Thursday 4 April 1940

Queen Wilhelmina reviews a military parade of the 3rd Division troops stationed at Noordwijk and Katwijk. Here, she is reviewing bicycle troops of the 1st Squadron stationed at Katwijk.

Operation Weserubung: German transports have set sail for the far reaches of Norway as Operation Weserubung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, begins. The date of the invasion is set for 9 April 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Operations remain relatively quiet - too quiet - on 4 April 1940 because the U-boats are aiding Operation Weserubung instead of attacking merchant ships.

The Norwegian passenger liner "Mira" reaches Norway after its 107 passengers and crew have suffered numerous (failed) Luftwaffe attacks during its 6-day crossing.

Convoy OA 123GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 123 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends up bombers to attack German destroyers at the Jade estuary at Wilhelmshaven.

RAF Sunderland flying boats encounter six Stukas (Ju 87) over the North Sea. They shoot one down and force another to crash-land in Norway.

Western Front: It is raining heavily all along the front, so little action.

Royal Navy: Admiral Horton continues sending his submarines to patrol on the likeliest routes from Germany to Norway. HMS Snapper departs today from Harwich to the Skagerrak. Horner also commands allied submarines, so he sends French subs Amazone and Antelope from Harwich to patrol the Frisian Islands and Heligoland.

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill is flummoxed by the French intransigence about cooperating with mining activities in the Rhine (Operation Royal Marine). He flies to Paris and makes a decision: "[Operation] Wilfred should go forward notwithstanding the French refusal of Royal Marine (mining of the Rhine)." The British War Cabinet concurs.

US Military: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child flies the first production P-40 Warhawk, c/n13033, Air Corps serial number 39-156, at Buffalo, New York. The cruising speed of the P-40 is 272 miles per hour (438 kilometers per hour) and the maximum speed is 357 miles per hour (575 kilometers per hour) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The Warhawk has a service ceiling of 30,600 feet (9,327 meters) and the absolute ceiling is 31,600 feet (9,632 meters). The range is 950 miles (1,529 kilometers) at 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour). These are all good figures for 1940, and the Air Corps designates the fighter as "pursuit."

German/Italian Relations: Hitler authorizes staff talks between the OKW (military high command) and Italian Commando Supremo.

French Government: The Minister of Marine reports that the French Navy has destroyed 23 U-boats during the conflict. In actual fact, the number is well below a dozen, and none of those were due to the French Navy.

The government sentences 34 French communists to five years in prison. Eighty others receive 4-year suspended sentences. The charge is illegally attempting to reorganize the banned Communist Party. It is now illegal, subject to the death penalty for treason, to read or spread communist or anti-war propaganda.

British Government: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announces that the government has set up a special trading corporation backed by the Treasury to foster economic penetration of the Balkans, which trade Germany dominates.

Soviet Government: The NKVD reports to Molotov: out of the 22,000 Polish officers, 395 are "of value" and thus should be spared. The rest should be liquidated per the Politburo's decision of 5 March 1940. The way to get on the "of value" is to be an informer in one of the camps, or to have some foreign connection that would make their sudden absence noticed abroad.

German Homefront: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering broadcasts an appeal to the nation's young to behave with decency and morality "not only in the light of day but also in the blackout."

British Homefront: Prime Minister Chamberlain takes a little-used expression (first used in George Reid's "My Reminiscences" (1917)) and takes it to the next level. Before an audience of friends, he for once exceeds Winston Churchill's oratorical heights by stating that Hitler has "missed the bus" by running afoul of the British empire and not destroying it when he had the chance. He is now "ten times" as confident of final victory as he had been in September. He states that it is "extraordinary no such attempt was made" to invade during the fall.

By point of fact, of course, the bus, er, boats indeed had set sail - Nazi transports were at that moment on their way to Norway.

Rather oddly, the British newspapers comment upon large concentrations of German troops at Kriegsmarine bases. Nobody in the Allies' military services appears to find this of interest.

