Monday 14 April 1941

"The For'ard 14" guns of HMS KING GEORGE V firing during practice." April 1941. © IWM (A 3888).

Operation Marita/Operation 25: The German 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH," still only brigade-size during the battle for Greece) is through the Klidi and Kleisoura Passes by 14 April 1941. It now is pursuing the retreating British and Greek armies south. The German 9th Panzer Division comes up against the new Allied blocking position at Siatista Pass, but such is the disarray on the Allied side that only one battalion of the 82nd Regiment of the 12th Greek Division is in place to delay them.

The spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reach Kozani in northern Greece, which was the first main objective following the XL Panzer Corps' turn south. In addition, the Germans send some units across the Aliakmon River near Thessaloniki and take Katerini, which is only 6 km from the coastline. The British have pulled back slightly there, but remain in the vicinity to prevent further German advances.

The British strategy right now still is to stop the Germans, not to evacuate. They put forces into three main zones: the Olympus Pass, the Servia Pass, and the Platamon tunnel sector west of Olympus. In effect, the British have abandoned the Aliakmon Line even though they still have scattered units trying to hold it. The British organize "Savige Force" under Brigadier S. G. Savige with 1st Armored Brigade and 17th Australian Brigade to defend their left flank.

The Yugoslavian Zetska Division had been leading the advance to the west against the Italian positions in Albania, but the sudden appearance of German forces on its flank has compelled it to retreat. Today, it sits on the Pronisat River, watched carefully by the Italian 131st Armored Division Centauro. Because of this withdrawal, the Greek forces in Albania are now completely cut off. However, the Italians in Albania are very quiet.

The RAF bombs the Italian port of Valona (Vlore) with Swordfish torpedo bombers of RAF No. 815 Squadron. They sink 3329-ton Italian freighter Luciano and 1228 ton Italian freighter Stampalia. The British lose a Swordfish, with one man killed and two becoming prisoners.

King Peter arrives at a secret British airbase in northwest Greece at Paramythia. That is an Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparrowhawk. Peter is fourth from the left facing the camera, bare-headed and in a tweed jacket. (R.J. Dudman via Serbianna).

King Peter II abandons Yugoslavia and flees to Athens. He departs from Kopino Polje airport in Niksic, Montenegro, thence to Paramythia, the site of a top-secret RAF airfield (near the Yugoslav/Albanian border) previously used (in February) by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS John Dill. Prime Minister (and Yugoslav Chief of Staff) Dusan Simovic and other top military and government leaders also flee separately. The Yugoslav gold reserves also are flown out. Peter flies from here to Athens, then to Alexandria, then to Jerusalem, then to Cairo.

The Yugoslav government is under no illusions. It is considering asking the Germans for a ceasefire. Some accounts state that they request one late today.

British Col. Oakley-Hill, an old Albanian hand, has been trying to organize the Albanian resistance. With the situation rapidly changing, he is recalled. Resistance efforts, however, will continue.

The Luftwaffe damages British 7264-ton transport Clan Cummin at sea, then it hits a mine and sinks in Eleusis Bay northwest of Athens. While 36 men are rescued by the Allies, 77 become German prisoners.

Time Magazine, 14 April 1941 - Adolf Hitler - "Spring is Here."

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Dutch power stations with 14 bombers and coastal targets with another 14 bombers during the day. Then, after dark, the RAF sends 94 bombers to attack the French port of Brest, where German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are in drydock.

The RAF has a tragic accident when a Halifax bomber crashes at Tollerton, near RAF Linton on Ouse. The engineer apparently shuts off the engines accidentally. Two of the crew are injured.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-52 (Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann), on its 8th and final patrol, torpedoes and sinks 6563-ton Belgian freighter Ville de Liège about 810 miles (1300 km) east of Cape Farewell, off southern Greenland. There are ten survivors. This is U-52's final victory, it will return to port after this and spend its remaining years as a training boat. During its eight patrols, it sank 13 Allied ships.

The Luftwaffe attacks shipping at Falmouth and bombs and sinks Free French Naval Forces gunboat Conquérante. Also sunk is French gunboat Suippe, which is later refloated.

German guard ship H 453 Gretchen sinks of unknown causes.

USS Gar (Lieutenant D. McGregor) is commissioned at New London, Connecticut.

