Friday November 17 1939

Prague during the student riots.

Western Front: Military leaders have come up with Plan D aka the Dyle Plan a few days ago, the Supreme Allied Council meets on 17 November 1939 for the third time in Paris and formally endorses the plan. A proposal is made to bomb German factories in the industrial Ruhr, but the French object on the grounds that it will lead to Luftwaffe retaliation against Paris and other major cities.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Deutschland/ Lützow arrives back in Gdynia.

U-28 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke) disembarks 5,133-ton Dutch tanker Sliedrecht and then torpedoes and sinks it. There are only five survivors, while 26 perish.

U-57 (Kapitänleutnant Claus Korth) torpedoes and sinks 1,566-ton Lithuanian freighter Kaunas. One crew member perishes.

German vessel Henning Oldendorff is captured by the Royal Navy.

US freighter Black Gull is detained by the British. The US freighter Nishmaha, previously detained, is directed to proceed Marseilles to unload items seized by the British. The British also detain US freighter Examiner, removing 11 bags of first-class mail. The freighter Black Condor is released after the British seize 126 bags of mail.

Kriegsmarine destroyers Z11 Berndt von Arnim, Z19 Herman Künne and Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp lay more magnetic mines off the Thames estuary. International law requires that such mines be reported, but the Germans make no notifications as usual.

Convoy SL 9F departs from Freetown, while Convoy OG 7 forms at Gibraltar. Convoy HXF 9 departs from Halifax.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe drops leaflets over central and southeast France. It also performs reconnaissance over northwest England, specifically one plane over South West Lancs, Cheshire, and North Wales, while another flew over the Shetlands.

The RAF flies over Wilhelmshaven and gets some good photos.

German/Soviet Relations: Pursuant to the terms of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact, the Soviets offer the Germans a base at Zapadnaya Litsa on the Kola Peninsula, 25 miles from Murmansk. This will be known as "Basis Nord." The Kriegsmarine sends U-38 to take a look.

German Opposition: Following Hitler's orders of the previous day to be utterly ruthless in stamping out the Prague student protests, the SS occupies student dormitories. Thousands are arrested, 1200 are sent to concentration camps and 9 student leaders are shot without trial. Czech universities are closed for three years. Professor Josef Matoušek is among those shot. The others:

• Jaroslav Klíma
• Jan Weinert
• Josef Adamec
• Jan Černý
• Marek Frauwirt
• Bedřich Koukala
• Václav Šafránek
• František Skorkovský

 This event leads eventually to November 17th becoming known as "International Students Day."

Italian Propaganda: Italian state radio broadcasts in Russian warning the Soviets to leave the Balkans alone.

Czechoslovakia: Former President Benes forms a National Committee in Paris.

Manhattan Project: Ernest O. Lawrence wins the Nobel Prize in Physics. He invented the cyclotron, necessary for research into the Atomic Bomb.

American Homefront: "Tower of London" starring Vincent Price and Boris Karloff is released.

China: The Japanese forces advancing on Nanning, including the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) 21st Infantry Division, cover 30 miles in three days and capture Yamhshien.

Ernest Lawrence celebrates winning the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics with a cyclotron-shaped cake on 17 November 1939. Here he (left) is with Harold Walke and Paul Aebersold (holding the cake),

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

2016

Sunday 5 November 1939

Von Brauchitsch and Hitler roughly around their 5 November 1939 meeting.

German Government: Army (Heer) Commander-in-chief Walter von Brauchitsch meets with Adolf Hitler at noon on 5 November 1939. It is a decisive moment in the history of the Third Reich.

Every senior commander in the Wehrmacht is certain that now is not the right moment to attack France (Operation "Fall Gelb") due to several reasons, including the weather and the state of the military. Von Brauchitsch's mission is to dissuade the Fuhrer from any offensive plans for the time being, and also, in a larger sense, re-establish the Army's traditional role in decision-making. Fall Gelb is still planned for 12 November, so there is no more time to waste. Von Brauchitsch drafts a memorandum for Hitler outlining his points, and also gives an oral presentation to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

As the core of his argument, von Brauchitsch states that the infantry had lacked fighting spirit in Poland. The troops were undisciplined and there had been mutinies against officers. The army, he said, could not be relied upon without further training, which would require time.

