Saturday 19 October 1940

Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien has a terrific 48 hours as he participates in the attacks on Convoy HX 79 on 19 October 1940 (Schulte, Federal Archive).

Overview: With the Battle of Britain winding down on 19 October 1940, the real action is moving out to sea. The period 18-20 October 1940 is one of the most devastating of the war for the British due to huge losses at sea. Air raids can be handled, though of course they inflict great punishment; but Britain relies on imports for its very survival. Winston Churchill later comments that the war at sea was always his greatest concern during the war's early years, and, as discussed below, today is an extreme example of why that is.

Battle of Britain: The poor weather continues, restricting flight operations. There are scattered reconnaissance flights and an occasional "pirate raid," with some houses destroyed in Coventry.

At 14:00, some fighter-bombers (Jabos) set out for London, but they don't accomplish anything. At 15:00, the day's major daylight raid takes place. About 60 aircraft, including some Dornier Do 17s and Junkers Ju 88s, head for London. The RAF sends up five squadrons to intercept them. The RAF loses a couple of Spitfires.

The poor weather continues into the night, but the Luftwaffe attacks the usual targets: London, Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol, and South Wales. London takes the brunt of the attack, with the rail lines and dockyards suffering greatly. In the silver lining department, so much has been destroyed in the dockyards area that the bombs only stir up old debris. Eastbourne also takes damage to its gas works, where the gasometer is damaged.

Overall, it is a quiet day and a rare "victory" for the Luftwaffe. It loses two planes to the RAF's five. The Luftwaffe tends to do well on days with little action, whereas it gets its head handed to it when it mounts massive daylight attacks.

Pips Priller, 6./JG 51, gets his 20th victory and is awarded the Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz). Pips Priller is known for a flamboyant lifestyle, driving a fancy red car, and dressing well.

European Air Operations: The weather remains poor today. RAF Bomber Command carries out only a few operations on airfields in northwest Europe and railway installations at Osnabruck.

U-100 on the final approach to the German base at Lorient.

Battle of the Atlantic: Convoys SC 7 and HX 79 begin to merge in the Western Approaches to Liverpool. A U-boat wolfpack has been attacking SC 7 on the night of 18/19 October, and the convoy's survivors begin to recede to the east. Today, an entirely new convoy, HX 79, hoves into view from the west. The wolfpack begins stalking Convoy HX 79 as well. Yesterday we summarized the attacks on SC 7, which continue through the morning of the 19th; today, we summarize the attacks on HX 79.

Convoy HX 79 is composed of 49 ships that sailed out of Halifax on 8 October. It is about four days from landfall at Liverpool. It had been several days behind Convoy SC 7 but has since almost caught up to it. While originally the convoy had no escorts in the mid-Atlantic, the Admiralty, realizing by reports from Convoy SC 7 that U-boats are in the area, quickly sends 11 Royal Navy vessels (LCdr. Russell) out to protect it. These consist of:

• Destroyers HMS Whitehall and HMS Sturdy
• Corvettes HMS Hibiscus, HMS Heliotrope, HMS Coreopsis, and HMS Arabis
• A/S Trawlers HMS Lady Elsa, HMS 
• Blackfly, HMS Angle
• Minesweeper HMS Jason
• Submarine O-14

The U-boats had savaged Convoy SC-7 during the night of 18-19 October. Some U-boats depart the scene after that, due to running out of torpedoes or under instructions to stalk another target, Convoy HX 72. Those left are:

U-47 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien);
 U-100 (Joachim Schepke);
U-46 (Engelbert Endrass);
U-48 (Heinrich Bleichrodt); and
U-38 (Heinrich Liebe).

Everything is being coordinated and controlled by Konteradmiral Karl Dönitz at his U-boat headquarters in Lorient. Doenitz relays instructions through Prien, who spotted the convoy originally. The sequential attacks on Convoy SC 7 and HX 79 are the first classic wolfpack action of the war, though there has been some small-scale cooperation previously.