China: The Chinese 8th War Area, having recovered Wuyuan and other objectives, changes to the defensive. The Winter Offensive is now for all intents and purposes over. It was a huge success, bringing down the Japanese government and sending Japanese forces reeling.

Summary of the Chinese Winter Offensive:

• Japanese military casualties: 50,000;
• Chinese military casualties: 150,000;
• Chinese civilian casualties: unknown.

4 April 1940: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child flies the first production P-40 Warhawk, c/n13033, Air Corps serial number 39-156, on its first flight at Buffalo, New York.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel


2016

Thursday 14 March 1940

Viipuri Castle burning.

Winter War: With the Winter War over, the terms must be implemented beginning on 14 March 1940. The Finnish government begins evacuating 470,000 citizens from areas being ceded to the USSR in Karelia. Many evacuees burn their homes, villages and other property.

The Finns also evacuate Viipuri. Viipuri Castle is burning.

The Finnish negotiators return to Helsinki with the signed Moscow Peace Treaty. The Finnish Parliament begins debating ratification.

Lord Halifax requests return of British war matériel from the Finns. Finnish ambassador to the Court of St. James G.A. Gripenberg refuses, stating that Finland properly bought it.

UK General Pownall notes the cynical nature of the "aid" being offered to the Finns: "Of 4 or 5 division that were to be sent, not 1 was meant for Finland- maybe a brigade or 2. A most dishonest business"

Finnish sniper Simo Hayha awakens from a coma after being shot and learns that the war is over.

The Soviet rank and file are frustrated and angry at the war and its outcome. They are in no mood to celebrate. One Soviet soldier, Lt. Viktor Iskrov: "Finns walked out of their trenches with vodka bottles, shouting: 'Russkies, come drink with us!' But we just sat in our trench."

The New York Times contributes to the vitriol being launched at the Allied powers for the Finnish capitulation: "Once again a small nation relied on the help of the Western powers and paid dearly for her trust."

Battle of the Atlantic: Convoy SL 24 departs from Freetown.

European Air Operations: Three Heinkel 111s attack three fishing trawlers in the North Sea but fail to sink them.

German Homefront: Economic Czar Hermann Goering decrees that all items made of copper, bronze, nickel, and other useful metals be surrendered to the war effort. The pretext is to donate them as a gift to Hitler for his 51st birthday.

Polish Government-in-exile: The Poles publish a white paper that appears designed to cause dissension within the Axis. Among other tidbits, it reveals a 1935 discussion by Hermann Goering with Polish leader (at the time) Marshal Pilsudski in which Goering suggested a joint invasion of Ukraine. The Poles further claim they emphatically rejected the idea.

Australia: Prime Minister Menzies forms a new coalition cabinet.

Canada: The government establishes an "Inventions Board" to process "secret weapons" suggestions from the public.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong offers to contribute £100,000 to London for the construction of two minesweepers and four harbor defense boats.
China: In the continuing Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese 22nd Army counterattacks against the Chinese advancing on Nanning from the Yangshuo area.

German Homefront: No economy is too petty to be considered. The government urges the country's tea drinkers to save their used tea for recycling into artificial coffee.

American Homefront: Paramount releases "Road to Singapore," the first Bob Hope/Bing Crosby/Dorothy Lamour "Road" film.

Soviet soldiers examining a captured Finnish flag.

March 1940

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

2019

Sunday 3 March 1940

Finnish artillery during the battle of Viipuri.

Winter War: The Finns on 3 March 1940 continue resisting the urge to convey their acceptance of the Soviet peace terms, which technically have expired. Finland’s Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner instead phones Sweden’s Foreign Minister Christian Günther and proposes an alliance between the two countries. Finland is ready to capitulate if the Soviets would drop their demand for the cession of Viipuri and Sortavala.

Winter War Army Operations: There is hand-to-hand fighting in the Viipuri suburbs. The Soviets capture the main railway station.