Hitler is furious and explodes into a rage. As a former front-line soldier, he believes that he knows about soldier morale. As he later states, he believes the German soldier is the best in the world and of better character than the Generals. He does, however, keep the memorandum and read it later, calling it a "pack of lies." Hitler angrily dictates an order dismissing von Brauchitsch, but his aide General Keitel dissuades him from issuing it on the grounds that there is no suitable successor.

Von Brauchitsch does achieve his main goal. Fall Gelb is postponed again. The meeting, however, irreparably damages Hitler's relations with his Generals. He inherently sympathizes with the "grunts" and not the "swivel chair cowards," and this incident reawakens those dormant prejudices. He refers to the sorts of arguments made by von Brauchitsch, which he considers defeatist, as "the spirit of Zossen" (Heer headquarters south of Berlin). Von Brauchitsch later offers his resignation, but Hitler cools down and refuses it because he has established his authority and von Brauchitsch has been cowed - which makes him compliant. This is perhaps the first real illustration of Hitler's ability to completely destroy the self-confidence of an Army General.

Some accounts call von Brauchitsch the leader of the "Zossen conspiracy" and so forth. There indeed was wild talk behind the scenes - but there was throughout the war. These accounts state that von Brauchitsch went to the meeting with the objective of either getting the Fuhrer to agree with him or shooting/arresting him. However, since neither happened (at least at the meeting), those claims appear to be false or wishful thinking. There is no indication that a putsch was ever on von Brauchitsch's mind that day.

German Conspirators: In the only actual action taken by the "Zossen conspiracy," Colonel Hans Oster of the German Military Intelligence (the Abwehr) warns a Dutch military attaché in London, Colonel Sas, of Hitler's plans. Sas, in turn, informs the Belgian attaché. Hans Oster is considered a leader of the "opposition" by those in the know.

Battle of the Atlantic: Germany lodges a protest against the treatment of the detained prize crew and release of the City of Flint. The protest is rejected. The ship itself reaches Bergen to unload its cargo.

The British at Weymouth detain the US freighter Black Condor, while in the Orkneys they detain the Scanmail. They release the freighter Black Eagle.

The Kriegsmarine recalls the Deutschland from its raid in the North Atlantic.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal captures the German vessel Uhenfels.

British Government: Winston Churchill, in Paris, meets with Lord Gort, in charge of the BEF force.

Sweden: the Swedish government protests the German mining of waters only three miles from the Swedish coast.

Finland: Negotiations adjourn as the Finns consider their options.

Winston Churchill meets with Lord Gort in Paris, 5 November 1939.

November 1939

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

2019

Monday 23 October 1939

The SS City of Flint.

Battle of the Atlantic: The long, strange saga of the US freighter City of Flint reaches a turning point on 23 October 1939 when it dramatically enters the (presumably) friendly Soviet port of Kola Bay, near Murmansk, proudly flying the Swastika as it emerges from heavy fog. The City of Flint was a prize of the Deutschland and was one of the ships that assisted the Athenia while it was sinking and took off some passengers. It turned to the north instead of the south because of the heavy presence of Royal Navy warships in the Norwegian waters.

The local Soviet authorities are confused by the American ship flying a German flag and at first, imprison the German crew and give The City of Flint back to the detained American Captain. They then have second thoughts and decide to maintain the status quo in the interest of friendly relations with the Third Reich. However, the situation is still fluid and no final decisions have been made by Moscow, which must consider its relations with the United States as well.

German freighter Bianca captured in the Atlantic by Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser Transylvania.

German tanker Emmy Friedrich scuttled in the Caribbean to avoid capture.

The British detain the US freighter Tulsa.

Convoy OA 24G departs from Scotland, and SL 6 departs from Freetown for Liverpool.

Western Front: German demonstration attacks in the Saar. The weather is turning, the days are growing shorter, and activity is light. It is not good campaigning weather.

French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier relaxes the tense state of military preparation due to the growing likelihood that it will be a quiet winter. He authorizes eight to ten days' leave every four months for the military. He also eases blackout regulations.

