Friday 22 December 1939

Vasily Chuikov.

Finnish Winter War: The Kremlin is becoming increasingly agitated about the lack of Soviet successes in Finland. On 22 December 1939, they remove the commander of the Ninth Army, Dukhanov, and on 22 December 1939 bring in one of the successful and most hard-bitten commanders from Poland, Vasily Chuikov. For what was supposed to be a mere formality, the invasion of Finland is turning into a real dogfight.

Chuikov is a brutal but effective commander. Some of his troops committed war crimes in Poland while he was in command of the 4th Army, but he is a keen strategist and is adept at recovering from bad situations. He and his staff immediately start trying to figure out what is going wrong at Suomussalmi and the other flashpoints that have held up the advance.

He quickly realizes that the vaunted 44th Rifle Division, strung out along the Ratte road and essentially surrounded, was incapable of breaking out on its own. He sends a message to the Stavka that the division, highly regarded, "adjusts to the local conditions very badly." His requests for troops to relieve this relief force, however, are denied.

Finland is becoming the graveyard of not only the graveyard of Soviet soldiers but also of the careers (and ultimately lives) of their Generals. Chuikov's appointment is a sign that things are seriously off the track.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviets give up their attacks on Summa, handing the Finns a major defensive victory.

At Ägläjärvi, Group Telvela destroys the Soviet 139th Rifle Division. It also sends the Soviet 75th Infantry Division reeling. The remaining Soviets head back for the border. The Soviets lost over 1,000 dead, 20 tanks, 60 machine guns and the guns of two artillery batteries. The Finns lose over 100 dead and 250 wounded. This effectively ends the battle in this area.

Despite Chuikov's appointment, Soviet 44th Rifle Division on the Ratte road continues to say that it is unable to break through the Finnish roadblock formed by Group Kontula. Thus, it cannot relieve the 163rd Rifle Division.

Soviet 17th Railway Artillery Battalion is attached to the 7th Army and bombards Viipuri.

Winter War Air Operations: The Soviets again raid Helsinki. The attacks are small, this time with only three bombers, and do not cause much damage.

Battle of the Atlantic: British freighter Gryfevale is damaged by a mine off Tyne Pier in the North Sea.

US destroyers are keeping watch on British ships around Florida.  British light cruiser HMS Orion is still roaming around and is currently off Port Everglades.

Convoy OA 58 departs from Scotland and OB 58 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: There is a major dogfight over the Western Front. Two Hurricanes and one Bf 109 go down.

Soviet Air Force: First flight of the Petlyakov Pe-2 light bomber and ground attack plane.

France: Premier Daladier announces that the Maginot Line has been strengthened and extended in northern France and in the Jura Mountains.

Great Britain: The British Ministry of Economic Warfare announces that all told since the beginning of the war, the government has seized 870,000 tons of contraband.

India: Many Indian Muslims are upset about not being consulted about the country's support of Great Britain in the war. Members of the Indian National Congress resign from the government in protest. They call this the "Day of Deliverance."

China: The Japanese are counterattacking as the Chinese attacks wind down. The IJA attacks the Chinese 5th War Area near Wangwutai and Lochiatang and manages to clear road from Wangwutai to Taopaowan. The Japanese 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade attacks the Chinese 8th War Area, relieving a garrison trapped at Paotou.

American Homefront: "Gulliver's Travels" is released.

Loading torpedoes on a U-boat at Wilhelmshaven, 22 December 1939.

December 14, 1939: Quisling Meets Hitler
December 15, 1939: Chinese Winter Offensive in High Gear
December 16, 1939: Battle of Summa
December 17, 1939: End of Admiral Graf Spee
December 18, 1939: Battle of Heligoland Bight
December 19, 1939: British Disarm Magnetic Mines
December 20, 1939: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
December 21, 1939: Finns Plan More Counterattacks
December 22, 1939: Enter Chuikov
December 23, 1939: Failed Finnish Counterattack
December 24, 1939: Soviets on the Run
December 25, 1939: Fresh Soviet Attacks
December 26, 1939: Vicious Battles at Kelja
December 27, 1939: Grinding Finnish Victories
December 28, 1939: Liberators
December 29, 1939: Finns Tighten the Noose
December 30, 1939: Finnish Booty
December 31, 1939: Planning More Soviet Destruction

2019

Sunday 22 October 1939

The view from the Admiral Graf Spee as the Trevanion sinks.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiral Graf Spee captures the 5,299-ton British freighter Trevanion, disembarks the crew, and sinks it on 22 October 1939.

The British vessel Whitemantle is sunk by a mine in the North Sea.

German vessel Poseidon is scuttled to avoid capture by the RN armed merchant cruisers Transylvania and Scotstoun.

Convoy HG 4 departs from Gibraltar for the UK.

Western Front: The ground is too muddy from the recent rains for operations. There are sporadic artillery exchanges.

Poland: The Soviets conduct "elections" in their occupied territory, which they have divided into "West Ukraine" and "West White Russia" (technically, the elections are to "the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus."

European Air Operations: A Luftwaffe intruder is shot down over Southeast Scotland.

German Propaganda: Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels makes a radio address and calls Winston Churchill a liar. He accuses the British of deliberately sinking the SS Athenia in order to provoke the United States against the Germans. In his version of events, the Athenia was sunk by British destroyers and also was intended to be outfitted as a raider (which are somewhat contradictory arguments).

Goebbels knows this is not what happened and that U-30 sank the Athenia. The captain of the U-boat has told him the exact sequence of events and shown his superiors the U-boat log proving it (which was quickly suppressed). Goebbels chooses to continue the false narrative for propaganda purposes anyway, knowing that the British cannot disprove the lie and making their denials sound suspicious simply because they are unprovable and sound reflexive. The Kriegsmarine, in particular, Admiral Doenitz, is put out by these blatant falsehoods (or so they later claim), but nobody does anything to correct the story until after the war when Admiral Raeder finally sets the record straight.

The French detain the US freighters Endicott and West Gambio. Carbon black and copper are removed from them as contraband.

USSR Military: General Boldin is appointed to the prestigious position of the Odessa Military District.

Estonia: Soviet destroyer Minks and seven Soviet submarines arrive in Tallinn to establish a base pursuant to the recent basing agreement between Estonia and the USSR.

Latvia: The Soviet cruiser Kirov makes port at Riga.

Turkey: General Wavell and General Weygand leave Turkey, their work completed with the signing of the Anglo-French-Turkish Treaty of Mutual Assistance.

India: The Congress Party condemns the British and refuses to support the Allied war effort.

American Homefront: Given the technical success of the recent college football game that it broadcast, NBC televises the first professional football game. It is available to roughly 500 viewers with television sets in the metropolitan New York area. Visitors to the New York World's Fair also can watch on monitors (the Philadephia Eagles beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 23-14).

Friday, October 22, 1939: Mother and Children on the Road. Texas tenant farmers displaced by power farming. Part of a photo-series on the Great Depression by Dorothea Lange.

October 1939

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

2019