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

2019

Monday 27 October 1939

Belgian forces on maneuvers in 1939.

Western Front: Wehrmacht troops are taking up positions all along the front on 27 October 1939, including in the north where they are facing Holland and Belgium.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-34 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Rollmann) torpedoes and sinks 5,317-ton British freighter Bronte. All 42 crew survive. It is a victory against Convoy OB-25.

Soviet authorities in Murmansk return the US City of Flint to its German prize crew. The authorities have decided to treat the situation as a legal, as opposed to political, matter, and announce that the ship must be released in the same condition in which it arrived - i.e., as a German prize ship with its prisoners. However, the Soviets retain the Captain of the City of Flint, Joseph Gainard, because he is an inactive US Naval Reserve officer. The Germans sail west back to Norway, but it remains unclear if they can evade British patrols which caused them to seek safe haven in Murmansk in the first place.

American consul William Chapman continues his discussions about British detainment of US vessels, this time speaking with the British Colonial Secretary. The stakes are rising because one of the ships detained was carrying diplomatic pouches. After meeting with Chapman, the British decide to release the ship containing the pouches, the Exporter, along with freighters Oakman and Meanticut.

Convoy OA 26 departs from Southend, and OB 26 departs from Liverpool.

Battle of the Pacific: Four Soviet submarines arrive by rail in Vladivostok, the USSR's main Pacific naval base.

Belgium: King Leopold, in a radio broadcast, states that his country will defend its neutrality.

German Propaganda: German state media complains about anti-German bias in Belgian media.

United States Government: The Senate passes a bill revising the neutrality laws to permit the sale of arms.

Malaya: Contributes  £80,000 to the Red Cross and St John fund. The fund now tops £500,000 in total.

Vatican: Pope Pius XII publishes the encyclical Summi Pontificatus. It condemns authoritative government practices and expresses compassion for displaced Poles.

Poland: Marshal Rydz-Smigly, interned in Romania, resigns as Commander-in-chief of the Polish armed forces.

German military: Hitler dismisses concerns expressed by Heer C-in-C Brauchitsch and others that the Wehrmacht is not ready to attack in the West, particularly given the worsening weather.

China: Japanese attacks against Lanchow continue.

A Polish priest, Father Piotr Sosnowski, before his execution by German Security Police, near the city of Tuchola, October 27, 1939.

Holocaust: Executions in Poland continue. This stage is known as the Intelligenzaktion, a second phase of the Unternehmen Tannenberg directed by Heydrich's Sonderreferat from Berlin.

Future History: John Cleese is born in Weston-super-Mare, England. He goes on to become famous in the 1970s with Monty Python.

John Cleese is born on 27 October 1939.

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

Saturday 25 October 1939

Bydgoszcz, 1939: Polish priests and civilians at the Old Market under arrest during Operation Tannenberg.

Battle of the Atlantic: On 25 October 1939, U-16 (Kapitänleutnant Horst Wellner) runs aground and is lost on the Goodwin Sands, a well-known shipping hazard in the English Channel. This occurs whilst U-16 is maneuvering under depth charge attack. This incident forces Admiral Doenitz to order U-boats to sail to their stations the long way, around the north of Scotland. Some accounts state the attacking Royal Navy ships Puffin and Caton Wyke sank the U-16, and at the very least they contributed to its demise.

German vessel Rheingold is captured by the Royal Navy cruiser Delhi, and the Santa Fe is captured by French cruisers Le Fantasque and Le Terrible.

The British release from detention US freighters Sundance and West Hobomac.

US freighter Nashaba is released from detention by the French.

Admiral Doenitz orders three U-boats to transfer to the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar.

Convoy OA 25 departs from Southend. Convoy OB 24 departs from Liverpool. Convoy HX 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts reconnaissance flights over Berlin, Hamburg, and Magdeburg.


Holocaust: An ancient custom with terrible implications is revived when Włocławek, Poland becomes the first town in Europe to require Jews to wear yellow Star of David badges.

RAF: Maiden flight of the Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber from RAF Bicester. It is named after Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Finland: Full mobilization is completed.

German Military: Hitler has a meeting with the army commander-in-chief Brachistsch and his chief of staff Halder. Hitler sets a date of 12 November for the invasion of France.

General List, one of the successful Generals in Poland, is appointed to command the 12th Army.

Holocaust: Operation Tannenberg, a pre-war German extermination program planned in May 1939 and first implemented in August, concludes its first stage. Under this operation, Secret Police (Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD) have been using carefully compiled lists of victims. The targets have been influential Poles from all walks of life, both in Germany and in Poland. It is estimated that there have been 20,000 deaths in 760 mass exterminations (the figures vary by source). Over 400 Polish villages have been "cleared of undesirables" during this operation.

While Jews have been included, the victims have included Catholics and members of other groups deemed expendable. The primary targets have been people deemed security risks who are Polish, not necessarily Jewish Poles. Ethnic Germans living in Poland have helped to compile the lists. Operation Tannenberg has been administered by the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt). This is but the first in a continuing series of such operations, and another stage of the operation follows immediately upon this one.

A Handley Page Halifax bomber.

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