The Des Moines Register, 14 April 1941. The big news is yesterday's Russia/Japan nonaggression pact.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Visiting Australian Prime Minister Menzies is concerned, and he notes the situation tersely in his diary:

The position in Libya becomes worse, and Egypt is threatened. In Balkans, the Jugo-Slavs are going to collapse, and as the Greeks have not withdrawn their Albanian divisions, the Aliakhmon line will probably be turned and our Greek position rendered untenable.

At the War Cabinet meeting, Menzies disagrees with Churchill's strategy to hold Tobruk as a rallying point. Menzies views the War Cabinet as "deplorable" and Churchill as a "dictator" who cows his ministers into submission. Menzies, who has been planning to leave for several decides, decides to remain for a couple more weeks to participate in "grave decisions" that will be made about his homeland's troops.

Today is the first coordinated German attack on Tobruk, and it is a complete flop. It starts well enough when German sappers cut defensive wires and fill in the Italian-built anti-tank ditch at 02:30. Then, supported by heavy machine-gun fire, they advance. At 04:30/05:20, 38 Afrika Korps tanks break through the first line of fortifications and into the Tobruk perimeter. Supported by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, they make good progress at first. The Australian defenders, though, have been told to let the tanks pass so they can trap the accompanying infantry.

The British have artillery sited on the spot and knock out 17 of his 5th Panzer Regiment tanks of Group Olbrich (General Olbrich). The remaining panzers withdraw at 07:30 into the desert in disarray, but the 8th Machine Gun Battalion which follows them in is trapped. The 8th loses about 900 men to death or capture, leaving it with a strength of only about 300 men (casualty estimates for this action vary widely, but those figures are from the Germans themselves, though they may include some earlier casualties, too). General Rommel is furious at the failure to capitalize on the initial breakthrough and will sack General Streich, commander of the 5th Light Division, as a result.

The German prepare for a siege. They bring up the Italian Trento Division and put it under the command of the Brescia Division. They also put Detachment Schwerin in the line, along with most of the 5th Light Division. A second attack scheduled for 18:00 is canceled, an indication of the depth of the fiasco in the morning. The Afrika Korps also goes over to the defense of Bardia/Sollum/Sidi Oma. The RAF has complete air superiority, and forward Detachment Knabe is bombarded by Royal Navy gunboat HMS Gnat and its accompanying two destroyers in the Bay of Sollum. Royal Navy gunboat HMS Aphis bombards Bardia.

The Luftwaffe is doing what it can. It attacks the Gnat in the Bay of Sollum and badly damages it, killing one sailor. The Gnat makes it to port in Mersa Matruh, then proceeds to Port Said. Lieutenant General Rommel requests control over Luftwaffe operations in Libya by X Fliegerkorps.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 2485-ton Turkish freighter Trabzon off Laurium/Lavrio/Lavrium (about 60 km southeast of Athens and north of Cape Sounio).

Royal Navy auxiliary tanker RFA Pericles, which had been damaged during the Luftwaffe bombing of Suda Bay, Crete, sinks (it breaks in half) while en route to Alexandria. Everyone aboard survives.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Taku is proceeding from Gibraltar to Malta, along with fellow submarines Torbay and Undaunted, when a torpedo - apparently launched by an Italian submarine - is spotted coming toward it. Taku takes evasive action and avoids the torpedo. Apparently, because of this incident, the Admiralty (CinC Mediterranean) orders Taku and Torbay back to Gibraltar for other missions.

Convoy AN 27 (four British and six Greek ships) departs from Port Said bound for Suda Bay, Crete. The ships carry reinforcements and supplies for the troops in Greece.

Australian Corporal John Hurst Edmondson earns a posthumous VC when, while badly wounded during a bayonet charge in the morning darkness, he saves the life of his commanding officer.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: British ammunition ship Fort Stikine catches fire and in Bombay Harbor and explodes in a massive fireball. The blast wave destroys the docks, sinks four nearby ships, and damages 11 others. It explodes again half an hour later. A total of 231 men are killed in the explosion, with another 476 men injured, but the devastation is far worse: an estimated 1000 people simply vanish and 2000 are hospitalized. The Fort Stikine was carrying 124 gold bars, of which all but one remain unrecovered.

Battle of the Pacific: The US Marines garrison Palmyra Atoll (due south of the Hawaiian Islands) with the Marine Detachment, 1st Defense Battalion. Legally, this is the southernmost point in the United States because it is an incorporated territory. It operates under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Navy and is the center of the Palmyra Island Naval Defensive Sea Area established by President Roosevelt on 14 February 1941.

