Wednesday 13 March 1940

Finnish territorial concessions from the Winter War.

Winter War: The Winter Wars ends at 11:00 Finnish time on the morning of 13 March 1940. Fighting continues in numerous areas past that deadline due to communication issues or sheer indifference, but also in cases out of spite. There are Soviet bombing missions to Vuosalmi, Koivisto, and Iso Kalastajasaarento. Soviet artillery gunners, many if not all aware of the deal, empty their loads during the morning, killing hundreds of Finns. To be fair, the Finnish gunners also fire, but they do not have nearly the firepower.

Red Army signalman Anatoly Derevenets:

The entire earth started vibrating- all weapons on both sides. 2 days' ammunition spent in minutes.

The final order of the day from Marshal Mannerheim:

Peace has been concluded between our country and the Soviet Union, an exacting peace which has ceded to Russia nearly every battlefield on which you have shed your blood on behalf of every thing we hold dear and sacred. You did not want war. You loved peace, work and progress; but you were forced into a struggle in which you have done great deeds, deeds that will shine for centuries in the pages of history.

Estimated total losses from the 105-day Winter War (sources vary):

• Dead: 24,923 Finns, 200,000+/- Soviets
• Wounded: 45,557 Finns, unknown Soviets
• Tanks Lost: 3 Finns, 1600+- Soviets
• Planes Lost: 61 Finns, 750-900 Soviets
• Guns Lost: unknown Finns, 300+ Soviets
• Civilian Dead: 637 Finns, 0 Soviets
• Civilians Wounded: 1400 Finns, 0 Soviets
• Buildings destroyed: 4,500 Finns, 0 Soviets.

The Soviets have had 1,200,000 men committed to the conflict. The Finns have had 200,000. The official Soviet summary states that they lost 48,000 dead and 158,000 wounded, but most historians believe those figures are vastly understated. There were tremendous numbers of death and injuries, overwhelmingly among the Soviet forces, from frostbite and starvation. Some Soviet dead were due to NKVD blocking detachments.

The subject of Soviet casualties has been the subject of wild guesses that often are influenced by the political environment of the moment - extremely typical in the USSR. Molotov, immediately after the war, gave an estimate of 200,000 Soviet killed and wounded. In the post-Stalin era, though, Nikita Khrushchev ratchets that figure up to 1,000,000 in his memoirs. The first figure appears low, the latter high - but nobody knows.

The war is a Soviet victory, but at a tremendous cost to its reputation. Its failure to overcome Finnish resistance despite massive numerical superiority in all areas of warfare betrays incompetence at all levels. This results partly from the Stalin purges of the 1930s, but also from unrealistic communist principles applied to the military, lack of proper training in all ranks and weaponry that is unsuited to the conditions faced and, in many cases, of mediocre quality for the era. Many Soviet soldiers of all ranks are disgusted at the casualties and the small gains attained.

Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner broadcasts news of the Armistice at 12:00. Later in the day, he also states that Finland is looking into the possibility of creating a defensive alliance with Norway and Sweden. Swedish Foreign Minister Guenther, Lord Halifax and Prime Minister Chamberlain all address their legislatures. The British troops on board ships for transport to Norway disembark.

While the pretext to send Allied troops to Norway has evaporated, the idea remains very much alive in the Supreme War Council. As First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, a notorious hawk, puts it in a letter to Foreign Minister Halifax:

Whether they [the Germans] have some positive plan of their own [for Norway]… I cannot tell. It would seem to me astonishing if they have not.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-44 (Korvettenkapitän Ludwig Mathes), a successful boat with 8 merchant sinkings of 30,885 tons, hits a mine in Minefield No. 7 in the North Sea and sinks. All 47 crew perish. Date and cause are guesses, this may have occurred later from other causes.

German freighter La Coruna is scuttled by its crew when spotted by Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser Maloja south of Iceland.

Convoy OA 109 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 109 departs from Liverpool, Convoy OG 22F departs from Gibraltar, and Convoy HX 27 departs from Halifax.

German/Italian Relations: The two countries arrange for overland delivery of coal supplies to Italy, as supplies by sea have been disrupted by the Coal Ships Affair of previous days.

US Government: Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles leaves London for Rome.

The New York Herald Tribune publishes a scathing editorial castigating the United States Congress for not supporting the Finns when it mattered.

US Navy: The Fleet Marine Force concludes its Fleet Landing Exercise (FLEX) No. 6 at Culebra, Puerto Rico. The exercise is useful in developing techniques for rubber-boat landings and ship-to-shore communications.

Terrorism: An Indian nationalist assassinates Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the former governor of Punjab.