Norway: The British Home Fleet protects a convoy from Narvik carrying iron ore. Such iron ore is coveted by both sides.

Attention is turning to Norway on both sides of the conflict. Admiral Raeder already has suggested that Norway would provide excellent U-boat bases. There also are large nickel deposits in the north near Murmansk, along with the Narvik iron ore. Sweden controls the rail line from Narvik after which it would have to be loaded on ships anyway, so shipping the ore down the Norwegian coast whilst avoiding Swedish interference completely is highly valued. It is Norway's geographic location and natural resources that make it extremely attractive to nearby large powers.

Norway, for its part, knows all too well how important it would be as an asset to both sides. Aircraft and vessels from the warring parties have been violating its neutrality routinely. It is remaining studiously neutral - though one can detect hints here and there of favoritism to the Allies, albeit under heavy political pressure from them due to its own reliance on sea supply lines. However, there are influential forces in Norway that are adamantly pro-German or at least not pro-Ally.

Finland: The Finnish delegation led by Foreign Minister Paasikivi and the Minister of Finance, Tanner, arrives back in Moscow.

American Homefront: Gallup continues polling the public. Previously, it found that 95% opposed American involvement in the European war. This time it asks which side the respondent wishes to see win. The results:

• The Allies: 84%
• Germany: 2%
• No Opinion: 14%.

It also asks if the US should "do everything possible" to help England and France except declaring war:

• Yes 62% 
• No 38%

The results suggest there is strong isolationist sentiment, but also a desire to see Germany stopped - as long as someone else does it.

The James Cagney/Humphrey Bogart movie "The Roaring Twenties" opens. It is a retrospective about the end of the First World War and how disaffected soldiers turned to crime. "The Roaring Twenties" is the only time that Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney star together. The timing of the release is excellent because late 1939 is a good time for summing up the past as international events appear to be lurching in radical new directions. The movie is an instant classic.

The war already is affecting fashion. Life Magazine, 23 October 1939.

October 1939

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

2019

Saturday 14 October 1939

HMS Royal Oak (British government photo).

Battle of the Atlantic: At 01:30 on 14 October 1939, U-47 (Kplt Guenther Prien) weasels its way into Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, the main fleet base of the Royal Navy and one of the most secure places on earth. It is one of the most audacious operations of the war, and Prien is presented with a plethora of targets. He chooses the Battleship Royal Oak and sends seven torpedoes into it. Down it goes when three torpedoes strike it, sending it down amidst the sunken hulks of the German battlefleet from World War I. Some 833 men die (including Rear Admiral Henry Blagrove) and 414 survive among the 1200-man crew.

After an investigation, it is revealed that there is a 50-foot gap in the net over Kirk Sound. The Royal Fleet changes its location to Loch Ewe.

The Polish submarine Orzel has been at sea for almost a month after escaping from Estonian detention. It now completes its journey to the British Isles.

Southwest of Ireland, British destroyers HMS Inglefield, Ivanhoe and Intrepid sink U-45 (Kapitänleutnant Alexander Gelhaar). The crew perishes. This is after U-45 sank two members of Convoy KJF-3, the French Bretagne and the British Lochavon.

The Deutschland continues its extended raid in the Atlantic, sinking the 1,918-ton Norwegian freighter Lorentz W. Hansen 420 miles east of Newfoundland.

The British detain the US freighter Scanstates in the Orkney Islands, and the freighter Exporter at Gibraltar. The French detain the US freighter Nashaba at Le Havre.

Western Front: French Commander-in-chief General Gamelin issues an order of the day predicting a German attack "at any moment."

Finland: The country mobilizes its military as the Finnish delegation to Moscow returns to Helsinki. Finnish proposals for a land swap so that the USSR can get the territory it wants north of Leningrad have been rejected.

The Finns have 340,000 men in ten divisions and accompanying units, a formidable force that is expert in winter weather.

Italy: A new ambassador is sent to London, Signor Bastianini.

British Military Intelligence: Having brought over two copies of the Enigma machine, Polish cryptanalysts resume their efforts to break the German ciphers in France.

