Friday 6 December 1940

Bomb damage in Southampton, 6 December 1940. Firemen still are fighting the fires caused by incendiary bombs during a massive two-day Luftwaffe attack a week earlier.

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greek advance continues on 6 December 1940. They consolidate their hold on Saranda, a port with special significance to Mussolini because it has acquired the nickname Porto Edda after his daughter. In the Pindos Mountains, the Greeks advance toward Klisura, and in Macedonia, the Greeks move toward Elbasan.

European Air Operations: The weather restricts flying operations. The Luftwaffe bombs Bristol, which is its latest target for successive raids, and London. The RAF bombs various airfields and ports in northwest Europe.

Battle of the Atlantic: The weather remains rough in the North Atlantic and the English Channel. This mangles convoy schedules and damages/sinks numerous smaller ships.

British 347-ton freighter Accomac has its boiler explode - perhaps due to stress fighting the weather - and drifts ashore at Pickie, Bangor, Northern Ireland. The ship is a total loss, but apparently, everybody survives.

Free French 2147-ton collier Mousse le Moyec runs aground and is wrecked at Harland Point, Devon.

Norwegian 1374-ton freighter Nyland is sailing with Convoy EN 35 off Iona, the Inner Hebrides when it runs aground at West Rock and is wrecked. All 20 onboard (including three Canadians) perish. The Nyland was en route to join Convoy OB 255 out of Liverpool. The ship simply disappears - a tug sent to tow it off the shore found nothing. Two weeks later, some wreckage bearing her name is found at Torran Rocks.

British coaster South Coaster encounters severe weather in Bristol Channel and is abandoned by its crew. The ten men are picked up by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the ship sinks. A ship with the same name sinks on 13 December 1943 at Pole Sands, but that is a different wreck.

Submarine HMS Unbeaten bangs up against depot ship HMS Titania in the Clyde due to the rough weather and takes damage. It proceeds to Barrow for repair.

Minesweeper HMS Salamander suffers serious damage in the rough seas and proceeds to Grimsby for repairs.

U-43 (Kptlt. Wolfgang Lüth), on its sixth patrol out of Lorient under its new captain, torpedoes and sinks 1902 ton Norwegian 1902-ton freighter Skrim west of Ireland. The U-boat has to pursue the freighter for almost four hours and then misses with its first torpedo. A second shot 20 minutes later, however, sends the freighter to the bottom in barely a minute. This sinking is partly attributable to the rough weather as well since the Skrim had lost contact with Convoy OB 252 two days before. Due to the conditions and loss of all crew, it is a historical assumption that this victim is the Skrim. All 34 onboard perish.

British 554-ton freighter Supremity hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary. There is one death.

German 218-ton trawler Jupiter runs aground near Lodsbjerg, Jutland, likely due in part to the weather. It later is salvaged, repaired and returned to service after the war. The Jupiter had been requisitioned for Operation Sealion, but those ships had been dispersed and returned to normal duties pursuant to Hitler's orders.

Convoy FN 352 departs from Southend, Convoys FS 354 and FS 355 depart from Methil (some convoys have been delayed due to the weather), and Convoy HX 94 departs from Halifax.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMAS Bathurst (Lieut-Commander A. V. Bunyan, DSC, RD; RANR(S)) is commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Spikenard (K 198) is commissioned.

US submarine Flying Fish is laid down at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine.

U-166 is laid down in Bremen.

U-166 will be commanded by Oberleutnant Hans-Günther Kuhlmann.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British put in place final preparations for Operation Compass, the offensive against the advanced Italian lines in Egypt. The British march 25,000 troops 35 miles forward from their encampments near Mersa Matruh toward the front lines, hidden as best they can near their jump-off points. They still have about 35 miles to go. The plan is for a 5-day raid through a 15-mile gap between Italian encampments.

