Thursday 8 February 1940

The bridge connecting the two separate sections of the Lodz Ghetto (Federal Archive).

Winter War: The Finnish government announces on 8 February 1940 that a Swedish brigade of 6,000 men is manning part of the line on the Salla front.

Winter War Army Operations: Attacks at Summa continue without much change aside from the gradual attrition of the Finnish defenders. Soviet tanks continue dragging armored sleds full of explosives that are detonated near Finnish fortifications.

At 10:15, the Soviets open an attack at Taipale. Two Soviet Divisions shell the Kirvesmäki Cape and attack across the River Taipale. The Soviets take two Finnish strongholds at Terenttilä at the extreme East end of the Mannerheim Line where the River Taipale empties into Lake Ladoga. Finnish casualties are extreme for them: 219 men, with 32 killed.

Further north, the Finnish 9th Division finishes its work around Kuhmo. It destroys the 1500 Soviet soldiers of the Soviet 54th Division that have been surrounded near Kuhmo in separate mottis (logs).

Winter War Peace Talks: Discussions continue in Stockholm, but the Soviets show no inclination to bargain. The Soviets require an island in the Gulf of Finland to serve as a Soviet naval base.

Western Front: Two French soldiers capture a German patrol in Forbach Woods.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is one of the quieter days of the war in the endless war on the high seas.

US freighter Scottsburg is detained by the British at Gibraltar.

Convoy OA 88GF departs from Southend.

Spies: Double agent William Sebold, a German native born in Mulheim, Germany, arrives in New York City as "Harry Sawyer." Sebold is a spy for the Reich, but in actuality is a double agent working for the FBI. He sets up a short-wave radio transmitter with FBI help and begins transmitting reports (prepared by the FBI) to Berlin.

Separately, the Paris police raid the Soviet Press Agency. They discover that it is being used as a cover for German propaganda.

Canada: The third contingent of Canadian soldiers arrives in England at a west coast port.

New Zealand: It is the 100th anniversary of the founding of New Zealand with the Anglo-Maori Treaty of Waitangi.

Palestine: Chaim Weizmann meets with President Roosevelt to discuss issues regarding the Jewish/Arab conflict in Palestine.

Holocaust: Orders are given for the establishment of a Jewish Ghetto in Lodz.

China: Japanese planes attack Mengzi. Three Chinese Hawk 75 fighters intercept them and a dogfight ensues for more than an hour, with one Chinese pilot, Yang Tzu-fan, injured after crash-landing.

The Shangtung Operation continues as the Japanese occupy the Shangtung Peninsula.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese capture Wuning north of Nanning after several days of battle.

Future History:  One of the soldiers captured in the Forbach Woods, Joseph Darnand, later heads the Vichy French secret police.

Double-agent William Sebold.

February 1940

February 1, 1940: Second Battle of Summa
February 2, 1940: Soviet Assaults at Summa February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2019

Sunday 17 December 1939

A Finnish soldier on the Kollaa front, 17 December 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: On 17 December 1939, Captain Langsdorff must make a decision, and he does. The Admiral Graf Spee only has left a third of its ammunition, about as much as expended during the previous battle. It also has insufficient fuel left to return to Germany, with the prospect of being able to refuel while being chased by the British very unlikely. So, after consulting with his officers, at 6:15 p.m., Langsdorff sails slowly west out of Montevideo and scuttles the ship in neutral waters. It sits mostly submerged in 7 meters of water, blazing away.

Most of Langsdorff's crew transfers to the German freighter Tacoma. He and his 1,039-man crew wind up in detention in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The outcome is a huge propaganda victory for the British and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, but the sailors from Admiral Graf Spee survived. Churchill spins into rhetorical overdrive:

the outcome was "like a flash of light and colour on the scene, carrying with it an encouragement to all who are fighting, to ourselves, and to our Allies."

The Admiral Graf Spee had sunk 50,089 tons of shipping, nine ships. It also badly damaged a heavy cruiser and kept a large portion of the Allied fleets searching the South Atlantic for weeks. This deprived convoys further north of protection. The Altmark, its supply ship, remains free and heads back north to Germany, loaded with Allied prisoners.

U-59 (Oberleutnant zur See Harald Jürst) sinks the 1.245-ton Danish freighter Jaegerborg east of the Firth of Forth in Scotland. All eighteen crew perish.