Marshal Mannerheim dishonorably discharges Major-General Kurt M. Wallenius from his position of coastal defense west of Viipuri. The Soviets have consolidated their bridgehead there, and Wallenius is said to be drinking heavily. Mannerheim vows never to re-employ Wallenius and removes him from the Defence Forces officer list. Lieutenant General Karl Lennart Oesch replaces Wallenius.

The fighting in Viipurinlahti Bay, Wallenius' command, is extremely dangerous to the Finnish strategic position, threatening a breakout to the Finnish industrial heartland. The Soviet 86th Motorized Rifle Division pushes across the frozen Gulf of Viipuri, taking the short route to the mainland. They take the island of Uuras and consolidate the beachhead on the western shore.

At Mikkeli, the Finnish HQ orders the staff of the army of the Isthmus to plan for a major withdrawal to the Virolahti-Kivijärvi-Saimaa-Hiitola line.

Winter War Air Operations: The Finns claim to have brought down 28 Soviet planes over the weekend.
Battle of the Atlantic: The crew of the 3,359-ton German freighter Arucas scuttles the ship rather than be captured by British heavy cruiser HMS York (Captain Reginald H. Portal) south of Iceland. Three crew perish.

British freighter Cato hits a mine and sinks in the Bristol Channel. The mine was laid on 2 March 1940 by U-29. There are 2 survivors, 13 perish.

Italy lodges a protest with the British about the blocking of German coal deliveries by sea.

The Luftwaffe takes First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill's bait and bombs Southampton, the wrong destination he previously leaked to the press for Queen Elizabeth. Not so good for the people of Southampton, perhaps, but Queen Elizabeth is safely on her way to New York.

Convoy OA 103GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 103 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: RAF bombers over-fly Berlin again. The Germans notice and anti-aircraft guns and fighters intervene, but all of the British planes return to base.

RAF sorties over the seaplane bases on the Friesian Islands are met with anti-aircraft fire.

Some Luftwaffe fighters over-fly Belgium and shoot down one Belgian fighter while damaging two others.

US Government: US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles follows up his interview with Hitler by meeting with Hermann Goering at Carinhall and Rudolf Hess in Berlin. Goering adheres to the party line, but Welles thinks he has a slightly broader perspective than the other top Nazis and takes a relatively favorable impression. Welles then departs for Paris by train, stopping in Basel.

Terrorism: A mysterious bomb explodes in the Stockholm offices of communist newspaper Norrskensflamman. There are five dead.

American Homefront: Artie Shaw and His Orchestra (with an arrangement by William Grant Still) record "Frenesi" for Victor Records. Alberto Domínguez had composed "Frenesi for his marimba band - it means "frenzy" in Spanish. "Frenesi" will hit number one on the Billboard pop chart on December 21, 1940, and stay there for 13 weeks.

The good ship Queen Elizabeth in military drab gray.

March 1940

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

2019

Thursday 4 January 1940

4th Royal Tank Regiment (Scottish), Matilda tank in France, January 1940.

Winter War: Support for the Finns continues to pour in from abroad on 4 January 1940. The first contingent of Norwegian volunteers leaves Oslo.

Great Britain and France are formulating plans to send troops to Finland via the Narvik railway. That line extends from the port to Oulu and Helsinki, but it passes through Sweden. Swedish iron ore at Gällivare, which is typically shipped from Narvik, is on the priority list for seizure by both sides, so there may be ulterior motives behind these troop transfer requests. Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax asks Norway for permission to use the port, but curiously only copies Sweden on the request - when the Swedes have complete control over the line. It is as if he considers Swedish acquiescence a foregone conclusion. He cites German sinkings of British freighters as a pretext. Sweden, for its part, has been holding on to its neutrality with an iron fist, though if anything it leans toward the British and French.

Winter War Army Operations: Soviet troops are suffering in the worst of the winter weather. They are freezing to death, dying of starvation, suffering frostbite, and have all sorts of weather-related maladies that require amputations.