The British Tommies are not told that they are on the verge of an offensive; this is "Training Exercise No. 2." The units are British 7th Armoured Division, British 16th Infantry Brigade, and Indian 4th Infantry Division. Together, they comprise the Western Desert Force under the command of General Richard O'Connor).

Royal Navy submarine HMS Regulus hits a mine and sinks off Taranto, Italy sometime around this date. All 55 onboard perish.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Triton torpedoes and damages 6040-ton Italian freighter Olimpia. The Olimpia is escorted by two Italian torpedo boats, the Altair and the Andromeda, but they fail to locate the Triton.

Battle of the Pacific: German raiders Komet and Orion, operating in tandem, come upon 4413 ton British/Australian phosphate freighter Triona northeast of the Solomon Islands near the island of Nauru (west of the Gilberts group). The Germans are very interested in Nauru due to its phosphate production and are planning to attack it, and coming across the Triona is purely coincidental to that objective. Accounts vary about what happened next: either the freighter is sunk after a long chase, killing three or four (native) crewmen with gunfire, or the ship is captured and then sunk. It is possible that the ship is captured after a chase and either quickly scuttled or sinks from its battle damaged. In any event, the Triona does not last very long. There are 68 survivors, including 6 female passengers and a child.

Holocaust: In one of the ironies of history, Adolf Hitler's cousin Aloisia Veit is gassed (carbon monoxide) to death on or about this date in Austria. This is pursuant to the euthanasia program that Adolf Hitler himself had authorized in late 1939. Aloisia was diagnosed with "schizophrenic mental instability, helplessness, depression, distraction, hallucinations, and delusions." Assuming that the doctors' notes can be believed, the woman actually was mentally ill, and she spent much of her time chained to her bed. She is related to Hitler via his father's Schicklgruber family - that branch of the family apparently had a deep history of mental illness. This information was uncovered by David Irving ("Hitler's War"), American historian Timothy Ryback in the period 1990-2005, and using papers recovered after the war by a US Army private, Eric Hamm. It is unknown what, if anything, Hitler knows about this, but all German media is forbidden to mention the word "Schicklgruber" - though that is a favorite word in the Allied press.

Indochina: The Japanese step in and attempt to resolve the simmering Thai/Vichy French border war. They sign a "non-aggression pact" with the Thais (supposedly at the Thai government's request) and basically impose a settlement. The Thais get several disputed territories, including Lao Sayaboury, the Cambodian provinces of Battambang and Siem Riep (Phibunsongkhram province), and the part of Champassak on the west bank. The US, meanwhile, looks askance at the Thai invasion and halts exports of 16 aircraft to Thailand, re-routing them to their own forces in the Philippines. The US also considers further sanctions based in part on the growing perception that Thailand and Japan basically are now de facto allies, which is not the case.

American Homefront: MGM's "Go West," starring the Marx Brothers, premieres. It features "The Woodpecker Song" by Harold Adamson and Eldo di Lazzaro.

Madam Marie will tell your fortune near where soldiers live outside Fort Benning, Georgia. December 1940. Marion Post Wolcott/LC-USF34-056485 via Library of Congress.

December 1940

December 1, 1940: Wiking Division Forms
December 2, 1940: Convoy HX 90 Destruction
December 3, 1940: Greeks Advancing
December 4, 1940: Italian Command Shakeup
December 5, 1940: Thor Strikes Hard
December 6, 1940: Hitler's Cousin Gassed
December 7, 1940: Storms At Sea
December 8, 1940: Freighter Idarwald Seized
December 9, 1940: Operation Compass Begins
December 10, 1940: Operation Attila Planned
December 11, 1940: Rhein Wrecked
December 12, 1940: Operation Fritz
December 13, 1940: Operation Marita Planned
December 14, 1940: Plutonium Discovered
December 15, 1940: Napoleon II Returns
December 16, 1940: Operation Abigail Rachel
December 17, 1940: Garden Hoses and War
December 18, 1940: Barbarossa Directive
December 19, 1940: Risto Ryti Takes Over
December 20, 1940: Liverpool Blitz, Captain America
December 21, 1940: Moral Aggression
December 22, 1940: Manchester Blitz
December 23, 1940: Hitler at Cap Gris Nez
December 24, 1940: Hitler at Abbeville
December 25, 1940: Hipper's Great Escape
December 26, 1940: Scheer's Happy Rendezvous
December 27, 1940: Komet Shells Nauru
December 28, 1940: Sorge Spills
December 29, 1940: Arsenal of Democracy
December 30, 1940: London Devastated
December 31 1940: Roosevelt's Decent Proposal