Population Transfers: Ethnic Germans in Latvia begin sailing to the Reich.

American Homefront: There is great umbrage taken by various constituencies in the United States at the sharp America First radio address by Charles Lindbergh on 13 October.

China: at Changsha, Japanese forces of the 11th Army withdraw to their starting points on both the eastern flank (101st and 106th divisions) and the center of the line (33rd Division).

Future History: Ralph Lauren is born in the Bronx, New York.

The Royal Oak today.

October 1939

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

2019

Monday 9 October 1939

US City of Flint crew poses with a German flag put on their ship by the Deutschland.

Western Front: Hitler issues "Fuhrer Directive No. 6" on 9 October 1939 It calls for preparation of an offensive against France by way of Belgium and Holland, which will be conquered as well. The Directive does not contemplate the conquest of France, only the establishment of a defensive buffer zone.

As a political matter, this offends the German Generals. They were trained in the Imperial system where the Crown simply gives an objective and the Heer conducts all planning. Hitler, of course, does not care what the Generals think about this, he is determined to play warlord.

On more solid grounds, the Generals inform Hitler that the mechanized units of the Heer need time to re-fit and for losses to be made good.

There is German patrol activity south of Zweibrücken and elsewhere on the front.

Battle of the Atlantic: The  4,963 ton US freighter the City of Flint is captured by the Deutschland off Newfoundland. Upon inspecting her, they find lubricating oil in her hold and declare this contraband. They install a prize crew, disguise the vessel as Danish, and send it to Norway.

This is a key incident in the process of forcing the United States to re-flag ships in order to skirt neutrality laws and of generating support in the US for revision of the neutrality laws.

Light cruiser HMS Belfast captures the 13,615-ton German passenger vessel Cap Norte.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt sends a memorandum to the Secretary of the Navy (acting) expressing displeasure at the speed with which ocean patrols are being started. He asks for use of "plain English" when patrols find suspicious vessels.

European Air Operations: British reconnaissance planes fly the length of the Western Front to the North Sea. They return safely despite anti-aircraft fire between Coblenz and Sietburg.

German Propaganda: The Wehrmacht uses loudspeakers at the front directed at French troops.

Population Transfers: An ongoing phenomenon of World War II will be population transfers for political reasons. This is euphemistically called "repatriation." On or about 9 October 1939, these begin to be formulated. Some 50,000 Baltic Germans in Latvia are to the "returned" to the Reich. Estonia also will be "returning" Germans to the Reich.

Finland: The government agrees to Soviet demands to send a delegation to Moscow to discuss border disputes. Finnish Minister Dr Juho Paasikivi departs Helsinki for Moscow.

Polish Government: Polish ambassador to the USSR Count Wailaw-Grzybowski departs Moscow.

Czech Government-in-exile: A contingent of the re-formed Czechoslovakian army leaves Paris for the front.
British Homefront: There are allegations of war-profiteering in the price of steaks and other basic goods.

Joseph Stalin and Foreign Minister Ribbentrop on the cover of Newsweek, 9 October 1939. With articles like this, the US public is starting to appreciate the events that led to the invasion of Poland, but a lot remains hidden for years and even decades.

October 1939

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

2019

Thursday 5 October 1939

German soldiers parade in Pilsudski Square. Warsaw, Poland, October 5, 1939.

Battle of Poland: After some German advances near Wojcieszków, Gułów and Adamów, Polish General Kleeberg launches a bitter counter-attack on the 13th Motorised Division which regains some ground on 5 October 1939. The front has moved back and forth, but the Poles have held their ground. After the conclusion of the day's battles, Kleeberg decides to capitulate because he is out of food and ammunition with no hope of re-supply.

Hitler reviews the victory parade in Warsaw, then returns to Berlin, where he delivers a victory speech. Leni Riefenstahl films it for later use.

Western Front: The French broadcast a report of a battle in the Moselle Valley.

Soviet-Latvian Relations: The two countries conclude a Mutual Assistance Treaty whereby the Soviets gain naval and air bases.

Soviet-Finnish Relations: The Soviets request boundary talks with the Finns.

Battle of the Atlantic: British and French warships are looking for the Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. The Graf Spee sinks the British vessel Beech.