General Vinogradov orders - or, more aptly stated, permits - the trapped 44th Rifle Division to try to break out again. Just as on the 3rd, this attempt fails miserably.

General Chuikov in command of the Ninth Army is running out of options. He cannot get supplies to the trapped men, and he discovers today that, contrary to false assurances from Colonel Volkov on the Ratte road, they have no connection to the outside world. Chuikov informs the Stavka that a disaster is brewing. He manages to get a plane in the air, which drops bags of dry tack. He tentatively plans for a full-scale relief attempt on the 5th.

The trapped Soviets, meanwhile, realize their predicament completely. Captain Pastukhov of the 2nd Battalion, 146th Rifle Regiment, whose troops have not eaten in four days, leaves his own position to consolidate his troops with the headquarters of the nearby 305th Rifle Regiment. He explains that he has no more ammunition anyway. Since this leaves a hole in the Soviet defenses, General Vinogradov orders him to return. Before he can get back there, though, the Finns move in and cut the road where his troops had been. This produces another Motti (log).

Further east, Task Force Kari takes the village of Eskola.

Winter War Air Operations: The Soviets attack the vital Finnish railway line that heads through Sweden to Narvik.

The Finns bomb Soviet island bases on Oesel and Dagoe.

Western Front: The British 48th Infantry Brigade moves to join the BEF in France.

Battle of the Atlantic: German cruiser Karlsruhe captures Swedish freighter Konung Oscar. It has 41 Polish refugees on board.

Kriegsmarine armed merchant cruiser Schiff 20 sinks an Estonian freighter.

The Luftwaffe attacks the British liner Tuscan Star, but the ship's anti-aircraft guns drive them off.

Admiral Max Horton is appointed Flag Officer, Submarines.

The British at Gibraltar detain the US freighter SS Exiria.

Convoy OA 66 departs Southend, Convoy OB 66 departs from Liverpool, and Convoy HXF 15 departs from Halifax.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts reconnaissance over the German seaplane bases in the Heligoland Bight.

French/Polish Relations: France agrees to provide and maintain the Polish Army-in-exile at its own expense. The agreement between Premier Daladier and General Sikorski will equip 85,000 Polish troops currently interned in Hungary, Romania and the Baltic states.

British Government: All merchant shipping is requisitioned.

Rations for bacon is set at four ounces per person per week as of 8 January.

German Government: Hermann Goering is appointed to head the German war economy, which he has been leading off and on for years. His primary mission is to find ways around the British blockade. He studied economics in school.

Peace Talks: The Finns seek German mediation. Germany, of course, has secretly allocated Finland to the Soviet sphere in the Ribbentrop/Molotov agreement.

China: In the struggling Chinese Winter Offensive, the Chinese 4th War Area captures Kuantan.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, Chinese forces advance five miles south of Kunlunkuan and take Chiutang.

Members of the French Army man an acoustic locator device on January 4, 1940. The device was one of many experimental designs, built to pick up the sound of approaching aircraft. These enjoyed a brief vogue among all armies prior to the perfection of radar. Some dogs could accomplish the same thing.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019

Wednesday 8 November 1939

Hitler giving his speech at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, 8 November 1939. A commenter below helpfully identified the two SS men sitting in the front row as panzer leaders Hans Pfeiffer and Max Wünsche. Needless to say, sitting there was a huge honor.

German Opposition: November 8, 1939, is the 16th Anniversary of the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler always commemorates it by returning to the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich where the major steps in the attempted coup took place. As usual, his old cronies from the old days are there, including:

• Joseph Goebbels, 
• Reinhard Heydrich, 
• Rudolf Hess, 
• Robert Ley, 
• Alfred Rosenberg, 
• Julius Streicher, 
• August Frank, 
• Hermann Esser and 
• Heinrich Himmler. 

Hitler begins the speech 30 minutes earlier than usual to a packed house. He condemns the British as warmongers and for the first time predicts a five-year war. He can't fly home due to the weather, so he leaves earlier than he might otherwise to board his train for the ride back to Berlin.

