Tuesday 14 January 1941

"Free French sailors help salvage belongings and clear up amid the wreckage of a blitzed building in Portsmouth on 14 January 1941." © IWM (HU 55590).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Greeks continue to consolidate their hold on Klisura Pass on 14 January 1941. The Italian Toscana Division is partially surrounded and the remainder scattered.

General Archibald Wavell, British Middle East Commander, is in Athens to visit with Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and Commander-in-chief Papagos. The Greeks tell Wavell that they only have four divisions on the Bulgarian front (Yugoslavia is not on anyone's mind at this time) versus 13 in Albania. Already, the Greeks are heavily outnumbered by the German forces assembling in Romania and Bulgaria. Papagos and Metaxas request 9 British divisions for the defense of Greece, along with air support. Wavell hesitantly promises two or three divisions, though it would take time to transfer them. Papagos says that is not enough troops to make a difference and basically tells Wavell to not even bother then, since posting insufficient British troops would only invite a German invasion.

Mussolini, meanwhile, continues his visit to Albania to confer with his generals about stopping the Greeks. After it is over, he will head to Berchtesgaden to confer with Hitler.

European Air Operations: There is very little activity during the day or night. Electrical power is restored in Plymouth, bombed heavily in recent days, but gas remains off and will for some time.

"Polish pilots serving with No. 607 Squadron RAF studying maps on the back wing of a Hurricane as part of their training at RAF Usworth, 14 January 1941. One of the identified airmen is Pilot Officer Mirosław Orzechowski (fourth from the left)." © IWM (HU 92830).

Battle of the Atlantic: German raider Pinguin has been stalking the Norwegian whaling fleet (under British charter) in the South Atlantic (near Antarctica) since mid-December 1940. The whaling ships have been gaily chatting over the radio with each other, completely oblivious to any need for security or the dangers lurking so far from home. Captain Ernst-Felix Krüder has the luxury of timing his approach for a moment of maximum vulnerability, and today is such a day: the whaling ships are tied together transferring oil. Pinguin simply sails alongside them and sends over a couple of prize crews - no muss, no fuss.

The whole event is over within 45 minutes without a shot fired or a single radio signal sent. Krüder tells the Norwegian crew that nothing, really, has changed; they should continue with their work, only, instead of the British paying them for their wares, the Reich will. Pinguin then sails off to find capture a factory ship nearby and associated vessels. All told, Pinguin rounds up 36,000 tons of shipping, 20,000 tons of whale oil, and 10,000 tons of fuel oil. The ships seized include:

• 12,201-ton oil refinery Ole Wegger
• 12,246-ton oil refinery Solglimt
• 298-ton whaling boat Pol VIII
• 354-ton whaling boat Pol IX
• 247-ton whaling boat Torlyn
• 297-ton whaling boat Globe VIII
• 338-ton whaling boat Pol VII
• 249-ton whaling boat Thorarinn

With the Norwegian ships secured, Captain Krüder then runs hard for five days halfway to the Sandwich Islands, at the end of which he has his radio operator send a long message which Krüder knows will fix his location through triangulation. He then returns to the Norwegian fleet, having succeeded in misleading any pursuers. Compare this with a different decision made by Admiral Günther Lütjens in May 1941 aboard the Bismarck and you see the difference between a clever man... and a dead one.

Royal Navy auxiliary cruiser Eumaeus, sunk on 14 January 1941.

Elsewhere, Italian submarine Cappellini engages in a two-hour gun duel with 7472-ton British auxiliary cruiser and freighter/passenger ship Eumaeus off Freetown, finally sinking it. Responding to distress calls, seaplane carrier HMS Albatross launches a Supermarine Walrus, which drops life rafts and attacks the Cappellini. The Cappellini survives but is damaged. There are 27 deaths and 63 survivors on the Eumaeus.

German 280-ton pilot ship Borkum runs aground and is lost at Hubert Gat in the North Sea (near Emden).

Danish Emilie Mærsk runs aground and is lost off Borkum in the North Sea. The crew survives. This is one of a series of sinkings of Mærsk ships during the war.

Buitenzorg, lost on 14 January 1941.

Dutch 7073-ton freighter Buitenzorg runs aground at the Sound of Mull, Inner Hebrides and is wrecked.

Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Fitzroy hits a mine and is damaged in the North Sea. It makes it back to Harwich, where it is beached, and then Sheerness for repairs.

