Monday 6 May 1940

French troops in the Narvik sector, 1940.

Norway: The saga of the Norwegian gold reserve reaches a turning point on 6 May 1940, as £33,000,000 arrives in London. Having traveled most of the vast length of Norway by train and British cruiser, there were some anxious moments before it finally wound up safely in England.

Norway Army Operations: With the Germans in control of all of Norway south of Trondheim, the Allies are massing strength around the vital transit hub Narvik. The South Wales Borderers (part of British 24th Brigade) are assembling five miles to the west, and the French Chasseurs Alpins and Colonial artillery troops continue to try to force their way through Labergdal Pass to the north, across the fjord. Getting into position on the opposite shore would provide prime artillery positioning for the Allies, so the pass must be held if the Germans are to hold the town.

Colonel-General Dietl in Narvik is sitting tight in Narvik. It is a small port whose only value is the rail line to Swedish ore mines. While easily defensible due to the towering mountain ranges on all sides, Dietl's regiment does not have the manpower to hold off a determined assault from all directions.

The Wehrmacht high command (particularly Hitler) is well aware that General Dietl's regiment is in trouble. The German 2d Mountain (Gebirgsjäger ) Division continues marching north from Trondheim across snow-covered mountain roads to help Dietl. It remains far away. Sea transport is out of the question due to British naval dominance.

Norway Naval Operations: Allied supply convoys reach Harstad and Tromso, jumping-off points for an attack on Narvik. The French 13th Demi-Brigade Legion Etrangere arrives at Harstad.

The Kriegsmarine is sending reinforcements to Norway across the Skagerrak and is somewhat careless about possible Allied interference. British submarine HMS Sealion sees two transport ships, Moltkefels and Neidenfels, at 14:00. Sealion fires six torpedoes at them but all miss.

In addition, HMS Snapper sees German armed merchant cruiser Widder, which left port on 5 May for its raid, about 30 miles east of Denmark around 15:25. Snapper fires two torpedoes - and both miss.

Norway Air Operations: While the British control the sea around Narvik, the Germans increasingly control the skies. Today, the Luftwaffe attacks part of the British fleet sitting nearby, with one bomb just missing cruiser HMS Enterprise, causing some damage and killing a Marine.

The Luftwaffe can operate from Værnes Air Station near Trondheim, which is rapidly upgraded to handle large forces, and also Hattfjelldal Airfield in Hattfjelldal, Norway. While not very close to Narvik, their planes outmatch anything that the British can put in the air over the isolated port.

Western Front: Hitler's Wehrmacht is silently moving over 90 divisions into launching points for the invasion of the Low Countries and France. Meanwhile, the Allies are focused on the sideshow in Narvik. The Germans, incidentally, are preparing more divisions for combat operations than the United States fielded at any point in World War II.

Belgian reconnaissance notices a large Wehrmacht Armoured column moving west through the Ardennes. It is part of General von Rundstedt's force for Fall Gelb.

Battle of the Atlantic: The HMS Seal, captured by the Wehrmacht on 5 May, is gone but not forgotten. During its patrol, it released some 50 mines. Today, German cargo ship Vogesen hits one and sinks.

British freighter Brighton hits a mine and sinks near Dunkirk.

Convoy OA 143GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 143 departs from Liverpool.

British corvette HMS Calendula (Lt. Commander Alan D. Bruford) is commissioned.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Ash (George A. Harrison) is commissioned.

Italian Battleship Vittorio is completed.

European Air Operations: RAF bomber command sends a dozen aircraft on minelaying operations during the night.

Vatican: The Vatican has been acting as a clearinghouse for off-and-on behind the scenes peace negotiations with Wehrmacht dissidents and thus has good sources. The Pope has been trying to get the word out that the Germans are preparing to attack. He faces massive Allied indifference or disbelief. The Pope tells Princess of Italy Marie José, the wife of the Italian Crown Prince, that Germany is about to attack the Low Countries. The Princess informs her brother, King Leopold of Belgium. Unfortunately, there have been several false alarms that have greatly embarrassed the Belgians and cost some highly placed officials their jobs, so one more alarm does not create as much excitement as it otherwise might.

Olympics: The International Olympics makes formal a decision that has been obvious for some time, canceling the 1940 Summer Olympics - the winter Games already having been canceled.

China: At the Battle of Tsaoyang-Ichang, the Japanese 11th Army captures Fengyao and Changchiachi.

British Homefront: The government releases employment figures showing that unemployment is at its lowest level in 20 years.

American Homefront: John Steinbeck wins the Pulitzer Prize for "The Grapes of Wrath," which already has been turned into a classic Hollywood film starring Henry Fonda.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge nearing completion, May 6, 1940. James Bashford Press Photos. PH Coll. 290.9 University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. The bridge opened in July 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

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Saturday 2 December 1939

Doric Star ~ Coup de grâce by a torpedo from the Admiral Graf Spee ~ The track visible on right-hand side  ~ 2/12/1939 ~ Courtesy Ron Young.

