Showing posts with label Johann Georg Elser. Show all posts

Saturday, April 30, 2016

November 23, 1939: HMS Rawalpindi Sunk

Thursday 23 November 1939

23 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com magnetic mine

The famous mine defused and examined by the British.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British maintain constant patrols over the two entry points west of Iceland to the shipping lanes to the south. This enables them to seize German blockade runners. However, sometimes it turns out differently.

On 23 November 1939, The German pocket battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau blast through the Iceland-Faroes passage with guns blazing to make it into the North Atlantic. They come upon the British armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi on patrol there - it is one of only two good routes that German vessels have to break out into the shipping lanes - and Scharnhorst blows it up.

Captain EC Kennedy.

60-year-old Edward Coverley "Bulldog" Kennedy of Rawalpindi:

"We’ll fight them both, they’ll sink us, and that will be that. Good-bye."

Captain Coverley Kennedy RN RIP manages to get his position off to the Admiralty in the 40 minutes remaining to him. On the Rawalpindi, 230-283 men perish (estimates vary). The Captain is remembered on a wooden panel in Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace and on an altar rail at All Saints Church, Farringdon. This is the type of man that protected England.

The Germans rescue 37 British sailors, and another British ship that comes along later, the HMS Chitral, another 11. The only positive outcome of the event from the Admiralty's point of view is that Captain Kennedy had time to report their position.

U-33 (Kapitänleutnant Hans-Wilhelm von Dresky) torpedoes 3,670-ton German freighter Borkum. The torpedo kills four of the original German sailors. It had been captured by the armed merchant cruiser HMS California in the Denmark Strait and a prize crew installed. The ship is abandoned and presumed unseaworthy, but the wreck stays afloat until it drifts ashore.

British vessel Hookwood hits a mine and sinks.

The German freighter Antiochia is scuttled by its crew to avoid being captured by Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser Laurentic off Iceland.

German liner Watussi leaves Mozambique. It is believed to be a supply ship for German raiders.

The British release freighter Express from detention at Malta.

William E. Chapman, the US Consul at Gibraltar, refuses to agree to fulfill an agreement regarding the US freighter Nishmaha, whereby it would proceed to Marseilles to unload cargo deemed contraband.

British Lieutenant Commander Ouvry and CPO Charles Baldwin defuse the 7-foot long German magnetic mine recovered intact using specially designed non-magnetic brass tools. Everyone involved will receive medals from King George VI, the first such decorations awarded to the Royal Navy during the conflict.

23 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com HMS Rawalpindi

HMS Rawalpindi, sunk on 23 November 1939.

British Homefront: Bacon and butter are rationed.

Anglo/Dutch Relations: The Dutch government files a protest against the British and French blockade.

German Government: His megalomania mounting, Hitler addresses his Generals and states in essence that the German people are unworthy of his greatness. "I shall attack France and England at the earliest moment. My decision is unchangeable."

Johann Georg Elser.

German Opposition: Rumors continue to escalate about the number of dead killed by the SS to stop the student uprising in the Reich's Bohemia and Moravia province. Some say as many as 1700 have been killed.

Johann Georg Elser, the assumed bomber of the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, has been subjected to five days of torture in Berlin. His family also has been detained there. While the confession does not survive, the interrogation report prepared on this date does. In it, Elser is said to have stated that he acted alone. Investigator Arthur Nebe, who led the investigation by Hitler's express order, later states that Elser's motives were that Hitler's rule meant only war, and without Hitler, there would be peace.

Holocaust: Dr. Hans Frank, Gauleiter of occupied Poland, expands upon decisions already taken by individual municipalities such as Lodz and orders that all Jews over the age of 10 are to wear armbands identifying them as Jews. For the moment, this requirement is confined to the Government General of Poland only, and not those areas annexed to the Reich or anywhere else.

German Homefront: Food rationing for pets.

China: As part of the Battle of South Kwangsi, the 5th Infantry Division and the Taiwan Brigade cross the Yung River and capture Szetang.