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Adventure lays minefield ZME 15 in St. Georges Channel.

Convoy FN 383 departs from Southend, Convoy FN 384 is held back, Convoy AN 12 departs from Port Said for Piraeus, Convoy AS 11 departs from Piraeus.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Torbay (Lt. Commander Anthony Cecil C. Miers) and minesweeping trawler HMS MacBeth (Lt. Reginald M. Thorne) are commissioned.

Corvette HMS Jasmine and destroyer HMS Oribi are launched, while destroyer HMS Onslaught is laid down.

A British soldier and a Canadian sailor exchange pleasantries, 14 January 1941 (AP Photo).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British continue to reinforce Malta. Light cruisers HMS Orion and HMAS Perth land troops there. Perth is laid up at Grand Harbor for a few days with machinery issues.

The RAF attacks Benghazi and Assab in Italian Eritrea.

German/Soviet Relations: The Soviet Union and Germany sign new trade agreements covering items such as grain.

German/Romanian Relations: Having met with King Boris of Bulgaria yesterday, Hitler today meets with Romanian Conducător Ion Antonescu in Berchtesgaden. Hitler backs Antonescu against the Iron Guard, which is fascist but unsupportive of Antonescu. Antonescu indicates that he would be supportive of Operation Barbarossa if he can eliminate the Iron Guard, which thus becomes a sort of quid pro quo, and together they discuss how to do that.

British Military: Sub-Lt John Bryan Peter Duppa-Miller and Stephen John Tuckwell receive George Crosses for disposing of a mine which fell into a stream feeding Barling Creek.

Danish steamship Emilie Maersk (German controlled), lost on 14 January 1941.

German Military: According to press reports (United Press News Agency), the Germans are in the process of dismantling the Maginot Line and turning the recovered ground into farmland.

Soviet Military: Army General, Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Commissar of Defense Kirill Meretskov - a Hero of the Soviet Union - is abruptly dismissed from his posts without explanation. Stalin later sees him at the Bolshoi, and, in front of others, has this to say to Meretskov:

You are courageous, capable, but without principles, spineless. You want to be nice, but you should have a plan instead and adhere to it strictly, despite the fact that someone or other is going to be resentful.

Stalin will give Meretskov an object lesson on what it means to be "strict" in the Lubyanka after Operation Barbarossa starts. This is another step on a very tortuous and even torturous journey for Meretskov within the upper echelons of the Red Army. His career is by no means over, but Stalin will have his way with him before he restores Meretskov to any commands.

The disagreement appears to be personal (at least at this point), but Stalin has a reputation within the Red Army for acting ruthlessly toward his generals, dismissing them, practically killing them (and sometimes killing them) and then - when all seems lost for them - suddenly re-appointing the survivors to significant posts again. Without over-simplifying it or diminishing matters, Stalin's relationships with his generals at times resembles that of an abusive spouse. Firing them and even torturing them on very flimsy grounds is a challenging managerial technique - at least for subordinates - by which Stalin asserts his dominance and expresses his displeasure with certain characteristics of his generals.

Look Magazine, 14 January 1941.

Propaganda: Former Belgian Justice Minister Victor de Laveleye makes a BBC radio broadcast aimed at occupied Belgium. He proposes that Belgians (and others) use the letter "V" as a symbol of resistance. This letter begins both the French and Flemish words for "Victory." This is the beginning of the use of "V" throughout Occupied Europe as an anti-German code, with "V for Victory" being the intended meaning. This will lead to many covert uses of "V" in occupied areas throughout the war.

China: The Nationalist Chinese 3rd War Area completes the destruction of the encircled portions of the Chinese Communist New 4th Army near Maolin along the Yangtze River.

Holocaust: A deep frost has set in across Europe, which is particularly harmful to inmates at German concentration camps and ghettos such as those at Lodz and Auschwitz. Death tolls spike rapidly during chills due to insufficient food and heat.

German Homefront: With people spending more time in air raid shelters, Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels proposes that conduct there be regulated. He requests that a list of "Ten Commandments of the Air Raid Shelter" be posted in every shelter.

British Homefront: Minister of Food Lord Woolton imposes price controls on 21 food items, including chicken, coffee, cocoa, honey, tinned food, meat paste, rice and pasta, pickles and sauces, jellies and custard, biscuits, nuts, and processed cheese. Speculators have been gouging customers, and chicken prices have risen 50% recently. All prices are pegged to those at the beginning of December 1940. Other price controls are expected.