Winter War: The Finns on 2 December 1939 claim 36 tanks destroyed and 19 planes shot down. They also claim to have sunk a Soviet warship off the island of Russaro (the ship was only damaged, though with numerous casualties).

Winter War Army Operations: Finnish troops are slowly withdrawing to the Mannerheim Line. They are proving adept at ambushing Soviet tanks and setting booby traps. There are some 13,000 front-line Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus facing several times their number. The lines are still well ahead of the major Mannerheim Line defenses.

At the north end of the Front, the Soviets have occupied Petsamo and are advancing toward Rovaniemi against light opposition. The Finish 10th Separate Company and 5th Separate Battery, both part of the Lapland Group, face two Soviet Divisions (the 52nd and the 104th).

Soviet 8th Army north of Lake Ladoga captures Suojarvi.

Winters in Finland are cold. December 2, 1939. Suvilahti, Finland.

Finnish Government: The government issues an appeal to the League of Nations.

Soviet Propaganda: The Soviet government signs a "pact of mutual assistance" with its puppet Finnish People's government.

German Propaganda: The German state media launch a campaign against Sweden. This contributes to the general sense of unease felt throughout Scandinavia.

Western Front: A French communique states that it is "a quiet day."

Battle of the Atlantic: Battleship HMS Renown and cruiser HMS Sussex attack the German freighter Watussi off South Africa, whose crew scuttles it. HMS Renown rescues the 155 crew and 43 passengers and deposits them for internment in South Africa.

Admiral Graf Spee's Arado floatplane spots the 10,086 British Blue Star Line freighter Doric Star near St. Helena. Captain Stubbs has the British crew radio a distress message and disables the ship. Admiral Graf Spee then takes off the crew and sinks it after taking all worthwhile moveable objects such as sextants and binoculars.

U-56 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Zahn) torpedoes 3,829-ton British freighter Eskdene off Tyne in the North Sea. All 28 crew survive and abandon ship. The Eskdene remains afloat, though abandoned.

U-56 also sinks Swedish vessel Rudolf.

British freighter Calisto hits a mine and sinks.

Convoy OA 45G leaves Southend, Convoy SL 11 leaves Freetown, and Convoy HXF 11 departs from Halifax.

Doric Star, sunk by the Admiral Graf Spee.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 24 Vickers Wellington bombers of 115 Squadron against the Kriegsmarine base at Heligoland. A bomb is dropped on land when it "hangs up" in the bomb bay and eventually drops on Heligoland Island, where it apparently quite fortuitously hits an anti-aircraft battery. This marks the first RAF bombs dropped on the Reich in World War II.

US Government: President Roosevelt proposes a "moral embargo" on the sale of American arms to unnamed countries perpetuating "terror bombing."

British Government: The government extends conscription to all men aged between 19 and 41 years. There are very limited occupational deferments.

Italy: There are pro-Finnish demonstrations in Rome as the Vatican condemns the Soviet attack.

Sweden: The Army calls up reserves. The Foreign Minister resigns when the government refuses to send troops to help Finland.

Olympics: The IOC announces that, just as in November they had canceled the Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, they also now were canceling the summer 1940 Games. Those Games had been planned for Helsinki, but the Winter War makes holding them there impossible.

American Homefront: US politician Harry Reid is born in Searchlight, Nevada. He becomes Senate Majority Leader in the 2000s.

LaGuardia Airport opens.

On December 2, 1939, LaGuardia opened to commercial traffic when a TWA DC-3 from Chicago landed minutes after midnight. Within a year, LaGuardia was the busiest airport in the world.

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

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Saturday, November 25, 1939

Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops train with a Type 99-1 7.7mm heavy MG), 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: On 25 November 1939, Germany continues laying its game-changer magnetic mines, this time off southwest Sweden. They are within the four-mile limit of Swedish territorial waters. This is a key strait for international shipping traffic and neutral ships are bound to be affected.

Several neutral nations - Italy, Japan, Sweden, Denmark - make inquiries to the British foreign office as to exactly what "reprisals" Prime Minister Chamberlain has in mind as payback for Germany's magnetic mines.

U-28 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke) torpedoes and sinks 5,144-ton British freighter, Royston Grange, off Land's End. Everyone survives. It has been sailing with convoy SL-8B.

U-28 also engages in some mine-laying on this patrol.

U-43 (Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Ambrosius) torpedoes and sinks 2,483-ton freighter Uskmouth off Cape Finisterre, Spain. Two perish and 23 survive. After two torpedoes malfunction, Captain Ambrosius gets so frustrated that he surfaces and rakes the ship with his deck gun, but it continues trying to evade. Another try with a torpedo misses. Finally, after 149 rounds of shells - an unheard-of amount by a U-boat - the Uskmouth sinks after a two-hour drama.