American Homefront: President Roosevelt has moved the date of Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November - today - rather than the last Friday. This usually is the same thing, but not this year - there are five Thursdays in November 1939. This does not sit well with everyone, and roughly half the country celebrates Thanksgiving today and other half in a week, on November 30. The decision has nothing to do with the war situation, but is strictly economic in nature - retailers claim that holiday sales will increase with a longer period of time before Christmas.

Bowing to the President's wishes, the six-mile-long Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade proceeds today and is televised locally by NBC for the first time. Other firsts in this parade are a balloon of Superman - then only a year old - and the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz," which was still playing in theaters.

November 1939

November 1, 1939: The Jet Flies Again
November 2, 1939: The Soviets Devour Poland
November 3, 1939: Amending the Neutrality Act
November 4, 1939: Roosevelt Signs Neutrality Laws
November 5, 1939: The Spirit of Zossen
November 6, 1939: First Dogfight
November 7, 1939: More Lies About SS Athenia
November 8, 1939: Hitler Almost Killed
November 9, 1939: The Venlo Incident
November 10, 1939: Dutch Panic
November 11, 1939: Poignant Armistice Day
November 12, 1939: Peace Efforts Made and Rejected
November 13, 1939: First Bombing of Great Britain
November 14, 1939: The Dyle Plan
November 15, 1939: Elser Confesses to the Bürgerbräukeller Bombing
November 16, 1939: Martial Law in Prague
November 17, 1939: International Students Day
November 18, 1939: Magnetic Mines
November 19, 1939: Walls Around the Warsaw Ghetto
November 20, 1939: First RN Submarine Victory
November 21, 1939: Salmon & Gluckstein on the Prowl
November 22, 1939: British Recover A Magnetic Mine
November 23, 1939: HMS Rawalpindi Sunk
November 24, 1939: Japanese Enter Nanning
November 25, 1939: The Olympics are a War Casualty
November 26, 1939: Soviets Stage an "Incident" at Mainila
November 27, 1939: German Marriage Becomes Perilous
November 28, 1939: Judenrats in Poland
November 29, 1939: The Soviets Prepare to Invade Finland
November 30, 1939: Winter War Begins

2019

Friday, April 29, 2016

November 15, 1939: Elser Confesses to the Bürgerbräukeller Bombing

Wednesday 15 November 1939

15 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Admiral Graf Spee

Admiral Graf Spee's launch takes the crew of the African Star off before sinking it.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiral Graf Spee sinks British tanker Africa Shell 6 miles off Madagascar on 15 November 1939. The crew is disembarked and sunk by shellfire. The kill ends an unexpectedly lean two weeks because Australian freighters have been held up due to a late wool-clipping season. Once again, no lives are lost on the ships preyed upon by Admiral Graf Spee, a very unusual record.

British freighter Woodtown sunk by a mine.

Italy launches the battleship Impero.

Germany renames the convoy raider Deutschland to Lützow. The reason is that the Kriegsmarine believes it would be damaging to national morale if a ship with the name of the country were to be sunk. Deutschland/Lützow so far has had an extremely successful career.

German Opposition: Johann Georg Elser signs a full confession of his planting of the 8 November 1939 bomb at the Bürgerbräukeller. He does this after days of beatings and other forms of "interrogation." The confession does not survive the war, though related documents do.

Further turmoil in the Reich provinces of Bohemia and Moravia (former Czechoslovakia) continues. It is related to the funeral of Jan Opletal, a medical student mortally wounded in Prague at the Independence day demonstrations of October 28. Reports of injuries and other casualties vary. There may be summary executions. The Germans do not tolerate very much dissent.

Finland: Dr. Paasikivi is back in Helsinki and blames the Soviets for the failure of negotiations. The Soviet media engages in a strong denunciation of Finland. Stalin orders a huge buildup along the Finnish border.

Poland: The formal incorporation of eastern portions of Poland into Ukrainian SSR is completed.

Peace Talks: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop formally rejects the proposed peace mediation proposed by the Dutch and Belgian crowns. He claims this is because the other side already has made a "blunt rejection" of the proposal.