"Pilot Officer Mirosław Orzechowski, one of the Polish pilots serving with No. 607 Squadron RAF, standing on a wing of a Hurricane at RAF Usworth, 14 January 1941. He was known as "Shrimp" on account of his diminutive stature and treated as the Squadron's mascot." © IWM (HU 128318).

American Homefront: On or about this date, Nicholas B. Schenck, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's parent company, approaches RKO Pictures studio head George J. Schaefer with a proposed offer: drop "Citizen Kane" for cash. Schenck, acting on behalf of Louis B. Mayer and other Hollywood executives, offers Schaefer $805,000 to completely eliminate the film (which roughly is what it has cost to make). The Hollywood bosses are worried about the effect that alienating William Randolph Hearst might have on their own businesses - Hearst lackey Louella Parsons has been threatening them with exposés of their own business practices if they don't lean on Schaefer to drop "Kane." Schaefer does not want to take the deal but tells Schenck that he will talk to his lawyers and figure out what to do then.

Meanwhile, in New York City shortly after noon, two brothers, Anthony and William Esposito, kill a man during a robbery near the Empire State Building and then lead police on a violent chase. During their attempted escape, the brothers also murder a police officer (Edward Maher) and wound a taxi driver (Leonard Weisberg). The Esposito case will become famous for its expansion of the insanity defense (it doesn't work for the Esposito brothers but will for many others in decades to come).

Future History: Dorothy Faye Dunaway is born in Bascom, Florida. She studies acting in college, then begins appearing on Broadway. This leads to film roles, such as Otto Preminger's "Hurry Sundown," for which she is nominated for a Golden Globe. She quickly snags prime acting roles based in part upon this success, including "Bonnie and Clyde," which leads to "The Thomas Crown Affair," and "Little Big Man." Faye Dunaway goes on to win numerous acting awards and remains active in the film business.

Civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph proposes a march on Washington, D.C. to demand jobs in the defense industries for African Americans, which apparently is the first time this has been done.

January 1941

January 1, 1941: Muselier Arrested
January 2, 1941: Camp Categories
January 3, 1941: Liberty Ships
January 4, 1941: Aussies Take Bardia
January 5, 1941: Amy Johnson Perishes
January 6, 1941: Four Freedoms
January 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Plans
January 8, 1941: Billions For Defense
January 9, 1941: Lancasters
January 10, 1941: Malta Convoy Devastation
January 11, 1941: Murzuk Raid
January 12, 1941: Operation Rhubarb
January 13, 1941: Plymouth Blitzed
January 14, 1941: V for Victory
January 15, 1941: Haile Selassie Returns
January 16, 1941: Illustrious Blitz
January 17, 1941: Koh Chang Battle
January 18, 1941: Luftwaffe Pounds Malta
January 19, 1941: East African Campaign Begins
January 20, 1941: Roosevelt 3rd Term
January 21, 1941: Attack on Tobruk
January 22, 1941: Tobruk Falls
January 23, 1941: Pogrom in Bucharest
January 24, 1941: Tank Battle in Libya
January 25, 1941: Panjiayu Tragedy
January 26, 1941: Churchill Working Hard
January 27, 1941: Grew's Warning
January 28, 1941: Ho Chi Minh Returns
January 29, 1941: US Military Parley With Great Britain
January 30, 1941: Derna Taken
January 31, 1941: LRDG Battered

2020

Monday 20 May 1940

One of General Rommel's SdKfz 263 six-wheeled radio armored cars near Arras. A burnt-out SdKfz 231 eight-wheeled Armoured Car is in the background. 20 May 1940.

Western Front: General Guderian's XIX Corps panzers of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions race westward on the morning of 20 May 1940 after having taken a few days to regroup. Amiens falls to 1st Panzer Division at 09:00, Abbeville to 2nd at 17:00 in the evening. A reconnaissance unit of 2d Panzer takes Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme Estuary at 20:00.

General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division also takes off at 01:40. He advances from Cambrai to the outskirts of Arras in six hours. Rommel pauses there to allow the infantry to catch up, as there are BEF forces in the town. He occupies Valenciennes just to the east of Arras. Rommel is performing an invaluable service to the Wehrmacht of protecting Guderian's northern flank.