Thirteen minutes later, at 21:20, a time bomb explodes that is concealed in a building support pillar near the speaking platform. Eight people are killed and 63 injured, sixteen seriously. Hitler, of course by now is on the train.

As usual, when something terrible happens and nobody knows the cause, people jump to various theories. Most blame Hitler himself, conjecturing that he planted the bomb himself to discredit the hard-core opposition to him that he may have gotten an inkling of at his dramatic meeting just a few days before, on 5 November 1939. However, this is unlikely, because Joseph Goebbels blames the British, and if it were a unified effort to discredit domestic foes, Goebbels would be on board with that theory.

George Elser.

That night, border control at the Swiss border at Konstanz is unaware of the bombing. However, they detain a carpenter, Johann Georg Elser, with what appears to be suspicious items (wire cutters, sketches of bombs, and a postcard of the interior of the Bürgerbräukeller). It is just odd enough for them to detain Elser, 25 paces from the Swiss border. During interrogation, news arrives of the attempt on Hitler's life, and Elser is returned to Munich for interrogation. However, he remains one of many suspects, including the entire staff of the Bürgerbräukeller.

Hitler rarely is in a specific public place at a specific time, varying times and places of visits with very little notice or none at all. The anniversary of the Putsch is a very rare exception. This unpredictability has been Hitler's best defense against assassinations in the past, and it is the breakdown in this pattern which placed him in jeopardy. If the bomb plot had succeeded, Hermann Goering, who was not at the event despite being a Putsch veteran, would have acceded to power. Goering being a confirmed opponent to the conflict (but always bowing to Hitler's wishes), the vast majority of World War II might have been averted.

The venue of Hitler's speech at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, 8 November 1939.

Western Front: There are three minor German attacks along the border.

European Air Operations: A New Zealand operates at extreme altitude over an RAF aerodrome in France and brings down a Luftwaffe reconnaissance plane.

A Heinkel 111 is reportedly shot down over the North Sea.

Battle of the Atlantic: US freighters Express and Exeter are detained, the first by the British, the second by the French. The Express is released the same day, along with the freighters Tulsa and Wacosta, which has some of its freight seized as contraband.

U-26 conducts a frustrated attempt to lay mines off heavily guarded Gibraltar.

Convoy OB 32 departs from Liverpool, OA 32G departs from Southend, SL8 departs from Freetown, HXF 8 departs from Halifax.

Collaborator Girls: British party girl Unity Mitford, one of Hitler's pre-war favorites and a member of his inner circle, is in the hospital in Munich following a suicide attempt. She had shot herself in the head due to her conflicting loyalties upon the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939. Hitler genuinely cares for Unity and, before his big speech, goes out of his way to visit her. He pays her bills, then arranges for her safe conduct home to England and her family via Switzerland.

Poland: Gauleiter Hans Frank takes office and plans to transfer 600,000 Jews and 400,000 Poles to un-annexed but German-occupied Poland. He plans this to begin 1 December 1939.

Holland: there are reports of German troop movements just across the border. The government authorizes the widening of the defensive areas just behind the border which will be flooded upon a German invasion.

Finland: The government takes a hard line in its negotiations with the USSR. Commander-in-chief Marshal Mannerheim instead favors trying to reach a settlement but is overruled.

Unity Mitford with Hitler before the war.

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

2020

Monday 7 August 1939

Hermann Goering arrives at the Bredstedt train station on 7 August 1939 for the drive out to the Dahlerus farmhouse. Crowds of local people had been alerted to expect a special visitor due to elaborate police precautions, and some can be seen in the foreground. Strangely, the meeting is still considered "Top Secret" by the German government.

German/English Diplomacy: After weeks of preparation, on 7 August 1939 Hermann Goering participates in a secret meeting with a random group of English industrialists. The meeting is arranged by unofficial Swedish diplomat Birger Dahlerus and held at his wife's farmhouse in northern Germany.