French Homefront: The workweek is expanded from 40 hours a week to 43 hours.

Australia: The government participates in the Empire Air Training Scheme.

China: A Japanese landing force arrives at the coast of Guangxi at the mouth of the Yuhung River. The Japanese move quickly and complete their conquest of the Chinese coast, taking the port of Pakhoi (just north of Vietnam). Japanese ships also steam up the Yuhung River and land troops which begin the march to Nanning.

Despite some recent setbacks in the interior, along the coast, the Imperial Japanese Army remains supreme and have captured the entire length since beginning in 1937. This success was accomplished by the Japanese 21st Infantry Division and Taiwan Brigade, which landed in southern Kwangsi province on Chinchow Bay. This collectively is known as the Battle of South Guangxi.

Future History: Yaphet Kotto is born in New York City. He becomes famous in the 1970s for films such as "Live and Let Die" (1973) and "Alien" (1979).

The Impero prior to launching at Genoa (Sestri Ponente) on 15 November 1939.

November 1939

November 12, 1939: Peace Efforts Made and Rejected

Sunday 12 November 1939

12 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Admiral Byrd snow cruiser

Admiral Byrd's snow cruiser snarls traffic in Massachusetts, 12 November 1939.

Western Front: Unintentionally furthering the appearance of a "Phoney War," on 12 November 1939 there is a concert staged by ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) for British and French troops in France, starring Maurice Chevalier and Gracie Fields.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-41 (Kapitänleutnant Gustav-Adolf Mugler) torpedoes 11,019-ton Norwegian tanker Arne Kjøde near the Outer Hebrides. Five men die and 34 survive. It also torpedoes (after disembarking the crew) and sinks 275-ton British freighter Cresswell. Six men die and seven live on the Cresswell. These are vessels flying under neutral flags, but that is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Survivors of the Cresswell reportedly are sheltered by the attacking U-boat for six hours. The seven survivors later are picked up by another trawler.

British vessels Carmarthen Coast and King Egbert are sunk by mines.

German vessels Mecklenburgh and Parana are scuttled to avoid capture by the Royal Navy.

The Home Fleet escorts a British iron ore fleet from Narvik.

Convoys OA 34 and OB 34 depart from Southend and Liverpool, respectively.

U-37 (an identical U-boat to U-41) at Lorient in 1940.

Peace Efforts: King Carol of Romania offers to mediate between the two sides. King George and French President Lebrun offer muted words in response to the recent Dutch/Belgian peace initiative. The initiatives all get quickly shot down.

The peace initiatives from continental powers are not being taken well by the British and French because of the sneaking suspicion that they are acting in favor of Hitler.

Allied Relations: The Dutch and Belgian foreign ministers meet at Breda.

Finnish/Soviet Relations: The Soviets issue a statement expressing dissatisfaction with the current status of negotiations.

British Propaganda: First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill broadcasts a speech summing up the conflict to date, stating, “If words could kill, we should be dead already.”

German Opposition: There are said to be thousands of people arrested in the continuing Munich Bürgerbräukeller bomb explosion. Those detained include the usual victims of the Germans - such as Jews - but also people who have very tangential relationships to the affair. For instance, Munich locksmith Max Niederholer, who sold an item used in the bomb to the prime suspect, Johann Georg Elser, is being subjected to imprisonment and beatings. Elser's home town of Königsbronn becomes known by the Gestapo as "Assassinville" and is treated as an outlaw city. The net is being cast wide.

American Homefront: Admiral Byrd continues his demonstration drive of his Snow Cruiser with unintended results. At Framingham, Massachusetts, on November 12, 1939 traffic is snarled for 20 miles in a jam that involved 70,000 automobiles, as the curious flock for a glimpse of the gigantic Snow Cruiser. It is the ultimate rubbernecking attraction.

"Winged Victory of Samothrace" being removed for protection from the Louvre, as seen in the 12 November 1939 New York Times.