Royal Navy destroyer HMAS Waterhen (D22) towing the damaged hospital ship HMHS Vita 400 miles (650 km) to Tobruk following her bombing. Judge for yourself - do you think that the Vita appears different from other ships? Can you spot the huge red crosses on her side and funnel? Do you think that is sufficient marking for an attacking plane to know enough not to attack it?

War Crimes: The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 4691-ton British hospital ship HMHS Vita off Tobruk. Reports indicate that 8 German planes attack it and that a bomb deflects off her rear mast (with very high-resolution pictures you can see that it is bent backward slightly) and explodes just off her side, opening her plates and flooding her engine room (thus no damage is visible above water). The Vita, carrying 430 patients, makes it to Tobruk, where it sinks on 22 April 1941. While mistakes happen in war, committed by both sides, hospital ships are clearly marked and off-limits to all attacks. No, these are not especially famous incidents, but if you attack a hospital ship, that's a war crime whether it gets a lot of media attention or not.

German/Egyptian Relations: Today, Farouk sends Hitler a personal note through his ambassador in Tehran. Farouk states that ''he was filled with admiration for the Fuhrer'' and was ''certain that the Germans are coming as liberators" and would "soon liberate Egypt from the British yoke." But Egypt was not the only goal, important as it was. The Grand Mufti also met with Hitler around this time and wished "the elimination of the Jewish national home in Palestine."

Egypt is the cornerstone of the British position in the Mediterranean. It is more important than Gibraltar. The Suez Canal enables them to bring in troops from their dominions in India, Australia, New Zealand and their other holdings in Asia to counter the German and Italian positions in North Africa and the Balkans. It also is a potential British escape route for their massive forces in Greece and North Africa. In fact, seizing Egypt is the fundamental goal of German military policy in the Mediterranean, the heart of Adolf Hitler's "Peripheral Strategy."

Hitler has been cultivating his ties to the Arab world for years. For instance, he gave King Farouk of Egypt a Mercedes Benz 540k sports cabriolet for the king's wedding in 1938. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem also is on close personal ties with Hitler, while Rashid Ali in Iraq is eyeing the British at the Habbaniyah airbase near Baghdad and wishing them to be gone. King Farouk without question is the monarch in position to help further Hitler's war aims in the Mediterranean Basin.

The mere fact that Farouk feels confident enough to send this (top secret) sign of dissatisfaction with British hegemony over his country is telling. It suggests that the British hold on Egypt - and elsewhere in the Arab world - may be weakening.

Life Magazine, April 14, 1941 - New York Harbor.

US/Icelandic Relations: Fresh off its agreement to occupy Greenland, the US begins talking with the Icelandic government to see if a similar arrangement can be made there.

US/Chinese Relations: Author Ernest Hemingway and his wife Martha Gellhorn, ostensibly in Asia as tourists (there's a war on!), meet with Chinese Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek in Chungking.

Australian/British Relations: Australian delegates to the ABDA Conference being held in Singapore later in the month embark on Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. Attending will be representatives of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the Dutch East Indies.

German Military: Australian soldiers at Tobruk report seeing what almost certainly are German 88-mm antiaircraft ("8.8 cm Flak 41") guns (they call them "long-barrelled guns on strange carriages"). The guns are not used and are there to exploit the expected breakthrough into Tobruk (German 88's, as they are routinely called, also are used as ground artillery and even, in a dire emergency, as anti-tank weapons). General Rommel used the guns in an anti-tank role at Arras in May 1940, so he is well aware of their versatility. They are sort of a halfway ground between tanks and artillery, with many mounted on vehicles. Their chief drawback, however, is that they have no armor protection and are vulnerable not just to artillery and tanks, but even to rifle fire.

April 14, 1941, Old Gold Cigarettes ad.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps places an order for 2000 Model 74 (BT-13A) Vultee (Stinson) L-1 Valiant observation planes. These planes will bear the designation O-49 and perform various auxiliary services such as towing, artillery spotting and espionage flights.

Holocaust: The Vichy French undertake a mass arrest of Jews in Paris.

Future History: Peter Edward Rose is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He becomes one of the top baseball players in history, accumulating numerous records which still stand, including but not limited to:

• Most hits (4256)
• Most career winning games played (1972)
• Most career games played (3562)
• At bats (14,053)
• Singles (3215)
• Most Outs (10,328).