Holocaust: Hitler tells Colin Ross: "I'd welcome a positive solution to the Jewish question, but I haven't space for my own people."

Future History: Al Jarreau is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He becomes a well-known jazz performer in the 1960s and thereafter.

Field Marshal Mannerheim. He always operates from a command train parked in an inconspicuous spot. His legendary status in Finland only grew during the war.

March 1940

March 1, 1940: Soviet Breakthroughs Past Viipuri
March 2, 1940: Soviets Swarm West in Finland
March 3, 1940: Soviets Across Gulf of Viipuri
March 4, 1940: USSR Apologizes to Sweden
March 5, 1940: Katyn Forest Massacre Approved
March 6, 1940: Finns Head to Moscow
March 7, 1940: The Coal Ships Affair
March 8, 1940: Peace Talks Begin in Moscow
March 9, 1940: Soviets Harden Peace Terms
March 10, 1940: Germany Draws Closer to Italy
March 11, 1940: Winter War Peace Terms Finalized
March 12, 1940: War is Over (If You Want It)
March 13, 1940: Winter War Ends
March 14, 1940: Evacuating Karelia
March 15, 1940: The Bletchley Bombe
March 16, 1940: First British Civilian Killed
March 17, 1940: Enter Dr. Todt
March 18, 1940: Mussolini To Join the War
March 19, 1940: Daladier Resigns
March 20, 1940: Soviets Occupy Hango Naval Base
March 21, 1940: Paul Reynaud Leads France
March 22, 1940: Night Fighters Arise!
March 24, 1940: French Consider Alternatives
March 25, 1940: Reynaud Proposes Action
March 26, 1940: C-46 First Flight
March 27, 1940: Himmler Authorizes Auschwitz Construction
March 28, 1940: Allies Ponder Invading Norway
March 29, 1940: Soviets Prefer Neutrality
March 30, 1940: Allied Uncertainty
March 31, 1940: The Tiger Cage

2019

Saturday 9 March 1940

Jews taking their things to the Lodz Ghetto (Gauss, Federal Archive).

Winter War: The Finns admit in a 9 March 1940 communique that the Soviets have established a beachhead on the far (northwestern) shore of Viipuri Bay. However, they are quick to add that everywhere else the line is holding.

The British and French still promise assistance, but they want a formal request for assistance. Their offers are cynical: while they promise 12,000 troops, only 4,000 are allocated to Finland; the rest would be to seize control of iron ore mines in Norway and Sweden.

Winter War Army Operations: While there are no major breakthroughs, the Finnish positions are deteriorating. They evacuate key positions in the Gulf of Viipuri.

Winter War Air Operations: The Finns perform strafing missions with nine Moranes and a Fiat, destroying 6 trucks, and also shoot down 2 Soviet I-153 and a Tshaika. Ten new Hawker Hurricanes, much more advanced than current planes on either side, arrive at the Sakyla base, but must be worked up and pilots trained on them.

Winter War Peace Talks: The Soviets are demanding a huge slice of Finnish territory to the west of Lake Ladoga, including Salla in Lapland. The Finns are aghast because they never expected to lose all access to Lake Ladoga. Marshal Mannerheim calls at 17:00, and he tells PM Ryti that General Heinrichs, in charge of the most sensitive area of defense on the Karelian Isthmus, says that there is no military hope. Mannerheim thus urges acceptance of the Soviet terms, draconian as they may be perceived.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-14 (Oberleutnant zur See Herbert Wohlfarth) has a big day.

First, at 05:42 U-14 torpedoes and sinks 1,097-ton British freighter SS Borthwick north of Zeebrugge. All 21 aboard survive. Next, U-14 torpedoes SS Abbotsford at 11:30. The freighter does not sink, and 643 ton SS Akeld turns around to assist. U-14 then puts a torpedo into the Akeld, which sinks. U-14 then turns back to the 1,585 ton Abbotsford and puts a second torpedo into it, sinking it. All crewmen are lost on both ships, 19 on the Abbotsford and 12 on the Akeld.

U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) spots a fleet (6 ships) of neutral Irish trawlers in the Donegal Bay fishing grounds. It should not attack at all, because the trawlers have their lights on, indicating neutrality. However, U-38 surfaces and fires a warning shot anyway - which hits the trawler Leukos. The Leukos sinks and all 11 aboard perish.

U-28 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke) sinks 4,979 ton Greek freighter P. Margaronis 125 miles west of Brest, France. All 30 crew perish.

British freighter Chevychase hits a mine and sinks.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kelly (Lord Mountbatten) collides with destroyer HMS Gurkha, damaging the Kelly.