The highly unusual meeting is held at Sönke-Nissen-Koog, Germany, a remote location on the western shore near the Danish border. At the meeting are:

• Brian Moutain
• Sir Robert Renwick
• Charles MacLaren
• T. Mensforth
• A. Holden
• Stanley Rawson
• Charles Spencer

Some of the British civilians just happen to be summering in Germany, whilst Mountain, Renwick, MacLaren, and Mensforth come across especially for the lunch meeting.

The meeting, despite its elaborate preparation and clandestine nature, has no discernible purpose. It is set up casually by Dahlerus, to whom the idea comes spontaneously after visiting England himself and then running into some of his new English industrialist friends back in Germany. Dahlerus himself knows Goering through his boss, Swedish Electrolux tycoon Axel Wenner-Gren, who had met Goering years previously through the family of Goering's first wife Carin von Rosen. While Wenner-Gren himself likes to dabble in diplomacy, he leaves the heavy lifting to his flunky Dahlerus to keep his hands clean.

The whole affair is just another of Goering's "back channel" freelance attempts at unofficial negotiation to see if he can prevent a large war from developing despite whatever action Hitler may take in Poland. He might be cold-blooded and callous, but Goering knows full well that the Wehrmacht, and in particular his Luftwaffe, are not ready yet for a general European War. Goering also feels that Foreign Minister Ribbentrop is incompetent and a war-monger who is creating in Hitler a false impression that the British will not fight. In addition, he would like to score points with Hitler and undercut Ribbentrop by neutralizing England. Goering apparently does not inform Hitler of the meeting out of fear that Hitler will forbid him from making any peace gestures and perhaps feel that Goering is becoming timid.

Goering lectures the British men on, among other things, Germany's growing ability to synthesize gasoline from coal. The discussion is pleasant but also vaguely threatening. After several hours, Goering ends the meeting by proposing a toast to peace. Not a trained diplomat, Goering does not appear to have a set agenda for the affair. He is "winging it" and apparently feels it is enough to be friendly and that this alone will create an atmosphere conducive to further negotiations. It doesn't.

Spencer gives a full report on the meeting to the Foreign Office which accurately predicts the meeting which Hitler will have at Berchtesgaden on 14 August to plan Case Yellow, the invasion of Poland. Goering appears to be expecting some British response to his gesture, but nobody in England really knows what the question posed had been. The British thus make no response and nothing comes of the meeting. Goering henceforth relies on Dahlerus for his unofficial diplomatic meddling, which inevitably goes nowhere.

Hermann Goering photographed on the way to the 7 August 1939 meeting.

Pre-War

8-9 November 1923: Beer Hall Putsch

December 20, 1924: Hitler Leaves Prison

September 18, 1931: Geli Raubal Commits Suicide

November 8, 1932: Roosevelt is Elected

30 January 1933: Hitler Takes Office
February 27, 1933: Reichstag Fire
March 23, 1933: The Enabling Act

June 20, 1934: Hitler Plans the Night of the Long Knives
June 30, 1934: Night of the Long Knives

August 1, 1936: Opening of the Berlin Olympics

September 30, 1938: The Munich Agreement
November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht

August 1, 1939: Flight Tests of B-17 Flying Fortress
August 2, 1939: Einstein and the Atom Bomb
August 7, 1939: Goering Tries to Broker Peace
August 14, 1939: Hitler Decides To Attack Poland
August 15, 1939: U-Boats Put To Sea
August 16, 1939: Incident at Danzig
August 20, 1939: Battle of Khalkhin Gol
August 22, 1939: Hitler Tips His Hand
August 23, 1939: Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
August 25, 1939: Hitler Postpones Invasion of Poland
August 27, 1939: First Jet Flight
August 31, 1939: The Gleiwitz Operation

2019

Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering lead the procession at the "reburial ceremony" at Carinhall, 20 June 1934.