November 1939

November 11, 1939: Poignant Armistice Day

Saturday 11 November 1939

November 11 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka

The Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka: BEFORE (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

Western Front: On November 11, 3939 the BEF holds Armistice Day memorials on the 21st anniversary of the end of World War I (still known as the Great War). It is an especially poignant ceremony - really, the most vivid celebration of the World War I event for all time, due to later events which will create new, more recent things to memorialize - because the same forces are occupying the same battlefields.

An interesting aspect of this particular Armistice Day is that the British government moves the two-minute period of silence to Sunday in order not to disrupt war production. This sets a precedent that is maintained, making Remembrance Days always fall on the closest Sundays.

Otherwise, activity on the Front is right. The day does not quite hold the same meaning to the Wehrmacht forces.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British detain US freighter Nishmaha at Gibraltar and the Yaka at the Downs. They release the freighter Scanpenn.

Convoy HG 8 departs from Port Said, and OG 6 forms at Gibraltar.

Anglo/French Relations: King George and the French President exchange Armistice Day messages.

Anglo/Finnish Relations: The British sign an agreement to charter much of the Finnish merchant fleet.

British Government: Queen Wilhelmina broadcasts a message to the women of the Commonwealth from Buckingham Palace. Women "have real and vital work to do" as they are "keeping the Home Front, which will have dangers of its own, stable and strong."

European Air Operations: The RAF completes reconnaissance missions over southwest German cities such as Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Nuremberg. One aircraft is lost. The Luftwaffe did the same over northwest France and loses one aircraft over Dunkirk.

German Propaganda: The German Foreign Ministry assures the low countries that their neutrality will be respected.

French Military: There are two main theories as to how tanks should be integrated into the armed forces: in discrete tank units, or as solo operatives supporting the infantry. French Colonel Charles De Gaulle advocates that French tanks are put together in armored divisions, as advocated by General Guderian. That appears to have worked well in Poland for the Wehrmacht, who have separate panzer divisions. The French general staff takes the other view.

German Opposition: Johann Georg Elser, the prime suspect for planting the bomb at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, is subjected to daily beatings at the Munich Gestapo headquarters. Witnesses say he is virtually unable to communicate. The Gestapo, led by Hitler's choice Arthur Nebe, head of Kripo (Criminal Police), also is pursuing ordinary police work, such as identifying where various parts of the bomb were purchased.

Hitler appears briefly in Munich at the funerals of the victims of the bombing. Rudolf Hess delivers the eulogy. Hitler leaves without speaking.

British Homefront: Very few white poppies - a symbol of pacificism - are sold for Armistice Days, unlike in previous years.

November 11 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com International Car Show New York City

The International Car Show in York.

American Homefront: The International Car Show opens in York City. It is the first one televised for the few people who own (tiny) television sets.

Holocaust: The Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka takes place:

On November 11, 1939, 364 Jews (men, women, and children) were executed by a firing squad in the town of Ostrow Mazowiecki, allegedly for setting fire to the town. The execution was carried out by the Fourth Police Battalion commanded by Police Colonel Brenner.

Future History: World War II had a big impact on Armistice Day not only in Great Britain but in the US. As of 11 November 1939, Armistice Day had only been a federal holiday in the US for a year. An Act of Congress approved May 13, 1938, had made November 11 a legal Federal holiday.

In 1954, Congress amended the 1938 act to make the November 11th Armistice Day holiday "Veteran's Day" so as to honor veterans of both world wars and other conflicts, not just World War I. President Eisenhower signed the legislation. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which made the federal holiday fall on the closest Monday to the 11th - thus finally conforming with the British decision resulting from 1939 celebration to set a particular day of the weekend as the official celebration, as opposed to the 11th day of November.

The Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka: AFTER (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

November 1939

Thursday, April 28, 2016

November 9, 1939: The Venlo Incident

Sunday 9 November 1939

Heinrich Himmler and fellow officers (including Reinhard Heydrich and Gestapo Müller (the two on the right)) during the investigation of the Bürgerbräukeller in November 1939 (Federal Archive).

