the time being, ignores the entire document as diplomatically offensive. This is precisely what the Germans are counting on. Lipski falls into the trap set by Hitler to create another thin pretext for military action and reasons for the British to not support the Poles. It is a standard Hitler tactic, and it proceeds exactly as planned.

With the diplomatic pretext working, the German High Command (OKW) issues final orders for Case White, the invasion of Poland, just after noontime. Negotiations via Birger Dahlerus continue with the British virtually around the clock. As expected, the Polish refusal to consider the Sixteen Points immediately (as demanded) is used by the Germans in an attempt to fracture Western support for Poland. There are a few very subtle signs of this possibly happening, as the British at least keep talking to Dahlerus in London and make vague statements that leave open the possibility of further negotiations.

Germany, military affairs: With negotiations sputtering along with Great Britain to prevent it from honoring its defense obligations to Poland, Adolf Hitler on 28 August rescheduled Case White (the invasion of Poland) for 1 September 1939. However, in a desire to create a military pretext for the invasion (in addition to the diplomatic pretext), several months previously he had asked his SS chief Heinrich Himmler to craft a sequence of border "incidents" to "justify" military action. Collectively, these incidents would proceed under the code name "Operation Himmler." In later parlance, these are "false flag" operations, perhaps the first in history.

One of these incidents, and the most notorious, was Operation Grandmother Died ("Unternehmen Grossmutter Gestorben"). This would involve a supposed Polish attack on a German radio station that was close to the border at Gleiwitz. Why the Poles would suddenly attack a random German radio station was unclear, but it made sense to the Germans.

SS-Sturmbannfuhrer (Major) Alfred Naujocks organizes the plan. He uses one Franciszek Honiok, a Catholic Polish farmer who had proven troublesome to local German authorities in Silesia. Honiok had been arrested the previous day on a pretext. On 31 August, he is given a lethal injection and then, dressed in a Polish uniform, driven to the radio station. There, he is shot multiple times and left on the station steps. Afterward, Naujocks has someone broadcast a message in Polish urging an invasion of Germany. Then, he and his soldiers leave. The incident forms a major pretext (a "provocation") for Hitler's speech to the Reichstag the following morning "justifying" the unprovoked German invasion of Poland.

By some interpretations, Honiok becomes the first casualty of World War II.

Franciszek Honiok.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose
2019

Friday 25 August 1939

Adolf Hitler engaging in his common pursuit of reading the newspaper.

Germany, Military Decisions - Adolf Hitler had planned 26 August as the date of the invasion of Poland, and this plan continued until the early evening of 25 August 1939. The pact with the Soviet Union of the previous day (dated 23 August) had seemed to make this a date certain. However, several events suddenly happened to cause a change in plans, and Hitler postpones the invasion of Poland at the last minute.

First, the Luftwaffe's intelligence service (the Forschamgsamt) reports that Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano was preparing to inform Berlin that Italy would not participate in an invasion. Second, the French ambassador informs Hitler that France would honor its defense guarantee to Poland. Third, news reports say that Great Britain also now has ratified a similar agreement with Poland. All three events were completely unexpected.

All of this rattles Hitler. He had been relying on advice from his own foreign minister von Ribbentrop that the western powers would stand aside. He also had taken Italian support from his friend, Italian Duce Benito Mussolini, for granted. Hitler tells General Keitel to "Stop everything!" and later states that the postponement will only be for "four or five days." Hermann Goering, meanwhile, continues using a businessman intermediary, Swede Birger Dahlerus of the Electrolux company, to remove Great Britain from the equation. Dahlerus, who is engaging in perhaps the first instance of shuttle diplomacy, is in London this day acting as an unofficial German ambassador. However, he has little to work with and is not making much progress.

Birger Dahlerus.

Terrorism: Five people are killed in an explosion in Coventry. Police quickly suspect the IRA.

Future History: Director John Badham is born on 25 August 1939. He becomes famous in the 1970s for films such as "Saturday Night Fever."

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019