The U-boats wait throughout the day as Convoy HX 79 approaches from the west. As darkness falls, they approach on the surface. Prien brazenly sails into the middle of the convoy from the south, Endrass from the north. This is Prien's favorite tactic, and Endrass had been Prien's second before receiving his current command, so they know what the other is likely to do without communicating. The convoy escort is completely ineffective, as was the one for Convoy SC 7.

Location of the attack on Convoy HX 79.

After the U-boats are in position, all blazes break loose. The battle continues past midnight into the 20th, but we will look at the entire night's results here.

U-47 sinks (damages) the following ships:

• 4966-ton Uganda
• 6023-ton Shirak (damaged)
• 4947-ton Wandby
• 5185-ton La Estancia
• 5026-ton Whitford Point
• 8995-ton Athelmonarch (damaged).

U-100 sinks the following:

• 8230-ton Caprella
• 6218-ton Sitala
• 5452-ton Loch Lomond

U-46 sinks:

• 4548- ton Ruperra
• 9965-ton Janus

U-38 sinks:

• 7653-ton Matheran
• 6856-ton Bilderdijk

U-48 sinks:

• 6023-ton Shirak (U-47 damages her first)

Altogether, the U-boats sink 12 ships of 75,069 tons and damage two others of 15,018 tons. The Allied escort not only is ineffective, it also trips all over itself, as the surface escorts mistake their own submarine O-14 for a U-boat and attack it without, fortunately, sinking it.

It is a classic U-boat attack. Just like on the previous night, there are burning ships, sinking ships, derelicts getting in the way, lifeboats, U-boats, flotsam, jetsam, explosions, men drowning left and right, ships careening at full speed into the night - everything. The U-boats make a clean getaway, though an armed merchant ship takes a few potshots at U-1010 and misses.

The British take losses elsewhere, too.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Venetia (Lt Cdr D. L. C. Craig), on a patrol with two other destroyers in the Straits of Dover, hits a mine and sinks off Margate, Kent. There are 34 deaths and 18 other casualties.

Royal Navy 290 ton trawler HMS Velia hits a mine and sinks off the Kentish Knock Lightship. Everyone survives.

British coaster Aridity hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary.

There is a violent storm in eastern Canada. Canadian 221 ton auxiliary minesweeper Bras D'Or sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as a result while engaged in traveling with Romanian freighter (Ingner N. Vlasspol) from Quebec to Sydney, Nova Scotia. There are no survivors among the 29 crew.

Polish submarine Wilk attacks Danish freighter Norge in Lister Fjord but misses.

Convoys OB 231 and OL 8 depart from Liverpool, Convoys FN 312 and FN 314 depart from Southend, Convoy FS 314 departs from Methil.

Winnipeg Ukrainians (note native dress) gather to promote a concert they are giving on the 23rd to raise money for the war effort. Among the performers: radio artists The Dirty Dozen. Winnipeg Free Press Archives.

Battle of the Mediterranean: On the 18th, the Royal Navy obtained documents from Italian submarine Durbo before sinking it. Today, the Royal Navy uses that information to hunt for Italian submarine Lafole operating off Cape Tresforcas.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Ajax is in port at Alexandria getting repairs for shell holes suffered in its encounter with Italian destroyers on 12 October.

Brazilian 8265 ton freighter Ipanemaloide (formerly the Cuma) sinks in the Mediterranean south of Sicily. This is usually ascribed to a torpedo hit, but there are numerous minefields in the area and that may have been the cause.

The RAF attacks Italian positions at Benghazi, Berka, Halfaya, Maritza (in the Dodecanese), and Diredawa, Abyssinia. The Italians respond during the night with attacks on Cairo, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, targeting British ARAMCO oil installations. There are reports in the press that the Italians are sending out patrols in anticipation of a continuation of their offensive, but the Italian Commando Supremo has its eyes on Greece, not North Africa.

At Malta, Governor Dobbie once again complains about the mail and newspaper service to the island. Everything comes around Africa and takes weeks, if not months, to reach soldiers stationed on Malta. This is creating a real morale problem. For instance, at this time, the latest mail received by the troops is from August, and some just recently received is from as far back as May. This was before the start of the bombing of London, so there is increasing anxiety about the safety of relatives and property.