Rose stars for the Cincinnati Reds during the prime years of his career, playing from 1963 to 1986. He also manages the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-1989, becomes a 17x All-Star, is a member of three World Series championship teams, and is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is barred from the Major League Hall of Fame due to allegations that he bet on baseball games while a player-manager of the Reds. Many consider Pete Rose, if not the greatest baseball player of all time, certainly worthy of being on an all-star team composed of the greatest players of all time.

Pete Rose circa 1963.

April 1941

April 1, 1941: Rommel Takes Brega
April 2, 1941:Rommel Takes Agedabia
April 3, 1941: Convoy SC-26 Destruction
April 4, 1941: Rommel Takes Benghazi
April 5, 1941: Rommel Rolling
April 6, 1941: Operation Marita
April 7, 1941: Rommel Takes Derna
April 8, 1941: Yugoslavia Crumbling
April 9, 1941: Thessaloniki Falls
April 10, 1941: USS Niblack Attacks
April 11, 1941: Good Friday Raid
April 12, 1941: Belgrade and Bardia Fall
April 13, 1941: Soviet-Japanese Pact
April 14, 1941: King Peter Leaves
April 15, 1941: Flying Tigers
April 16, 1941: Battle of Platamon
April 17, 1941: Yugoslavia Gone
April 18, 1941: Me 262 First Flight
April 19, 1941: London Smashed
April 20, 1941: Hitler's Best Birthday
April 21, 1941: Greek Army Surrenders
April 22, 1941: Pancevo Massacre
April 23, 1941: CAM Ships
April 24, 1941: Battle of Thermopylae
April 25, 1941: Operation Demon
April 26, 1941: Operation Hannibal
April 27, 1941: Athens Falls
April 28, 1941: Hitler Firm about Barbarossa
April 29, 1941: Mainland Greece Falls
April 30, 1941: Rommel Attacks

2020

Tuesday 30 July 1940

Dornier Do 17 bombers on a mission.

Battle of Britain: The weather continues to be poor on 30 July 1940, with a low cloud ceiling and occasional light rain. This prevents much flying activity. The prospects for Operation Sea Lion diminish further with each such day. This reveals the weakness of the German plan, which requires as a preliminary to the invasion major accomplishments which can only be performed in good weather.

The Luftwaffe still tries to entice the RAF fighters into giving battle as part of its attrition strategy. The theme of the day is timid Luftwaffe attacks being chased off by patrolling RAF fighters.

At 09:00, the Luftwaffe approaches the coast at Swanage, but never get near the coast as RAF fighters scare them off.

Around 09:45, another raid in the vicinity of the Isle of Wight runs into RAF No. 601 Squadron. There are some dogfights, with possible losses on both sides.

Some time after 11:00, an attempted raid on Portland fizzles when RAF fighters appear. Another raid around the same time by Stukas on a convoy does not cause any damage.
Significant operations only begin around noon due to the weather.

A few Heinkel 111s attempt to raid Montrose. RAF No. 603 Squadron rises to the defense and chases them off. The Germans lose one of the bombers.

An attack by Bf 110 fighter-bombers is intercepted by RAF No. 85 Squadron, with the Germans losing a plane off of Southwold around 15:30.

Around the same time, the Luftwaffe mounts its major effort of the day. A large formation of about fifty planes heads from the area of the Seine toward the Isle of Wight. Once again, patrolling RAF fighters shoo off most of the attackers. However, some of the planes make it across the coast near Dungeness, where RAF No. 65 Squadron shoots down a Bf 109.

During the evening at 18:48, another, slightly smaller effort approaches from the Cherbourg area. The large formation splits into multiple parts. This raid accomplished whatever objectives it had, as the patrolling RAF fighters never encountered it.

A Junkers Ju 88 suffers engine failure and crashes while attacking shipping in the Channel, the crew taking to a lifeboat.

Shortly before dusk, small raids take place around Esher, Chessington, Heysham, Tolworth, and Swm Bargoed railway tracks.

After dark, there are minor raids around Bristol, Plymouth, Dorset, Devon, South Wales, and the Midlands. The raids do not cause much damage, and the attacking forces lose a Heinkel He 111 from KG 55.

Destroyer HMS Delight, bombed on the 29th, sinks in Portland harbor.

The Channel is closed to convoys, with the area now known as "Hellfire Corner."