The two divisions have advanced 240 miles in 11 days and now constitute a block against communications between France and the BEF and French/Belgian forces fighting in Belgium (French 1st Army, 7th Army, and 9th Army and British Expeditionary Force). They sweep aside the British 12th and 23rd (Territorial) divisions. Guderian has a corridor 20-miles wide. The infantry is lagging but on the way.

The Germans also capture Laon, which Brigadier General Charles de Gaulle has been using as a staging area for attacks by his 4th Armoured Division.

The Belgians retreat around Ghent and Eeklo.

The Newly appointed French Commander-in-chief Maxime Weygand cancels a planned counteroffensive planned by his predecessor, Maurice Gamelin. This thrust would have attempted to sever the German spearhead advancing toward the coast by a concentrated attack from the trapped BEF. Weygand then takes time to "assess the situation" (he has been in the Middle East), saying, "You will not be surprised if I cannot answer for victory."

The French have extensive forces along the border with France behind the Maginot Line. These include the 6th Army, 2nd Army, 3rd Army, 4th Army, 5th Army, and 8th Army. So far, they have had little to do as they basically get out-flanked on the north.

French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud meets with US Ambassador Bullitt and requests aid.

A captured Renault D2 tank in the Festё (Festieux) area just south of Laon. May 20, 1940.

European Air Operations: The RAF launches ineffectual attacks against the advancing panzers in the Arras-Cambrai sector. They send 47 planes during the day to attack around Arras, and 92 aircraft during the night.

The RAF launches a night raid on the Rotterdam oil storage tanks.

The RAF bombs German bridges and other communications at Dinant, Givet, and Charleville.

Luftwaffe fighter pilot Max-Hellmuth Ostermann scores his first victory.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British Admiralty begins drawing up plans for a possible evacuation of the BEF. The Admirals are looking at Dunkirk (Dunkerque) as a likely collection point, but there are still other options.

The Luftwaffe sinks British freighter Mavis at Calais and Royal Navy minesweeper Rifnes.

The Kriegsmarine has S-boats operating off the Belgian coast.

Convoy OA 152 departs from Southend, COnvoy OB 152 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HG 31F departs from Gibraltar, and Convoy HX 44 departs from Liverpool.

The British commission Minesweeping trawler HMS Olive (T 126) (G. C. C. Mileham).

Battle of the Pacific: German raider Atlantis has been sailing as the Japanese passenger freighter Kasii Maru. The German intelligence service intercepts a message from Ceylon to the Admiralty warning of a raider disguised as a Japanese ship. The captain of the Atlantis promptly switches the disguise to the Dutch freighter Abbekerk.

German/Romanian Relations: King Carol tells the German ambassador to Romania that it is time the countries worked more closely together.

Norway: The commander of the forces which have evacuated Mo i Rana, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Byrnand Trappes-Lomax, has been retreating too far for the taste of his commanders, General Auchinleck and Colonel Gubbins. Gubbins believes that his retrograde movement has been disorganized, leaving behind units that have become stragglers. Gubbins orders Trappes-Lomax to stop retreating and square up against the German 2d Mountain Division, which is advancing toward Bodo.

The Luftwaffe drops another 16 men at Narvik to help Dietl's troops.

The Luftwaffe catches British ship Pembroke Coast at Harstad and sets it afire.

US Air Force: Igor Sikorsky gives the first public demonstration of the VS-300 helicopter which first flew in August 1939 at Vaught-Sikorsky in Stratford, Connecticut.

US Government: President Roosevelt sends a memorandum to Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles about the recent report from US Ambassador Wilson there about German sympathies within the government. "Is there some way in which the Minister of Uruguay in Washington and Mr. Wilson in Montevideo can get word to the Uruguayan Government that the United States is concerned...?" Welles promptly replies that the Uruguayan government says that it is investigating.

Japanese Government: The Japanese request raw materials from the Netherlands East Indies.

Middle East: British, French and Turkish military representatives hold conferences in Beirut. They discuss possible allied assistance to Turkey.

Holocaust: According to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, this is the day that the SS establishes Auschwitz Camp.

US Homefront: The US Supreme Court decides Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940), a key First Amendment case. It extends free speech protections to the actions of the individual states.

Future History: Stan Mikita is born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic. He becomes famous as a center for the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1960s.