General Sir Alan Cunningham becomes commander of British forces in East Africa.

Military men have very practical reasons for wanting to get news from home. Saturday Evening Post, 19 October 1940.

Italian/German Relations: While the Germans are frantically trying to uncover Italian intentions toward Greece using their own sources, Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano continues to dribble out information. Today, he sends a telegram summarizing the planned invasion but puts the start date as 23 October. In fact, the projected start date is 28 October, as he should know. Shortly after, German Ambassador to Rome Hans Georg Mackensen telegrams that Ciano has informed him that Hitler has approved Mussolini's plan to attack Greece. This is news to Ribbentrop, who was present at the Brenner Pass meeting and has no inkling that this was supposedly discussed. Upon being informed of these communications, Hitler tells Ribbentrop to do nothing regarding the matter - which some interpret as approval of the invasion by silence. However, the entire affair is muddled and subject to interpretation.

Spanish/German Relations: The OKW completes planning for Operation Felix. This, however, requires the participation of Spain, and thus Spanish entry into the war.

Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler travels by train to Spain to meet with Franco and get in a little tourist time devoted to his mystical beliefs about German ancestors.

German Government: Hitler decides to meet with French leader Petain and Spanish leader Franco. He will depart on his train Amerika late on the 20th.

Actress Anne Nagel shows how to celebrate the upcoming US holiday of Halloween, 1940.

US Military: The US Army Air Corps establishes the Hawaiian Air Force at Fort Shafter.

Light cruiser USS St. Louis departs from Guantanamo Bay Naval Station for San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is carrying the Greenslade Board to examine British bases received in the destroyers-for-bases deal.

Soviet Military: The Stavka plans a major ship-building program.

Spain: Belgian Prime Minister Pierlot and Foreign Minister Spaak have been interned in Barcelona since the fall of Belgium in May. They elude their captors and escape to neutral Portugal hidden in a truck. Technically they can also be interned there, too, but the Portuguese government is notorious for not doing so.

Australia: A convoy, US 6, carrying the Australian 7th Division, Australian Imperial Air Force, 20th Infantry Brigade and 21st Infantry Brigade sets sail for the Middle East.

Future History: Michael Gambon is born in Cabra, Dublin. He becomes a British television actor, later a famous Hollywood actor, and throughout a respected stage actor. He remains active, though he has retired from the stage.

Early snow in Delaware, USA signals the change of seasons.

October 1940
October 2, 1940: Hitler's Polish Plans
October 3, 1940: British Cabinet Shakeup
October 4, 1940: Brenner Pass Meeting
October 5, 1940: Mussolini Alters Strategy
October 6, 1940: Iron Guard Marches
October 7, 1940: McCollum Memo
October 8, 1940: Germans in Romania
October 9, 1940: John Lennon Arrives
October 10, 1940: Führer-Sofortprogramm
October 11, 1940: E-Boats Attack!
October 12, 1940: Sealion Cancelled
October 13, 1940: New World Order
October 14, 1940: Balham Tragedy
October 15, 1940: Mussolini Targets Greece
October 16, 1940: Japanese Seek Oil
October 17, 1940: RAF Shakeup
October 18, 1940: Convoy SC-7 Catastrophe
October 19, 1940: Convoy HX-79 Catastrophe
October 20, 1940: Convoy OB-229 Disaster
October 21, 1940: This Evil Man Hitler
October 22, 1940: Aktion Wagner-Burckel
October 23, 1940: Hitler at Hendaye
October 24, 1940: Hitler and Petain
October 25, 1940: Petain Woos Churchill
October 26, 1940: Empress of Britain Attack
October 27, 1940: Greece Rejects Italian Demands
October 28, 1940: Oxi Day
October 29, 1940: US Draft Begins
October 30, 1940: RAF Area Bombing Authorized
October 31, 1940: End of Battle of Britain

2020

Wednesday 4 September 1940

Adolf Hitler at the Sportpalast in Berlin, 4 September 1940.