The Kriegsmarine conducts minelaying operations.

The British commission two minesweeping trawlers, HMS Hazel (W. E. Coggin) and HMS Juniper (Lt. Commander G. S. Grenfell).

The British at Gibraltar detain US freighter Exmoor.

Convoy OB 105 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 22F departs from Gibraltar, and Convoy SL 23F departs from Freetown, and Convoy HX 26 departs from Halifax.

Anglo/Italian Relations: The British authorities release the 13 Italian coal ships that they have been holding near Kent. However, they warn the Italians that they must find an overland source of supply. The timing is interesting because it comes on the eve of a visit to Rome by Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. This resolves the "Coal Ships Affair."

Admiral Raeder and Hitler.

German Military: Admiral Raeder, who is the de facto head of the proposed invasion of Denmark and Norway, cautions Hitler that the British and French may occupy Norway at the earliest opportunity. They will use assistance to the Finns, he cautions, to seize strategic positions throughout Scandinavia. Thus, Operation Weserubung should be executed at the earliest opportunity.

Canadian Military: In a pungent show of team spirit, Canadian soldiers who left their hockey team to serve their country with the BEF don their Toronto Maple Leafs team jerseys while training in England.

British Homefront: The UK press, which has a mind of its own, accuses the US industry of war profiteering. Ambassador to the Court of St. James Joseph Kennedy replies, "We're not playing Shylock, getting rich off misery." He also rather pointedly adds, "America's desire to stay out of this war is getting stronger." The US Supreme Court ultimately rules that businesses are perfectly entitled to take profits from war contracts even if this is seen by some as "war profiteering."

Finnish Homefront: Reserve Lieutenant Martti 'Make' Uosikkinen, a gymnast who is one of Finland's top athletes, is killed in action at Kollaa.

Holocaust: Polish Jews from Lodz who have been forced to move into the Jewish Ghetto find conditions there deplorable: "A refuse dump choked with rats. A stinking toilet full of melting snow. A leaking roof. 1 little room for 7 people," says Irena Liebman.

Future History: Raúl Juliá is born in Floral Park, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He becomes famous as an actor in the 1960s and 1970s for appearances on Broadway, television shows such as Sesame Street, and films such as "Kiss of the Spider Woman." He passed away in 1994.

March 1940

March 1, 1940: Soviet Breakthroughs Past Viipuri
March 2, 1940: Soviets Swarm West in Finland
March 3, 1940: Soviets Across Gulf of Viipuri
March 4, 1940: USSR Apologizes to Sweden
March 5, 1940: Katyn Forest Massacre Approved
March 6, 1940: Finns Head to Moscow
March 7, 1940: The Coal Ships Affair
March 8, 1940: Peace Talks Begin in Moscow
March 9, 1940: Soviets Harden Peace Terms
March 10, 1940: Germany Draws Closer to Italy
March 11, 1940: Winter War Peace Terms Finalized
March 12, 1940: War is Over (If You Want It)
March 13, 1940: Winter War Ends
March 14, 1940: Evacuating Karelia
March 15, 1940: The Bletchley Bombe
March 16, 1940: First British Civilian Killed
March 17, 1940: Enter Dr. Todt
March 18, 1940: Mussolini To Join the War
March 19, 1940: Daladier Resigns
March 20, 1940: Soviets Occupy Hango Naval Base
March 21, 1940: Paul Reynaud Leads France
March 22, 1940: Night Fighters Arise!
March 24, 1940: French Consider Alternatives
March 25, 1940: Reynaud Proposes Action
March 26, 1940: C-46 First Flight
March 27, 1940: Himmler Authorizes Auschwitz Construction
March 28, 1940: Allies Ponder Invading Norway
March 29, 1940: Soviets Prefer Neutrality
March 30, 1940: Allied Uncertainty
March 31, 1940: The Tiger Cage

2019

Thursday 7 March 1940

Sumner Welles towers over Edouard Daladier, 7 March 1940.

Winter War: With the situation becoming desperate on 7 March 1940, the Finns have begun calling up the next class of recruits, lowering the service age to 20.

Winter War Army Operations: The fighting continues in the Viipuri Bay sector and north of Lake Ladoga. The Soviets make small gains in both sectors. The major Soviet success is that the Soviet 28th Corps cuts the highway between Viipuri and Helsinki, which basically is a lifeline for Finnish positions further north.

The Finns have almost no ammunition left, but they know they have to stop the Soviets from continuing to cross the bay. Someone thinks of using saws to cut the ice... but the cuts quickly freeze.