2020

Monday 29 July 1940

Spitfire pilots of No. 610 Squadron between sorties at "A" Flight dispersal at Hawkinge, 29 July 1940.

Battle of Britain: Another invasion alert at 21:00 on 29 July 1940 brings the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow to readiness, but once again it is a false alarm.

The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on Channel ports and convoys. Danish 1264 ton freighter Gronland and 197-ton yacht Gulzar sink at Dover Harbour.

The Stukas also catch destroyer HMS Delight off Portland at 17:00 and sink it. This attack is based on Freya Radar operating 60 miles away. There are 12 deaths and 59 other casualties.

To solidify the defense of Dover, from which all destroyers have been withdrawn, the Royal Navy sinks 5183 special service vessel Umvotti as a blockship.

The Admiralty expands upon its decision to take destroyers out of Dover Harbour. Now, destroyers are forbidden from any operations during daylight hours in the eastern English Channel. Minesweepers remain in action at great risk to themselves.

The Luftwaffe continues its mine-laying around the Thames estuary and nearby ports after dark.

Overall, it is another poor day for the Luftwaffe, which loses 8 planes to the RAF's 3 fighters.

P/O Kazimierz "Bonkin" Łukaszewicz takes his first familiarisation flight on 29 July 1940, 3 days after joining No 302 "Polish" Squadron. KIA 12 August 1940.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command continues its daylight raids over Occupied Europe. This includes raids on barges being collected at Channel ports for a possible invasion and airfields in northwest Europe. The RAF is being aided in these raids by Free French airmen. Other targets of opportunity are infrastructure installations such as railway marshaling yards and oil installations.

Battle of the Atlantic: Otto Kretschmer in U-99 continues his rampage in the mid-Atlantic. He picks off independent 7336-ton British freighter Clan Menzies about 150 miles off of County Clare, Ireland. Kretchmer misses with a torpedo, then stalks the ship for five hours until finally maneuvering into firing position. There are 88 survivors, 6 crew perish.

British 1262 ton freighter Moidart hits a mine and sinks off Felixstowe, Suffolk. All 11 crew perish.

British 44 ton trawler Leach's Romance hits a mine and sinks 10 miles south of Kemptown, Brighton. All four crew perish.

British 5952 ton freighter Clan Monroe hits a mine near Harwich. She remains afloat with a broken back for a few days but sinks while in tow.

British 5601 ton freighter Ousebridge hits a mine in Queen's Channel on the entrance to Liverpool. It blows her bow off and breaks her back. There are two deaths.

British submarine HMS Sealion spots U-62 on the surface in the North Sea heading back to Bergen and shoots 3 torpedoes at it. The crew of the U-boat spots the British submarine, however, and evades the torpedoes. Sealion then surfaces and attacks with its deck gun, but U-62 dives and manages to escape.

British submarine HMS Triton sights an unidentified U-boat off Korsfjord, Norway heading out to sea but is unable to attack.

British submarine HMS Porpoise lays a minefield (FD.23) off of Norway, then heads south to the Bay of Biscay.

British corvette HMS La Malouine (K 46, Lt. Commander Ronald W. Keymer, is commissioned.

Battle of the Mediterranean: HMS Eagle, based at Alexandria, escorts a convoy in the eastern Mediterranean. Its Sea Gladiators shoot down an Italian SM.79 lurking in the vicinity.