German Government: Adolf Hitler on 4 September 1940 addresses a crowd during the opening of the annual Winter Relief Campaign at the Berlin Sportpalast. It is one of his more memorable speeches, at least to English-speaking peoples. The speech reveals the decision he made in the Hague 3 September to begin bombing London, along with various bombastic observations.

At one point, he addresses the question of when he intends to invade England, which is on everyone's mind:

In England they’re filled with curiosity and keep asking, ‘Why doesn’t he come? Be calm. Be calm. He’s coming!

A few breaths later, however, Hitler signals the change of tactics that the RAF and city-dwellers are starting to notice across the Channel. It is this change of tactics which, perversely, is going to prevent him from "coming":

It is a wonderful thing to see our nation at war, in its fully disciplined state. This is exactly what we are experiencing at this time, as Mr Churchill is demonstrating to us the aerial night attacks he has concocted. He is not doing this because these air raids might be particularly effective, but because his Air Force cannot fly over German territory in daylight. Whereas German aviators and German planes fly over English soil daily, there is hardly a single Englishman who comes across the North Sea in daytime. They therefore come during the night – and as you know, release their bombs indiscriminately and without any plan on to residential areas, farmhouses and villages. Wherever they see a sign of light, a bomb is dropped on it. For three months past, I have not ordered any answer to be given; thinking that they would stop this nonsensical behaviour. Mr Churchill has taken this to be a sign of our weakness. You will understand that we shall now give a reply, night for night, and with increasing force. And if the British Air Force drops two, three or four thousand kilos of bombs, then we will drop 150,000, 180,000, 230,000, 300,000 or 400,000 kilos, or more, in one night. If they declare that they will attack our cities on a large scale, we will erase theirs! We will put a stop to the game of these night-pirates, as God is our witness. The hour will come when one or the other will crumble, and that one will not be National Socialist Germany. I have already carried through such a struggle once in my life, up to the final consequences, and this then led to the collapse of the enemy who is now sitting there in England on Europe’s last island.

When comparing these words - about "not crumbling" in the face of opposition, the unusual references to God, and "already facing such struggles" in his own life - to those Hitler utters in the bunker in 1945, there is an uncanny similarity. This is a time of tremendous stress on Hitler, and he appears to realize the enormity of the decisions he is making.

Spitfires taking off, an entire Squadron at a time, at RAF Hornchurch, September 1940.

Battle of Britain: The weather remains good, and the Luftwaffe gets an earlier start than usual.

Before 08:00, the Luftwaffe attacks shipping off the Isle of Wight without interference. RAF Fighter Command is in a defensive crouch and focusing on defending cities from bombing.

After 09:00, two groups of attacks develop, one toward Biggin Hill airfield and the other toward the Eastchurch, Hornchurch, North Weald, and Debden fields. The RAF disperses many of the attacks, but a number of the bombers - Bf 110s - get through to Eastchurch and bomb the airfield.

Another Luftwaffe formation appears at 09:34, heading again toward Biggin Hill. This time, a number of the Bf 110s hit RAF Lympne, but don't cause much significant damage (holes in the runway are quickly filled).

A new tactic by the Luftwaffe is to bring over fighters after the bombing run itself in order to protect the bombers' withdrawal to France. To idle their time away while waiting, they shoot down the barrage balloons over Dover, as in past days.

Shortly after noon, more bombers cross at Dover, and around 13:00 the bombers - Heinkel He 111s and Dornier Do 17s this time - split up into a handful of different formations headed every which way. This leads to the biggest air battle of the day, up and down the coast. During the attack, which appears in hindsight to have been diversionary, a formation of Bf 110s comes in at tree-top level underneath the defending fighters. One group bombs the Short Bros. factory at Rochester, home of the new Stirling bombers, damaging it. Another group gets through and hits the Vickers Armstrong Works at Weybridge. This factory makes Wellington bombers. While only 8 Bf 110s make it through the defending fighters and fierce anti-aircraft defenses, they cause extensive damage and kill 88 people and injure 600 more - it would have been more, but many people are on lunch break. This is a devastating attack that puts the factory out of operation. The attackers lose heavily too, however, losing 15 Bf 110s during the raid.