Overall, the day is fairly inconsequential, with the Luftwaffe losing about 5 planes and the RAF one or two.

Hitler remains unimpressed by the prospects for an invasion. His military advisors lean toward an earlier invasion rather than later, as time gives the British the ability to regroup the army and form a more effective defense. It is a common dilemma during the war for the Germans: attack quickly with forces available, or wait to build up assets. Usually, a decision to act quickly is more successful, as the main German advantages throughout are surprise tactics rather than larger forces and industrial production. Waiting dissipates the main Wehrmacht advantages.

Hitler decides to wait. He sets 15 September as the earliest time his preconditions for Operation Sea Lion could be met. They are so unrealistic, however, that likely no amount of time would be sufficient absent a complete collapse of the British economy due to bombing and the U-boat blockade. In addition, the OKL (Navy high command) and OKW (military high command) have not agreed on a proper size for the invasion and the location. Landings in the south on a broad front as proposed by the army would face the fiercest opposition anywhere in England. The OKL, on the other hand, believes a targeted landing on the short route toward Dover would be most likely to succeed. Basically, the whole subject of an invasion is unresolved at every level, because the Wehrmacht has never anticipated being placed in that opportunity so quickly by a sudden French collapse.

SS-Hauptsturmführer Helmuth Schreiber is decorated with the Knight’s Cross on 30 July 1943 for his leadership of 10./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment “Deutschland” of the Das Reich Division at Kursk. He wears the Close Combat Clasp in Silver in a shot taken in late 1943 or 1944.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues its attacks on barges, oil installations, and airfields in northwest Europe. Coastal Command raids German guns on the Norwegian coast and the Kriegsmarine base at Emden.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy submarine Narwhal sinks around this date. It is believed that it hits a mine off Norway.

The Luftwaffe attacks Belgian trawler John about 35 miles off southwest Ireland.

British mine layers Plover and Willem van der Zaan (from the Dutch Navy) lay minefield BS.29 in the North Sea.

Convoy HG 40 departs from Gibraltar, Convoy OA 192 departs from Methil, Convoy OB 191 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 40 departs from Gibraltar.

U-93 (Kapitänleutnant Claus Korth) is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF raids Italian forces near Kassala.

The Anglo-Maltese League launches an appeal in England for funds to purchase fighter planes for Malta. Of course, the underlying problem is not lack of planes, but the inability to get them to Malta. However, this plays into the stirring accounts in the British media of the heroic defense of the island.

On the island itself, there is only one attempted raid in the morning which turns back before dropping any bombs. Air reconnaissance sights an Italian convoy heading south from Messina, Sicily, which may be an invasion fleet or simply carrying supplies to Libya.

While radar is rapidly being installed around the coastline, sound detectors remain important. Here paraboloids are installed in a sound detector for anti-aircraft batteries in England. July 30, 1940 (AP Photo).

German Propaganda: Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels broadcasts brave words about the course of the Battle of Britain, stating:

Britain was already weakening, it cannot muster the number of planes required to conquer our glorious Luftwaffe, they are losing a battle that they are intent on prolonging.

It is a classic case of talking loudly while in a tight situation rather than, as Teddy Roosevelt suggested, talking softly but carrying a big stick. In fact, the RAF shows no signs of weakening, as this very day's events show.

Anglo/Swedish Relations: A British destroyer flotilla commanded by Captain C. Caslon intercepts a flotilla of four destroyers built in Italy which have been purchased by Sweden and are en route to that country. While not a "war crime" because Sweden is not at war, it is a serious breach of international law, as the Royal Navy has no grounds for seizing the ships of a neutral country. The Swedes issue a diplomatic protest for the safe return of its ships.

Anglo/Japanese Relations: British Foreign Minister Lord Halifax issues a diplomatic protest against the recent Japanese arrest of British citizens on espionage charges.

German/Swiss Relations: Germany shuts down the German/Swiss border, heightening Swiss fears of an invasion.

Latin American Relations: The 21 nation-delegates in Havana sign the Act of Havana, which proposes a joint administration of European colonies in the Americas which appear vulnerable to "changes of sovereignty." While elegantly phrased in lawyerly language, the agreement basically provides that the signing nations will take over any areas controlled by nations invaded by Germany that look like they are going over to the Axis.

Baltic States: The new Soviet-controlled government continues its purge of former national leaders in the Baltic States, arresting former Estonian President Konstantin Pats and sending him to Siberia.