The German pocket battleship Deutschland, meanwhile, is on the loose in the North Atlantic and sinks the SS Stonegate west of Bermuda.

The French detain the US freighter Exeter and release the US freighter City of Joliet after an examination.

Germany detains the Swedish "Korsholm," Estonian "Minna" and Norwegian "Brott" at various ports on suspicion of carrying US war cargo.

Convoy OA 15 departs Scotland and OB 15 departs Liverpool.

German Propaganda: "Der Sturmer" published a "Hymn of Hate" against England.

French Government: The government arrests 26 Communist deputies in the Chamber of Deputies.

Sweden: The Swedish government announces that it will arm its cargo vessels.

China: The First Battle of Changsha continues, with the Chinese 9th War Area attacking Chiuhsientang and withdrawing elsewhere across the Hsiu River.

Adolf Hitler (lower right) gives a salute - later known as a Hitler salute - as he reviews German troops. Warsaw, Poland, October 5, 1939. Wide World Photo

October 1939

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

2019

Sunday 1 October 1939

Britain's King George VI, right, and Queen Elizabeth leave St.Paul's Cathedral, London, on Oct. 1, 1939, following a service for the Nation's Day of Prayer.

Battle of Poland: Warsaw having surrendered, Wehrmacht troops on 1 October 1939 enter and begin disarming the estimated 120,000 Polish soldiers and transporting them to POW camps.

The Polish garrison on the Hela Peninsula (Admiral Józef Unrug) decides to surrender.

Following the Battle of Szack, the Polish Defence Corps (Gen. Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann) is on the run and has crossed the Bug River. The Poles have walked hundreds of kilometers in the past fortnight, are marching through the night and are short of supplies, but they remain a disciplined fighting force. Near the village of Wytyczno near Włodawa, tank elements of the Soviet 45th Rifle Division attack at 1 a.m. The Poles fight them off and destroy four Soviet tanks. Another assault in daylight by the majority of the Soviet division again is beaten off, but the Poles are running out of ammunition. The exhausted Polish units then form small groups and melt away through the forests to join other units. The Battle of Wytyczno is considered a Soviet tactical victory, but also a Polish moral victory by only a few thousand poorly armed men against overwhelming odds.

British Military Intelligence: Poles fleeing from their country to England bring with them two Enigma machines.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiralty learns of the pocket battleships Graf Spee and Deutschland operating as lone commerce raiders.

U-35 sinks 2,239-ton Belgian merchant ship Suzon 42 miles off Ushant at 18:45 after stopping it, inspecting it, and disembarking the crew. The kill is legal because the ship, even though neutral, is transporting war goods from Bordeaux to Cardiff.

Western Front: The French claim a small advance near the district town of Saarlouis in the Saar.

British Homefront: Winston Churchill makes his first wartime broadcast to the British people. He summarizes the events of the first month of the war. He suggests that the Soviet invasion of Poland "was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia against the [German] menace." He coins the famous phrase "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" to describe Soviet machinations, "a cold policy of self-interest."

Churchill lists "three important things" that happened in that month:

• Poland has been overrun;
• The assertion of the power of Russia;
• "The U-boat attack has not so far proved successful"

He  anticipates a war of "at least three years."

A Royal Proclamation is issued calling up the classes of 1918 and 1919.

China: The Japanese 11th Corps. withdraws from Changsha and the nearby Tungting Lakes. Chiang Kai-shek has a rare victory in this "Battle of Changsha."

Soviet/Japanese Relations: As a show of good faith to the Soviets, the Japanese dismiss senior officers of the Kwantung army who had led the battle of Khalkin Gol. The dismissed Generals had been contemptuous of Tokyo authority.

German/Italian Relations: Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano is in Germany for discussions with Hitler and Ribbentrop.

Soviet/Turkish Relations: The Turkish Foreign Minister (M. Sarajoglu) meets with Molotov in Moscow.

German Homefront: On an undetermined day in October, Hitler has typed on his personal stationery (and backdated to 1 September 1939) a Fuhrer Decree that authorizes mercy killings of persons who "are incurable."

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

October 1939

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

2019