Around 13:30, fresh intrusions occur along the southern coast. Another Bf 110 formation, this one from ZG 76, comes in unnoticed at first toward Weybridge, but when it is bounced, the carnage is tremendous. Another 16 Bf 110s are shot down, along with a Dornier Do 17. The Zerstörers do mete out some punishment of their own, and they kill four RAF pilots.

After dark, things change. The Luftwaffe sends bombers to Bristol, Avonmouth, Cardiff, Swansea, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Tilbury Docks. They are no longer pretending to target industrial targets, now the cities themselves are the targets, but oil storage tanks blow up near Cardiff which serves as a beacon for further attacks. The Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton is set ablaze as well. While the factories and oil tanks do take damage, the RAF begins to notice a change of tactics during the night toward simply releasing bombs over built-up areas rather than specific military targets.

RAF Bomber Command extends the radius of its attacks to Stettin, where it attacks a synthetic oil plant. The power stations at Berlin receive more attention, as well as oil installations at Magdeburg, warehouses at Nienburg, and the usual airfields throughout northwest Europe. More attempts are made to start forest fires in the Black Forest/Harz Mountains/Thuringian Forest area with incendiaries, but with little success.

The Luftwaffe loses the day in the air by about a 2-1 margin. The RAF's losses are pegged at 15 planes, the Luftwaffe's slightly more than double. In all, 11 RAF pilots and one gunner die during the day. Losses include 9 Spitfires, 6 Hurricanes and 1 Bolton Paul Defiant (crashes during night landing practice).

A Bf 110C after a crash-landing by pilot Oblt. Hermann Weeber on September 4, 1940, at Cousley Wood in Sussex. Kill markings are those of the unit CO, Erich Groth, whose plane he is borrowing.

• Hptm. Erich Groth of Stab II./ZG 76: four Spitfires;
• Oblt. Walter Borchers of 4./ZG 76: three Spitfires;
• Oblt. Hans-Joachim Jabs of 6./ZG 76: two Spitfires; and 
• Oblt. Wilhelm Hobein of 5./ZG 76 two Spitfires.

Looking at those claims might give the impression that the Bf 110s suddenly are terrors of the air again. However, they don't show all the pilots who didn't make it back. That's one thing always to bear in mind with Luftwaffe ace victory claims: the war in the air on the German side is a strictly Darwinian affair. A few pilots survive for long periods of time and prosper with exorbitant victory totals, while many, many others don't make it back at all and are forgotten.

Wilhelm Balthasar of Stab III./JG 3 gets his twenty-fourth victory southeast of London, then flies back to France severely wounded and is out of action for months.

The big coastal guns on the Channel ("hellfire corner") exchange shots without causing much damage.

Kriegsmarine Torpedo motorboat (Schnellboote) S-11.

Battle of the Atlantic: German torpedo boats of the 1st Flotilla make a series of attacks on collier Convoy FS 271 off Great Yarmouth/Cromer in the North Sea with great success. Several ships go down quickly. These coastal surface actions can be extremely short, sharp and vicious. While the British view colliers as expendable, they lose quite a few of them during the attack.

S-18 torpedoes and sinks British collier Joseph Swan. There is one survivor and 17 crew perish.

S-18 also torpedoes and sinks Dutch collier Nieuwland. Eight crew perish.

S-21 torpedoes and sinks 1729 ton British collier Corbrook. Everybody survives.

S-21 also torpedoes and sinks 2709 ton British collier New Lambton. Everybody survives.

S-22 torpedoes and sinks 1562 ton British cargo collier Fulham V.

S-54 damages collier Ewell.

Elsewhere, British 1945 ton ocean-going ferry Lairdcastle collides with freighter Vernon City while transiting from Glasgow to Belfast. The Lairdcastle sinks three hours later near the Mull of Kintyre, giving all 29 crew and 72 passengers time to be picked up by British destroyers.

U-47 (K.Kapt. Günther Prien) torpedoes and sinks 9035-ton British freighter Titan 250 miles northwest of Ireland. There are 89 survivors and 6 deaths. The Titan is with Convoy OA 207, and one of the escorts, HMCS St. Laurent, picks up the survivors. The master, Walter Francis Dark, later is awarded the Lloyds War Medal for bravery at sea for this action.