Legendary Finnish sniper Simo Hayha, the "Magic Shooter" who has 505 kills in 95 days, is shot in the jaw, but survives. "Half his head is hanging out," says one man who helps to rescue him.

Winter War Peace Talks: The Finns arrive in Moscow in the evening. They announce that negotiations are in progress over Soviet terms that are even more drastic than those issued before the war - and they should know since Juho Kusti Paasikivi is the one who failed at his negotiations with the Soviets in November. German and Swedish mediators are participating.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-14 (Oberleutnant zur See Herbert Wohlfarth) sinks 1,965-ton Dutch freighter Vecht in the North Sea off Knokke-Heist, West Flanders, Belgium. All 22 crew perish.

The British detain many more Italian vessels carrying German coal. The ships are brought to The Downs, off Deal in Kent, and anchored off the coast without being unloaded. Other ships are en route to Italy from Rotterdam. Italy is badly in need of coal, and rationing has been imposed.

The incident is turning Italian public opinion against the British, who it is believed are using the war as a pretext for arms deals that Mussolini refuses to approve. It is an extreme example of the high-handed British attitude toward neutral rights that has permeated the Admiralty's conduct to date, exemplified by the seizure of mail and dubious "contraband" and lengthy detainments of neutral vessels. This current squabble gets the tabloid name "The Coal Ships Affair."

The Kriegsmarine conducts minelaying operations west of Heligoland.

Liner Queen Elizabeth completes its journey to New York in the service of the Admiralty.

Convoy OA 105G departs from Southend.

European Air Operations: RAF planes drop Polish-language leaflets over western Poland, then also drop German-language leaflets over Leipzig and the Ruhr.

The Luftwaffe conducts a night raid over ships anchored off the southeast coast of England. The RAF shoots down a Heinkel He 111 bomber east of Aberdeen.

Western Front: There is heightened patrol activity in the no man's land between the Maginot and Siegfried Lines. One officer, a Captain Twomey, states that British posts are so poorly situated that "No one can see another to support it."

RAF: Sir Kingsley Wood declares that the fighting capacity of the RAF has doubled over the past year.

Concerned about "loose lips," the RAF picks out some men and makes the "specially deputized" to report on those they hear speaking indiscreetly.

German Military: Hitler expands Operation Weserubung, which originally was a one-division operation, to eight divisions. It will include the occupation of Norway and, as a "land-bridge" to Norway, Denmark. At this point in the war, all of Hitler's military decisions are turning up roses.

British Government: The debate over land sale restrictions in Palestine boils over in the House of Commons, where Labour laments these cruel impositions on "a weak and hunted race," while Tories point out that "Now is not the time to face Arab revolt."

US Government: Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles continues his tour of world capitals in Paris. He meets first with President Albert François Lebrun, keeps wandering off into areas that were not "in the slightest degree significant." Welles then meets with French Premier Daladier in Paris, who surprisingly (in light of his many contrary public statements) says that he would not absolutely rule out negotiating with Hitler. Daladier emphasizes that the restoration of Czech and Polish independence is the primary war aim.

Simo Hayha, legendary Finnish sniper, before his injury.

March 1940

March 1, 1940: Soviet Breakthroughs Past Viipuri
March 2, 1940: Soviets Swarm West in Finland
March 3, 1940: Soviets Across Gulf of Viipuri
March 4, 1940: USSR Apologizes to Sweden
March 5, 1940: Katyn Forest Massacre Approved
March 6, 1940: Finns Head to Moscow
March 7, 1940: The Coal Ships Affair
March 8, 1940: Peace Talks Begin in Moscow
March 9, 1940: Soviets Harden Peace Terms
March 10, 1940: Germany Draws Closer to Italy
March 11, 1940: Winter War Peace Terms Finalized
March 12, 1940: War is Over (If You Want It)
March 13, 1940: Winter War Ends
March 14, 1940: Evacuating Karelia
March 15, 1940: The Bletchley Bombe
March 16, 1940: First British Civilian Killed
March 17, 1940: Enter Dr. Todt
March 18, 1940: Mussolini To Join the War
March 19, 1940: Daladier Resigns
March 20, 1940: Soviets Occupy Hango Naval Base
March 21, 1940: Paul Reynaud Leads France
March 22, 1940: Night Fighters Arise!
March 24, 1940: French Consider Alternatives
March 25, 1940: Reynaud Proposes Action
March 26, 1940: C-46 First Flight
March 27, 1940: Himmler Authorizes Auschwitz Construction
March 28, 1940: Allies Ponder Invading Norway
March 29, 1940: Soviets Prefer Neutrality
March 30, 1940: Allied Uncertainty
March 31, 1940: The Tiger Cage

2019