German Opposition: On 9 November 1939, Johann Georg Elser is being held at Munich Gestapo Headquarters, one of many suspects of the 8 November 1939 bombing of the Bürgerbräukeller. At some point, he is identified by a waitress, Maria Strobl, as an odd patron who only drank one beer during his visits. Another witness, a storekeeper, identifies Elser as the man to whom he sold a a 'soundproofing insulation plate' to deaden the sound of ticking clocks. The head of the Vienna Gestapo, Franz Josef Huber, comes in and asks to see Elser's knees: they are bruised from his work in tight spaces planting the bomb. During the interrogation, Elser is savagely and repeatedly beaten. Heinrich Himmler himself, who could have been killed by the bomb, participates.

There is a sense of outrage throughout the German apparatus that is genuine and destructive. For instance, on this day, SS guards at Buchenwald Concentration Camp march 21 Jewish inmates out to a wall and shoot them in retaliation. Food rations for the entire camp are suspended for three days.

German Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels has the propaganda apparatus blame Great Britain for the Bürgerbräukeller explosion.

Battle of the Atlantic: The 961-ton British freighter Carmarthen Coast strikes a mine and sinks near Seaham Harbour. Two perish.

U-34 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Rollmann) stops Norwegian freighter Snar off southern Norway, then seizes it due to "contraband" (pulpwood). U-34 also searches Danish ship N.J. Ohsen and Norwegian ship Gimle, but allows them to proceed.

The Royal Navy destroyer Isis captures German vessel Leander off Cape Finisterre and starts bringing it to Scotland.

U-26, one of three U-boats previously ordered to enter the Mediterranean passes through the heavily guarded Straits of Gibraltar.

Spies: The Gestapo arrests/kidnaps two British spies (MI6), Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best. The MI6 agents are attempting to contact the German opposition at the Dutch border town of Venlo. They have been meeting with a "Major Schaemmle," who in reality is loyal Gestapo officer Walther Schellenberg. Schellenberg has been "playing" them. Himmler ordered them to be abducted from just across the border as part of his investigation of the Bürgerbräukeller plot, as their information may help identify the culprits. A neutral observer at the meetings, Lieutenant Dirk Klop, is killed during the abduction.

The Venlo Incident undermines MI6 operations throughout Greater Germany. The captured officers have lists of British agents and provide other useful information. While they could be shot on sight under the rules of war, the two British secret agents are imprisoned instead.

Finland: The Finnish emissaries, Paasikivi and Tanner, rescind their government's offer to yield the Gulf of Finland islands in a meeting with Stalin and Molotov. Stalin is incredulous and asks, "Nothing doing?" Molotov tries to buy the Hanko Peninsula, and the Finns refuse. The Finns pack their bags and leave. Negotiations are over.

South Africa: A German plot to march on Johannesburg and Pretoria and sabotage vital industries is alleged.

Poland: Odilo Globocnik appointed SS and police leader in the Lublin district, the intended capital of the Jewish state.

Łódź is officially annexed to the Reich, becoming its tenth largest city. It is renamed to Litzmannstadt in honor of a German General of World War I.

Walter Schellenberg, the architect of the Venlo Incident.

November 1939

November 8, 1939: Hitler Almost Killed

Wednesday 8 November 1939

8 November 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Hitler Bürgerbräukeller Munich

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.

World War Two Daily

Pages

Saturday, April 30, 2016

November 23, 1939: HMS Rawalpindi Sunk

Thursday 23 November 1939

November 1939

Friday, April 29, 2016

November 15, 1939: Elser Confesses to the Bürgerbräukeller Bombing

Wednesday 15 November 1939

November 1939

November 12, 1939: Peace Efforts Made and Rejected

Sunday 12 November 1939

November 1939

November 11, 1939: Poignant Armistice Day

Saturday 11 November 1939

November 1939

Thursday, April 28, 2016

November 9, 1939: The Venlo Incident

Sunday 9 November 1939

November 1939

November 8, 1939: Hitler Almost Killed

Wednesday 8 November 1939

November 1939