Prien's protege, Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass (Endrass had been Prien's second-in-command before this command), also gets a success today. His command, U-46, sinks by gunfire 1074 ton Irish freighter Luimneach, which carries pyrites, west of the Isles of Scilly around 22:00. The sinking is controversial. Apparently, Endrass surfaces and fires a shot across the bow to stop the freighter. After that, accounts diverge: the British captain, Eric Jones, claims the U-boat wrongfully continues shelling a neutral ship for no cause, while Endrass claims the crew panics and immediately abandons ship, making it a fair game as an abandoned vessel. Endrass has no torpedoes left, thus has to use the gun. There is mass confusion on both sides, and Endrass tells the men - who had crowded into one overloaded lifeboat - to go back and get a second boat. Endrass also gives them provisions. U-boat boss Admiral Doenitz, not the most impartial observer, sides with Endrass and maintains it was a good kill. Naturally, the British/Irish do not see it that way. All 18 aboard survive, and three crewmen are taken aboard the U-46, which somewhat salves the hard feelings over the event.

Royal Navy 550-ton tug HMS Saucy hits a mine and sinks in the Firth of Forth. All 26 crew perish in the massive explosion.

The first Italian submarines arrive at their new BETASOM base at Bordeaux, France.

Convoy HG 43 departs from Gibraltar, Convoy OA 209 departs from Methil, Convoy OG 42 departs from Liverpool.

U-142 is commissioned (Oberleutnant zur See Nicolai Clausen).

Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass (standing). Endrass had been the first Watch Officer when Gunther Prien made his famous Scapa Flow attack and sank HMS Royal Oak.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Operation Hats and related operations continue, with the final flourishes to the entirely successful operation applied today. Early in the day, HMS Illustrious launches nine of its Swordfish (815 and 819 Squadrons) loaded with bombs. They attack Italian airfields at Callato and Maritza on Rhodes. One of the Swordfish crashes on takeoff, killing the observer, and this keeps three other Swordfish from participating in the attack. Four Swordfish are shot down, the Italians lose two in the air and seven on the ground.

HMAS Sydney bombards Scarpanto. Battleship HMS Malaya and carrier HMS Eagle make port in Alexandria.

The RAF bombs Italian airfields near the Egyptian border. The South African Air Force raids Javcllo, Ethiopia.

At Malta, the coast is buzzed again at 21:30 by an Italian torpedo boat (MAS), but it gets away. There is an air raid alert in the late afternoon, but the bombers do not cross the coastline.

Winston Churchill is pleased with the success of Operation Hats and tells the War Cabinet that he is going to send Governor Dobbie, for distribution to the island, a letter of commendation. However, at the same time, the War Office tells Dobbie that many of the anti-aircraft guns that he has requested are needed elsewhere.

US/Japanese Relations: US Secretary of State Cordell Hull expresses concern about Japanese moves in French Indochina, where the Imperial Army has established bases at many key points.

German/Japanese Relations: The Japanese government holds meetings to decide how to approach negotiations for officially joining the Axis. The question is how to carve up the world, to create "spheres of influence" dominated by each power center, with a line drawn somewhere around India. The wishes of the Soviet Union do not appear to play a major factor.

French Indochina (Vietnam): The Japanese intercept a cable from French Army General Maurice Martin's government in French Indochina to the US and the UK which suggests that those two countries may consider intervening in French Indochina. Japan considers the country virtually its colony at this point. To protect its interests, the Japanese government considers invading rather than just maintaining bases there.

General Ion Antonescu, left, in Iron Guard uniform; Italian Minister to Bucharest Signor Pellegrino Ghigi; Herr Wilhelm Von Fabricius, German Minister to Bucharest, and Horia Sima, leader of the Iron Guard.

Romania: Repercussions from the recent Romanian territorial losses (to the USSR, Bulgaria, and Hungary) continue to reverberate through the kingdom. There is widespread public disgust at the government, protests, and calls for revolution. King Carol still rules as an absolute monarch, but that is about to change.