German Government: Hermann Goering stages an elaborate re-burial ceremony at his hunting villa, Carinhall, for his first wife Carin, who had died several years previously. Carin had been "the life of the party" and everyone had loved her, but the extreme poverty of the 1920s had caused her to contract tuberculosis. Hitler attends the Gothic ceremony, but he has other things on his mind. Afterward, Goering and Hitler confer about Ernst Röhm, who somewhat unwisely chose not to attend (or, worse for him, perhaps had not been invited). Goering is adamant that the time has come to do something about Röhm. A sense of urgency is imparted that day when a shot is fired at Hitler but hits Heinrich Himmler instead, lightly wounding him. The shooter allegedly is a SA escort.

The SA, known popularly as the "Brownshirts," had been instrumental in Hitler's rise to power and now numbered some 4 million men. The top leaders of the Third Reich believe that Röhm has become a bit too powerful and ambitious for his own good; Hitler reluctantly agrees, and if there is one thing that Hitler cannot abide within his own organization, it is politically ambitious competitors. Hitler orders planning to commence, though he is not yet sure of the exact timing.

Goering, Heinrich Himmler, Hitler and perhaps Goebbels and a few others draw up their own "hit lists" for the appointed day. The operation will happen when Hitler is in full public view and the SA is on holiday and thus defenseless. Basically, each of Hitler's cronies gets to chip in a few intended victims, and it is unclear if there even is one single master list.

Goering is a key driver behind the Night of the Long Knives plan. Those who now, looking back, only see Goering as a figure of ridicule during the war due to his girth and eccentric habits (already on display at the funeral, with his gaudy decorations) miss key points about him. Goering exudes steeliness and utter ruthlessness during crises that Hitler admires. This is what has made Goering the No. 2 man in the Reich and will keep him there until the end. For this operation, Hitler creates a formula that he will use repeatedly throughout the '30s: Goering to run things, and Himmler to craft and implement the dirty tricks.

The remains of Carin will be completely forgotten after Goering has his villa blown up to keep it from the advancing Russians in 1945. Stunned visitors in 2013 will find the urn just laying where it had been interred in 1934, after which the remains will be returned to Carin's Swedish relatives.


2019

Wednesday 27 September 1939

September 27, 1939: Polish troops in Warsaw.

German Military Operations: The Polish government in Warsaw concludes a cease-fire agreement with the Germans surrounding the city. All fighting ends as the two sides negotiate capitulation terms.

German High Command: With the lightning campaign in Poland concluded, and given the collaboration of the Soviet Union, Hitler decides that it is time to plan the Wehrmacht's next step. He tells his three service commanders (Hermann Goering of the Luftwaffe, Admiral Raeder of the Kriegsmarine, and General von Brauchistsch of the Heer) that it is his "unalterable will" that the army quickly invades France. His plan is to bypass the French Maginot Line along the German border by violating the neutrality of the low countries with the forces at hand. The invasion is to take place within weeks, with an initial start date of 15 October 1939.

The plan later acquires the operational code "Fall Gelb" (Plan Yellow). The enterprise is extremely sketchy and will require elaborate planning and study. The service chiefs are both pessimistic and offended, as the tradition of the German state heretofore has been for the head of state to assign an objective and the General Staff to fill in all of the details, including timing and strategy. OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder tells his boss, Walther von Brauchitsch, that he will resign in protest, but the latter talks him out of it. The military experts are fully aware of the thin breadth of the Wehrmacht, which only has been re-arming for about five years and requires more arms and training to reach full effectiveness. Hitler, though, is a gambler and feels that the Generals are "cowards." Their caution reinforces his growing dislike bordering on hatred of the Generals as a class.

This is the first instance of Hitler unilaterally deciding on extremely risky military ventures or strategy on his own initiative. It will become a standard occurrence. Sometimes the ventures will work out well, other times they will be disastrous. Fall Gelb will remain at the top of the priority list throughout the autumn.

Hitler confers with Keitel, Halder and von Brauchitsch, here on the occasion of the last's 60th birthday in 1941.

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

Friday 1 September 1939

Old German battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein opens fire on the morning of 1 September 1939.