British Government: Victoria Crosses are awarded to two soldiers: Lieutenant (now Captain) H. M. Ervine Andrews of the East Lancashire Regiment and (posthumously) to Lance Corporal H. Nicholls of the Grenadier Guards. Andrews receives one for conspicuous gallantry on the Dunkirk perimeter on 31 May, while Nicholls is honored for commanding troops north of Tournai on 21 May despite being wounded and "firing from the hip" as he personally charged the enemy lines.

The Minister of Economic Warfare announces that the British blockade now encompasses all of Europe and North Africa - including Vichy France.

While this looks like it was taken in London during the Blitz, it actually is a factory fire in Camden, New Jersey on 30 July 1940. It is known as the Hollingshead Fire.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020

Tuesday 21 November 1939

A German magnetic mine laid in the Thames Estuary near Shoeburyness around 21 November 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on 21 November 1939 goes before the House of Commons and announces that he has decided to retaliate for recent illegal sinkings of Allied and neutral vessels, most recently by magnetic mines. He declares a blockade on German exports. This means that any exports of German origin will be seized regardless of a vessel's flag country. All goods in Great Britain that had been destined for Germany are seized.

Elsewhere, it is a very busy day at sea indeed.

U-33 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky) continues its attacks on fishing trawlers. Today, it sinks 287-ton British trawler Sulby and 276-ton William Humphreys. Five perish in the first, while seven survive. All thirteen crew perish in the latter. Dresky gives the Sulby a warning shot to allow the crew to leave. Nobody knows what happened with the Humphreys since nobody lived to give a statement. The seas in the North Atlantic are rough and lifeboats are easily swamped.

U-41 (Kapitänleutnant Gustav-Adolf Mugler) also sinks a French fishing trawler, the Les Barges II. Everyone survives because Mugler stops and disembarks his victims before sinking them with gunfire. Mugler also stops a total of 17 trawlers during the day but lets them go because they are Spanish.

British destroyer HMS Gipsy strikes a mine and sinks (30 perish) near Harwich. HMS Belfast, a brand new cruiser strikes a mine but makes it back to harbor. Belfast is severely damaged and 21 injured despite the hole made being small because there is extensive internal damage. British vessel Geraldus also strikes a mine and sinks.

Japanese liner Terukuni Maru strikes a mine off the Thames estuary and sinks. French minesweeping trawler Ste. Claire somewhat ironically strikes a mine and sinks off Folkestone. All eleven crew members perish.

Kriegsmarine patrol vessel V-701 strikes a mine and sinks.

The German crew of German freighter Teneriffe scuttles the ship to avoid capture by Royal Navy cruiser Transylvania.

German naval forces seize and detain a Finnish freighter, the Asta, off the Åland Islands. So far, the Kriegsmarine has seized 17 Finnish vessels.

German freighter Rheingold has been seized by the Royal Navy and brought to a Scottish port.

The Admiral Graf Spee rounds the Cape of Good Hope and returns to the Atlantic after its unproductive sortie into the Indian Ocean. There is a fleet of Allied ships looking for it there.

German pocket battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst (code-named "Salmon and Gluckstein" by the British after a venerable tobacconist), having just completed their sea trials, leave Germany and head north. They are headed for the Iceland-Faroes passage. They are accompanied by the light cruisers SMS Köln and SMS Leipzig.

French battleship Strasbourg departs Dakar for Brest.

US freighters Express and Scanmail are released by the British.

U-55 is commissioned.

US Government: The US authorities require US merchant ships to obtain certificates of non-enemy origin for their cargoes before departure. This is known as the "Navicert" system and was first implemented in 1915, but discontinued after the First World War.

Dornier Do 17s, the "flying pencils."

European Air Operations: RAF fighters shoot down a Dornier DO 17 reconnaissance plane off Deal. Other Luftwaffe planes are spotted over Sunderland (a Heinkel He 111) and over the Orkneys.

Slovakia: German grants Slovakia, a German satellite under Monsignor Tiso, 225 square miles of former Polish territory (which had been part of Czechoslovakia in the not-too-distant past).

Lithuania: Antanas Merkys becomes Prime Minister.

China: The Japanese 5th Infantry Division and Taiwan Brigade continue advancing from the coast toward their objective, Nanning, and reach the Yung River.

HMS Belfast.

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