Throughout the day, King Carol still refuses to appoint Antonescu as Prime Minister despite his advisor ("courtiers") telling him that former minister Ion Antonescu is moderate and a better choice than one of the fascists from the Iron Guard who are threatening to depose the King and take over. Finally, during the evening, Valer Pop, an advisor to the King, decides to force the issue. He visits the German ambassador, Wilhelm Fabricius, to ask for Germany's support for Antonescu. Fabricius has had his doubts about Antonescu - who has been sympathetic to Germany since Munich more out of fear of German imperialism towards Romania than anything else - but abruptly throws Germany's support behind him.

Everybody, including King Carol, realizes that Germany is the only thing standing between Romania and the newly aggressive Soviet Union, so the King capitulates and agrees to appoint Antonescu. Antonescu, however, feels emboldened, and just being Prime Minister isn't enough for him: he now requests the full powers of a head of state. Carol agrees, granting Antonescu virtually all of his own powers as a monarch (making Antonescu "Conducător," somewhat similar to "Fuhrer"). Carol forces the current government led by Gigurtu to resign so that he can appoint Antonescu to form a new government. It is a remarkable rise to power for someone who had been in prison only a month before. It also is the beginning of what can best be described as a royal nightmare for Romania.

Holocaust: Chiune Sugihara, Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan to Lithuania, is forced to leave his post in Kaunas, Lithuania when the consulate closes. Sugihara has been writing visas for thousands of Jews (exactly how many is unknown) so they can escape the gathering clouds of war and the Holocaust (many stories are circulating about atrocities in occupied Poland). Sugihara does this right up until the last moment, even throwing some off the train as it pulls out of the station. Sugihara also arranges for the Lithuanian Jews to be able to transit on the Trans-Siberian railway (for five times the usual price). Sugihara heads to Königsberg, East Prussia, where he cannot do the same thing. This "incident" is long-remembered both by the Jews he saves, as well as the Japanese government, which dismisses him for it (allegedly) in 1947. Chiune Sugihara is considered to be in the same class as Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, though not nearly as well known.

China: Prince Nagahisa Kitashirakawa, head of a collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family and a career army officer, perishes in an airplane crash while on duty in Mengjiang, China.

American Homefront: R. Douglas Stuart, Jr., a Yale Law School student, organizes the America First Committee. Its mission is to keep the United States out of the war. Prominent members include Gerald Ford, Sargent Shriver and Potter Stewart (future SCOTUS Justice). The organization will find its biggest base of support around Chicago. The slogan is not new today, but the organization is.

Charles Lindbergh with America First founder R. Douglas Stuart, Jr. in 1940.

September 1940

September 1, 1940: RAF's Horrible Weekend
September 2, 1940: German Troopship Sunk
September 3, 1940: Destroyers for Bases
September 4, 1940: Enter Antonescu
September 5, 1940: Stukas Over Malta
September 6, 1940: The Luftwaffe Peaks
September 7, 1940: The Blitz Begins
September 8, 1940: Codeword Cromwell
September 9, 1940: Italians Attack Egypt
September 10, 1940: Hitler Postpones Sealion
September 11, 1940: British Confusion at Gibraltar
September 12, 1940: Warsaw Ghetto Approved
September 13, 1940: Zeros Attack!
September 14, 1940: The Draft Is Back
September 15, 1940: Battle of Britain Day
September 16, 1940: italians Take Sidi Barrani
September 17, 1940: Sealion Kaputt
September 18, 1940: City of Benares Incident
September 19, 1940: Disperse the Barges
September 20, 1940: A Wolfpack Gathers
September 21, 1940: Wolfpack Strikes Convoy HX-72
September 22, 1940: Vietnam War Begins
September 23, 1940: Operation Menace Begins
September 24, 1940: Dakar Fights Back
September 25, 1940: Filton Raid
September 26, 1940: Axis Time
September 27, 1940: Graveney Marsh Battle
September 28, 1940: Radio Belgique Begins
September 29, 1940: Brocklesby Collision
September 30, 1940: Operation Lena

2020