Preliminary Fact: The previous night, the Germans had implemented "Operation Himmler." This involved the staging of "provocations" along the German/Polish border, most famously at the radio station at Gleiwitz. Hitler has used this operation to build a propaganda "justification" for an invasion of Poland.

Germany, Air Operations: Case White, the invasion of Poland, begins. At 4:40 a.m., the Luftwaffe attacks the Polish town of Wieluń, causing extensive damage and killing an estimated 1200 civilians and soldiers. Later, air attacks commence against Kraków, Łódź, and Warsaw.

Operation Wasserkante, the air attack on Warsaw, is composed of four bomber groups but is hampered by poor weather. In addition, PZL P.11 fighters of the Pursuit Brigade shot down 16 German aircraft for the loss of 10 of their own. While a major Polish success, the Germans can sustain their losses, the Poles cannot.
Germany, Naval Operations:  SMS Schleswig-Holstein, a pre-dreadnought laid down in 1905 which had participated in the Battle of Jutland, opens fire at about 4:45 a.m. The target is a Polish ammunition depot at Westerplatte by the Port of Danzig. Many consider this the first "official" shot of the war, though an entire war machine was on the move at the time and indications are that other forces were in play before this action. Choosing this as the start was more due to the convenience of cameras being present that recorded the action than reality. The salvo initiates a ground attack on the depot that is initially unsuccessful.

In London, September 1st, 1939. Three  Kennedys - Joe Junior, Kathleen, and Jack - hurry to attend a special sitting of the British House of Commons. Their father, Joe, is the Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

Germany, Army Operations: Shortly before 5 a.m., German forces move across the frontier. The main attack, though, does not begin until 8 a.m., when the Wehrmacht attacks Mokra. Three pincers aim at Warsaw from East Prussia in the north, Slovakia (a German ally) in the south, and straight east from Germany proper.

The primary forces (53 Divisions) entering Poland under Army (Heer) Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch:

• Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) (Fedor von Bock);
• Heeresgrupped Sud (Army Group South) (Karl Rudolf von Rundstedt);

The individual armies are:

• 3rd Army (Georg von Küchler)
• 4th Army (Günther von Kluge)
• 8th Army (Johannes Blaskowitz)
• 10th Army (Walter von Reichenau)
• 14th Army (Wilhelm von List).

There are two Luftwaffe forces corresponding to the Army Groups and giving them dedicated support (one for each):

• Loftflotte 1 (Albert Kesselring);
• Luftflotte 4 (Alexander Löhr);

Poland, Army Operations: Polish forces successfully defend against an opening attack on the strategic Dirschau Bridge designed to capture it intact. Elsewhere, though, resistance is light.

Germany, Diplomacy: Chancellor Adolf Hitler announces the invasion to the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House (the Reichstag building having been burned in the 27 February 1933 Reichstag Fire). Hitler states that the hostilities are a defensive action. He further states, "If anything should befall me in this struggle, then my successor shall be party-member Goering." He does not ask for a declaration of war, but nobody is left in any doubt that war has commenced.

Hitler holds out hope, encouraged by German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, that Britain and France will not intervene. Unofficial/amateur Swedish diplomat Birger Dahlerus, at the behest of Hermann Goering, phones the permanent undersecretary of the British Foreign Office in London, Sir Alexander Cadogan early in the morning. He wants to broker some kind of understanding. Cadogan tells him that no talks are possible unless and until Germany withdraws from Poland. Around noon, Dahlerus goes to the British embassy in Berlin with the same proposal and is told the same thing.

Germany, Home Front: In sharp contrast to August 1914, when there were wild celebrations upon the outbreak of World War I in Germany and Austria-Hungary, there are few if any public demonstrations in Germany. Crews are busy securing various art treasures and buildings against air attack.

Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag on 1 September 1939.

Future History: Lily Tomlin is born on 1 September 1939. She gains fame in the 1960s and thereafter as a television/film/stage comedienne.

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

2020