Sadaharu Oh is born in Sumida, Japan. He goes on to hold the world lifetime home run record, earned in the 1960s and 1970s with the Yomiuri Giants in the Nippon Professional League.

Igor Sikorsky preparing to give the public demonstration of his helicopter in Connecticut, 20 May 1940.

May 1940

May 1, 1940: British Leave Åndalsnes
May 2, 1940: British Depart Namsos
May 3, 1940: Many Norwegians Surrendering
May 4, 1940: Bader Returns
May 5, 1940: HMS Seal Survives
May 6, 1940: Allies Focus on Narvik
May 7, 1940: In The Name of God, Go!
May 8, 1940: Exit Chamberlain
May 9, 1940: Enter Churchill
May 10, 1940: Fall Gelb
May 11, 1940: Eben Emael Surrenders
May 12, 1940: Germans at Sedan
May 13, 1940: Rommel at Work
May 14, 1940: German Breakout in France
May 15, 1940: Holland Surrenders
May 16, 1940: Dash to the Channel
May 17, 1940: Germans Take Brussels
May 18, 1940: Germans Take Antwerp
May 19, 1940: Failed French Counterattack
May 20, 1940: Panzers on the Coast
May 21, 1940: Battle of Arras
May 22, 1940: Attacking Channel Ports
May 23, 1940: British Evacuate Boulogne
May 24, 1940: Hitler's Stop Order
May 25, 1940: Belgian Defenses Creaking
May 26, 1940: Operation Dynamo
May 27, 1940: King Leopold Surrenders 
May 28, 1940: The Allies Take Narvik
May 29, 1940: Lille Falls
May 30, 1940: Operation Fish
May 31, 1940: Peak Day for Dynamo

2020

Tuesday 5 March 1940

Polish troops in captivity.

Winter War: Canada on 5 March 1940 promises to send 1000 volunteers to help the Finnish Army. The British government extends a 3% £300,000,000 war loan to aid Finland.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet 28th Corps consolidates the Soviets' hold on the western shore of the Bay of Viipuri. The Soviets capture more islands and push inland. They need to consolidate quickly because frozen Viipuri Bay typically melts in March.

Winter War Naval Operations: Soviet minelayer Murman sows mines near Petsamo.

Winter War Air Operations: The Soviets bomb Helsinki and other towns in central and southern Finland.

The Finns engage in heavy attacks against Soviet troops in the Ristniemi-Tuppura sector. Two Soviet Tupolev SB-2 bombers collide near Kymi, three crew members killed. Two Polikarpov I-153 "Chaika" biplane fighters force-land behind Finnish lines.

Winter War Peace Talks: The Soviets announce that its terms are still on the table and it is willing to negotiate to end the Winter War. The Finns, meanwhile, come to the shocking realization that the British and, especially, French promises of immediate military aid are worthless. Thus, the Finns accept the Soviet offer to negotiate terms, with the understanding that they are going to have to cede valuable territory.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-17 (Kapitänleutnant Udo Behrens) torpedoes and sinks Dutch freighter Grutto of the Dutch coast. All 18 crewmen on board perish as the ship sinks in 6 minutes.

The Royal Navy seizes seven Italian ships carrying German coal in the English Channel.

Convoy OA 104 departs from Southend, OB 104 departs from Liverpool, SL 23 departs from Freetown, HX 25 departs from Halifax, and OG 21F forms at Gibraltar.

Western Front: A German patrol captures a Maginot Line outpost temporarily and takes 16 prisoners, with 2 killed. The British manning it recapture it, with both sides taking casualties.

German Military: Hitler holds a conference with commanders for Operation Weserubung.

General von Kleist, an old cavalry General and Iron Cross holder from the First World War, receives command of his own panzer group, Panzer Group Kleist.

German Resistance: Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, Hitler's former Economic Minister but now a member of the resistance, has a meeting with Sumner Welles. Schacht, swearing Welles to secrecy, tells him: "A movement is now underway, by leading generals, to depose Hitler. Hitler is the greatest of all liars, a criminal genius." He also tells Welles that atrocities in Poland are "worse than imagined."

War Crimes: Lavrentiy Beria, the NKVD chief, proposes in a submission to the Politburo that his service execute all captive members of the Polish Officers Corps currently in camps - such as the Kozelsk camp - and prisons in the occupied territories of Poland, which are new portions of Belarus and West Ukraine. The purpose is to deprive any future Poland of ever being a military threat:

All of them are implacable enemies of Soviet power and full of hatred for the Soviet system.