Kriegsmarine patrol vessel V-301 hits an mine and sinks.

The Gneisenau having had a successful cruise, it gets a new commander, Harald Netzbandt.

The French Force de Raide heads north to hunt for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Convoy OA 41 departs from Southen, OB 41 from Liverpool, HSF 10 from Halifax and SL 10F from Freetown.

European Air Operations: There are more Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights over the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

The RAF also conducts aerial reconnaissance, over Wilhelmshaven and Heligoland.

Romania: Prime Minister Tararescu forms his cabinet, which is significantly less pro-German than the previous one.

British Homefront: New Forest ponies are in danger from the blackout and thus are removed to safer areas.

US Navy: A brand new destroyer, the USS Yarnall (DD 143), drifts ashore at Lynnhaven Roads. It is refloated but needs repairs.

Olympics: International Olympic Committee President Henri de Baillet-Latour officially cancels the 1940 Winter Olympics because they were to be held (again) at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The games were just awarded to Germany in June 1939 after plans collapsed to hold them at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Hitler had stepped in then to offer an easy alternative. There is some dispute over whether the IOC pulled the games from Germany on its own or Hitler withdrew the invitation due to the war situation, but in any event, it would prove to be impossible to hold them anywhere.

The Summer Olympics, originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo but then switched to Helsinki, Finland at Japanese request, are still officially up in the air. However, especially with tensions growing between Finland and the USSR, it does not look promising.

China: In the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Chinese forces have taken a beating at Nanning and are retreating northward to Wuming as the Japanese take control of the town. The Japanese now have cut off Chunking, as intended.

A David Low cartoon from 25 November 1939.

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

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Thursday 1 November 1939

Polish teachers from Bromberg being taken into the "Valley of Death" (Dolina Śmierci) in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 1 November 1939. It is estimated that there are some 5-6,000 Poles buried there in mass graves.

Western Front: German long-range artillery is shelling French villages and fortifications well behind the front lines on 1 November 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British detain US freighter Exminster in Gibraltar.

Convoy OB 28 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF makes reconnaissance flights over northwest Germany.

The He 178 in flight.

Luftwaffe: The new jet He 178 V1, which first flew in late August, is demonstrated for top Luftwaffe chiefs at the Luftwaffe test center at Rechlin. Amazingly, despite the advances made, the Air Ministry (RLM) has not been told of the extensive progress made, so the demonstration comes as something of a surprise. Ernst Udet and Erhard Milch, who essentially control Luftwaffe purchasing decisions, attend, but Air Minister Goering does not. The demonstration is an absolute technical success, as the jet performs flawlessly. However, Milch and Udet are not sold on the design due to a weak engine that limits the He 178's speed to an unimpressive (for a supposedly revolutionary technology) 372 mph (598 km/hr) and flight endurance of only ten minutes. No orders are placed.

Ernst Heinkel, however, is certain the technology will revolutionize aviation. He decides to proceed with his own private development of a jet fighter based on the He 178, the He 280, despite the RLM's disinterest. He does not know, though, that the RLM already is backing other jet projects, though their prototypes have not flown yet.

Poland: The Reich merges the portions of West Poland that had been ceded by the Treaty of Versailles into itself.  This includes Danzig and the Polish Corridor. It creates within this territory new districts (Reichsgaue): Posen, Greater East Prussia, and Danzig West Prussia.

The Soviet Union similarly proceeds with its own annexation of eastern Poland into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. While it has not Great War claims on its territory, it bases this decision on supposed "plebiscites" held in the territory which, naturally, supported the Soviet desires.

Holland: A "state of siege" is proclaimed along the border with Germany by Dutch Royal Decree. This means martial law.

Switzerland: The country prepares for a possible invasion, issuing decrees related to that eventuality.

British Government: Physicist Hans Ferdinand Mayer submits the Oslo Report on German weapons development.

Finland: The delegation returns to Moscow after Molotov's ultimatum of the day before.

Australia: Prime Minister Robert Menzies announces that the country will increase the size of the armed forces.

China: Chiang Kai-Shek launches a Winter Offensive in several places against the Japanese.

American homefront: The International Olympics Committee meets and decides that the 1940 Olympics cannot take place in Finland as planned. This effectively cancels the Games for 1940.

Holocaust: Mass killings of undesired inhabitants pursuant to Operation Tannenberg continues in Poland with liquidations in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) by "Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz" and the Gestapo.

Future history: Barbara Bosson is born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. She becomes famous in such 1960s films as "Bullitt" and 1980s television series as "Hill Street Blues."

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

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

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