Italian bombers raid Aden without much effect. Regia Aeronautica planes also attack Royal Navy ships north of Bardia but do not score any hits.

Malta is being bombed almost every day, and people have begun practically living in the larger shelters. Many of these underground chambers were created centuries ago by the Knights of Malta. During the day, there are two air raid alerts, but no bombs are dropped.

Walter von Hippel receives the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 July 1940 for services as Oberstleutnant and commander of Flak-Regiment 102.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: The Royal Navy blockades Vichy French Madagascar.

German raider Atlantis rendezvouses with Kriegsmarine freighter Tirranna and takes on board ample fuel and other supplies.
War Crimes: The British Air Ministry justifies the fact that it has shot down four Luftwaffe Heinkel He 59 search and rescue planes that are clearly marked with the Red Cross symbol by stating that any plane that acts "suspiciously" is fair game. In point of fact, the RAF has been shooting down such planes while in the very act of rescuing downed crewmen in the Channel when there was nothing suspicious about them.

German Government: OKW Chief of Operations Colonel-General Alfred Jodl briefs top military personnel on Hitler's decision to attack the Soviet Union. "The collision with Bolshevism is bound to come. Better to have it now, when we are at the height of our military power," he says. The decision, of course, is not up for debate.

The timing given for the attack is spring 1941, which pretty much everyone believes will give the Wehrmacht plenty of time to settle matters with Great Britain. Eventually, the codename Operation Barbarossa will be given to this invasion.

While there are off-handed ruminations by some that the attack would occur as early as the fall of 1940, this is the first time a specific time frame has been officially established. In fact, while treated very matter-of-factly, this is the first real communication from Hitler to the Wehrmacht, aside from off-handed comments, that an attack on the USSR will occur at all. After this, the idea of an attack on the USSR will be an accepted, in fact almost obvious and inevitable, idea among the top military leadership.

Hitler is at the absolute peak of his popularity following the fall of France, and while many have misgivings about attacking the Soviet Union - with very good reason - it is impossible to oppose his next move absent some intervening event. Among the many who oppose the idea to one extent or another is Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, but there really is nothing that he or anyone else can do within the chain of command once Hitler has made a decision.

The OKL (Kriegsmarine high command) issues a memo urging that Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Great Britain, be postponed until 1941. The OKL does, however, state that an invasion is feasible and could succeed even in September 1940 as seems the most likely possible start date.

With Great Britain about to fall into its hands, the Germans set up an economic board to oversee the exploitation of the British industry after Operation Sea Lion succeeds.

George Marshall, Time Magazine, 29 July 1940.

Spanish/Portuguese Relations: The two governments sign the Iberian Pact.

Anglo/Romanian Relations: The Romanian government has recently nationalized a Dutch Royal Shell subsidiary. The British government formally protests via a diplomatic note.

German/Belgian Relations: Germany annexes Belgian provinces Eupen, Malmedy, and Moresnet. Speaking French/Flemish there now is banned. There is a large ethnic German population in this region, and many already tend to view themselves as German in nationality as well as by origin.

Vichy France: With trials scheduled for former Prime Minister Daladier and other "traitors," the Vichy government sets up a special Supreme Court to try former officials of the Third Republic. This becomes known as the Riom Trial.

Japan: One of the 9-12 British nationals (sources vary) imprisoned by the Japanese recently on spying and other charges (they claim), a Mr. Melville Cox, commits suicide at the police station.

China: The Nationalist government rejects a semi-serious Japanese peace offer which would assure Japanese hegemony in the region.

American Homefront: A poll in Life Magazine shows that 36% of the public thinks that Germany will beat Great Britain, versus 24% who see the reverse outcome. There is 70% support for a draft.

"Girl Lifeguard," Life Magazine, 29 July 1940.

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

Sunday 10 September 1939

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cynthia, Julian and John Lennon in the 1960s.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2019