There is definite hatred involved, all right. If there is some of that on the Polish side, there definitely is some also on the Soviet side.

The Politburo, including Premier Joseph Stalin, approves the proposal, along with everyone else (Voroshilov, Molotov, Mikoyan, Kalinin, Kaganovich). Some 25,700 Polish men fit the description of the proposal. Executions are to be carried out soon.

Beria's proposal to execute the Polish officers, initialed by Stalin and the rest of the Politburo.

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

Saturday 24 February 1940

The unarmed first prototype Typhoon P5212 fighter-bomber taken just before its first flight on 24 February 1940. The prototype has a small tail unit and a solid fairing behind the cockpit.

Winter War: The Soviets attempt some offensive action on the Karelian Isthmus, but heavy snow and fog prevent large-scale operations.

The Finnish cabinet, still considering the Soviet peace offer on 24 February 1940, engages in top-secret discussions with their British military representative about the possibility of an Anglo/French expeditionary force. British envoy to Finland Sir George Gordon Vereker makes the wild claim that 20-22,000 Allied soldiers will leave for Finland on March 15, provided the Finns make a formal request by March 5. Where Vereker comes up with this outlandish projection is unclear.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-63 (Oberleutnant zur See Günther Lorentz) torpedoes and sinks Swedish freighter Santos off Kirkwall, Orkney. The Santos is carrying 8 men from the Swedish freighter Liana, which was sunk on 16 February, and 6 of them perish. Altogether, including the men from the Liana, there are 31 who perish in the sinking and 12 who survive. U-63 was one of the U-boats which had accompanied the surface fleet in Operation Nordmark.

British freighters Royal Archer, Clan Morrison, and Jevington Court hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea.

The British at Malta detain US freighter Scottsburg for several hours, then release it.

Convoy OA 98GF departs from Southend, and OB 98 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts reconnaissance over Germany and Austria, with one aircraft making a forced landing in Belgium. It also carries out daylight reconnaissance over the Heligoland Bight and the German bases in northwest Germany.

German Military: The German high command - General von Rundstedt, Halder, Guderian - all come around to the von Manstein Plan for Fall Gelb. This first draft of the revised plan will see five panzer divisions and motorized divisions headed through the Ardennes Forest (von Rundstedt), north of the Maginot Line but south of the bulk of the BEF. The mobile divisions are to take bridges across the Meuse on the fly, with the assistance of paratroopers, and then race to the coast. There is still a "right hook" to the north (General von Bock), but its importance is vastly diminished and intended more as a decoy to make the BEF look north and away from the main effort. The plan is still subject to revision, but it is now much more along the lines that Manstein and Hitler wanted.

RAF: First flight of the Hawker Typhoon P5212 by Hawker test pilot Philip Lucas. It is another Sydney Camm design, he who had designed the Hawker Hurricane which is the fighter currently arming most RAF front-line squadrons.

German/Italian Relations: Germany and Italy sign a trade agreement by which the Germans will supply Italy with more coal, of which the Reich has ample supplies.

German Homefront: Hitler give a speech on one of the innumerable days that he makes the nation celebrate - this one is the 20th anniversary of the founding of the NSDAP Party (which he was not a member of at the time). He repeats the "stab in the back" thesis of the post-war years, with the slight twist that all that Germany needed at the time was someone like him in charge: "Germany would not have lost the last war if I had been Reichs chancellor in 1918." This, of course, ignores the huge battle losses and retreats of 1918, an empire on the verge of revolution (and actual revolution in places such as the navy), and many other aspects of historical reality.

British Homefront: Prime Minister Chamberlain seemingly takes the bait thrown in the water by Hitler's speech. He gives a speech in Birmingham in which he condemns Germany for its desire for "domination of the world," but also indicates a continued willingness to search for peace - but only with a different German government.

Scandinavia: The Foreign Ministers of Denmark, Norway and the other Scandinavian nations gather in Copenhagen. They cite "absolute neutrality" of Denmark, Norway and Sweden as their ultimate position. Not much is said about Finland, but the implication of "absolute neutrality" is very clear.

Hitler and von Manstein, principal architects of the final Fall Gelb plan.

February 1940

February 1, 1940: Second Battle of Summa
February 2, 1940: Soviet Assaults at Summa February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2020

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