U-59 also torpedoes and sinks the 1,214-ton Danish freighter Bogø. Of the 20-man crew, three survive.

British destroyers lay mine off the German coast.

The British at Gibraltar detain the US freighter Meanticut.

Admiral Graf Spee burning in the Platte River, 17 December 1939.

Winter War Army Operations: Soviet attacks continue at Summa. Soviet tanks continue attempting to penetrate the gap in the defenses in the nearby swamp. The Finnish infantry holds its ground and separates the Soviet tanks from their infantry support, then pick the tanks off with anti-tank guns and Molotov Cocktails primarily after dark.

The Soviet 163d Rifle Division remains surrounded at Suomussalmi. The relief force is reeling from Finnish counterattacks and is not trying to break through again. The Finnish strategy is to cut the elongated Soviet caravan on the Ratte road into separate pieces and then finish them off individually.

The Finns at Kollaa are counterattacking two Soviet divisions trapped on the coastal road. The Finns operating on skis can pick and choose their points of attack, while the Soviets are defending their immobile vehicles. The process is debilitating for both sides, but the Finns have turned the tables and are attacking the helpless Soviets.

Snipers are of huge importance in the woods. Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä, nicknamed "The White Death," is accumulating kills.

At Salla, the Soviets have split into two parts at a fork in the road. The Finns block the Soviet move on the southern road toward  Kemijärvi and put the weight of their effort on the north road. The Finns use these men to ambush the northern pincer moving toward Pelkosenniemi. The Soviet force on the north road, an infantry regiment a battalion, and a company of tanks, is outflanked and begins to retreat. A wild fight ensues.

League of Nations: The Soviets issue a long and entirely negative reply to the League of Nations resolution expelling it.

BEF: The first convoy of Canadian troops arrives in Liverpool, some 7,500 men of the 1st Canadian Division (Canadian Major-General McNaughton). It consists of five ocean liners.

China: The Chinese Winter Offensive continues. While the Chinese 3rd War Area attacks the 116th Infantry Regiment and captures Hsientao and Szekang, elsewhere the Japanese begin counter-attacking. The Japanese 5th Infantry Division attacks toward Lungchow, the 104th Infantry Division reaches Yuantan in Kwantung Province, and the Japanese counterattack the Chinese 2nd War Area.


December 14, 1939: Quisling Meets Hitler
December 15, 1939: Chinese Winter Offensive in High Gear
December 16, 1939: Battle of Summa
December 17, 1939: End of Admiral Graf Spee
December 18, 1939: Battle of Heligoland Bight
December 19, 1939: British Disarm Magnetic Mines
December 20, 1939: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
December 21, 1939: Finns Plan More Counterattacks
December 22, 1939: Enter Chuikov
December 23, 1939: Failed Finnish Counterattack
December 24, 1939: Soviets on the Run
December 25, 1939: Fresh Soviet Attacks
December 26, 1939: Vicious Battles at Kelja
December 27, 1939: Grinding Finnish Victories
December 28, 1939: Liberators
December 29, 1939: Finns Tighten the Noose
December 30, 1939: Finnish Booty
December 31, 1939: Planning More Soviet Destruction

2019

Monday 13 November 1939

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

Wednesday 20 September 1939

German and Soviet troops in Brest-Litovsk (Ehlert, Federal Archive).

Battle of Poland: The Polish Kraków Army (Armia Kraków) surrenders after the First Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski on 20 September 1939. It has been the largest tank battle of the campaign. Units from other Polish armies are located nearby and remain active.

The Germans claim to have taken 105,000 Polish prisoners so far.

The Soviets reach Lwow, which the surrounding Germans hand over to them.

Soviet tanks of the 27th Armoured Brigade of the 15th Armoured Corps approach Grodno. They attempt to seize the city by crossing the bridge over the Niemen River but are repulsed. They regroup for an attack in the morning.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-27 is tracked down after several recent successes that have alerted the Royal Navy to its presence. HMS Fortune rams the U-boat after three torpedoes launched at it and the accompanying HMS Faulknor explodes prematurely. All of the 38 U-boat crew members survive. Kapitänleutnant Johannes Franz later alerts the Kriegsmarine BDU (U-boat high command) of the defective torpedoes by managing to send Berlin a coded message from his POW camp.

Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Kittiwake, a Kingfisher class patrol vessel, strikes a British mine in the Straits of Dover. Five men are lost.

European Air Operations: Three RAF Fairey Battle Reconnaissance bombers meet a squadron of Bf-109s over the Siegfried Line near Aachen, Germany. The RAF loses two Battles and the Luftwaffe loses a Messerschmidt.

German Navy: The heavy cruiser Blücher is commissioned.

Resistance: A revolt breaks out in former Czechoslovakia (now incorporated into the Greater German Reich).

Peace Negotiations: The British and French categorically reject the peace offering by Hitler made in Danzig.

British Politics: The Labour Party attacks the Conservative government of Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons for the conduct of the war.

Czechoslovakia: the revolt in former Czechoslovakia continues. The Germans are applying their usual measures to suppress it.

British Government: The government announces that it has seized £500,000 in good destined for Germany during the week.

Canada: The cabinet decides to raise 20,000 for an expeditionary force to supplement the BEF.

Australia: The government gives the British the personnel of four bomber squadrons and two squadrons of two-seat fighters.

Germany Homefront: Jews are ordered to surrender all radios.

American Homefront: There are newspaper reports detailing the alleged overseas fortunes totaling $33 million of German leaders.

Joe Louis mounts a successful defense of his world heavyweight boxing title against Bob Pastor at Detroit's Briggs Stadium.

Soviet and German troops sharing stories.

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

Sunday 10 September 1939

Troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under Lord Gort, marching to the ships taking them to France, 10 September 1939.

Battle of Poland: Polish troops quietly withdraw from Łomża after a vicious battle. The last Poles cross the river  a couple of hours before midnight on September 10, 1939.

The Germans break through at Wizna and take Nowogród, making the entire Narew River line untenable. It has been a dry summer, making standard defensive river lines less useful as opposing forces can ford the rivers. The Polish high command orders a general retreat to the southeast.

At the city of  Jarosław on the San River, General Stanisław Maczek and his Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade mount a defensive operation. The objective is to hold open an escape route for his forces further west. He holds out throughout the day, then skillfully withdraws and leaves only a skeleton force in the city.

Generalmajor der Ordnungspolizei and SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Fritz von Roettig, 51, is ambushed in his staff car and shot in the head by Polish troops near Opoczno and becomes the first German General to die during the war.

Polish/French Diplomacy:  Polish Commander-in-Chief Marshal Rydz-Smigly urgently requests French troops to be sent to aid Poland. General Gamelin, engaged in his offensive in the Saar, replies that this is impossible because over half of his force is in contact with the enemy.

Polish Propaganda: The Luftwaffe mounts 15 raids on Warsaw which are hurting morale. Polish radio broadcasts that the Germans have withdrawn from the vicinity of the city, which is not the case.
German Propaganda: The German High Command broadcasts that the tempo of operations is being slowed to consolidate gains. In fact, just the opposite is happening as the Poles abandon the Narew River line.

In order to sow confusion, German radio technicians, using the same wavelength as Radio Warsaw, broadcast a spurious announcement that Warsaw has fallen.

Canadian Government: Prime Minister Mackenzie King and bearing the seal of Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir publish a joint statement in the Canada Gazette declaring that a state of war exists between the Dominion of Canada and the German Reich "as and from the tenth day of September 1939."

Unlike some other British commonwealth nations, the declaration is not backdated to 3 September. This delay has a hidden purpose. Unlike the other commonwealth nations, Canada is close enough to the United States to furiously stock up supplies from there before the American neutrality laws bar their shipment.

Battle of the Atlantic: In a tragic case of friendly fire, the HMS Triton (Lieutenant Commander Steel) sights another submarine and, assuming that it is a U-boat after any response to attempts to communicate, lets loose two torpedoes. They strike HMS Oxley. There are only two survivors. Steel is later cleared by a Board of Enquiry. The matter is hushed up until the 1950s.

Future History: Cynthia Lennon is born in Blackpool, England. She later marries Beatle John Lennon. Cynthia passes away in 2015. Her son, Julian Lennon, also becomes a pop star after John's death in 1980.

Cynthia, Julian and John Lennon in the 1960s.

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