Wednesday 24 January 1940

An NKVD blocking detachment. They are not there to fight the enemy, but their own fleeing comrades.

Winter War: On 24 January 1940, Other nations continue contributing to the Finnish war effort. Two planes full of medical supplies depart from London for Helsinki. In addition, there are reports that 30 British aircraft have arrived in Finland to help with air defense.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviets resort to a typical tool to keep men at their guns. They create special NKVD "preventative detachments" or "blocking detachments" (zagraditelnyi otriad). These are set up in the rear of Soviet front-line units and are armed with machine guns just like regular army units. If troops retreat without orders, they are shot.

Group Talvela is at Kollaa, defending successfully against the Soviet 8th Army. The two sides throw alternating attacks at each other at Aittojoki River (Joki = river in Finnish).

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet aircraft bomb Finnish hospitals, 19 killed.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-44 (Kapitänleutnant Ludwig Mathes) torpedoes and sinks 3,819-ton French freighter Alsacien 5 miles west of Lisbon at 11:40. Four crew perish.

U-18 (Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Mengersen) torpedoes and sinks 1,000-ton Norwegian freighter Bisp. All 14 men on the ship perish.

U-23 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer) has been tailing 1,085-ton Norwegian freighter Varild off northeast Scotland since 20:00 on the 23rd. Kretschmer finally gets within range and fires a torpedo, but it jams in the tube. He tries a second torpedo in another tube, but it misfires and becomes a circle-runner (kreisläufer). Kretschmer, exercising all sorts of patience, fires a third torpedo at 19:00 and it runs true.  All 15 crew perish.

Yugoslavian destroyer Ljubljana runs into a reef at the port of Šibenik and sinks before it can get to shore. The Captain is arrested pending an investigation. The ship is refloated.

Convoy OB 78 departs from Liverpool, HG 16 departs from Gibraltar, SL 18 departs from Freetown.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe drops four bombs on the Shetland Islands but they do no material damage.

British Government: The King reviews Canadian 1st Division training at Aldershot.

British/ Belgian Relations: Prime Minister Chamberlain, attempting to smooth over some of the drama from the Mechelen Incident, tells Belgium that it will aid in their defense if attacked by Germany.

Spain: The Spanish Council of Ministers bans Freemasonry.

China: The Chinese 2d War Area captures Licheng, Tungyangkuan, and She Hsien during the continuing Chinese Winter Offensive.

Paavo Talvela and Marshal Mannerheim.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019

Thursday 21 December 1939

A knocked-out Soviet T-28 tank at Summa, taken from a Finnish trench, 21 December 1939.

Winter War Ground Operations: Ground operations are at a tipping point on 21 December 1939. The Soviet impetus has been stopped - the original plan had been to be in Helsinki by now, Stalin's birthday. The Finns already have proven their mettle, but now is when they start moving toward actually eviscerating some of the over-extended and ill-prepared Soviet troops.

Finnish II Corp’s commander General Harald Öhqvist prepares a plan for his own commander, General Hugo Österman, for a counter-offensive on the Karelian Isthmus. Field Marshal Mannerheim has a good relationship with his subordinates and approves the plan.

Major General Paavo Talvela is counterattacking the Soviet 139th Rifle Division around Ägläjärvi, which is about 20 km from Tolvajärvi. The Soviets are giving ground. The Soviet 75th Rifle Division is not doing much to help its sister formation but is in contact with the Finns.

At Salla, the Soviet troops on the north fork are still under pressure and have been pushed back to Savukoski. The Soviets on the south fork are also under pressure but are less overstretched.

At Summa, the Soviet tank attacks continue to result in no lasting gains and are winding down. The field is littered with abandoned Soviet tanks. The Soviet infantry is refusing to participate in frontal assaults on the well dug-in Finnish soldiers.

At Suomossalmi, the Soviet 163rd and 44th Rifle Divisions are both trapped, the one in the town, the other stretched out along the road. Both are now to some extent dependent upon the other remaining in action, else the Finns can concentrate all their men on one of the units.

In the far north, the Soviet 14th Army once again advances to Nautsi, but then stops. The 14th Army can only become a strategic threat to Finland if it can advance south and take the key road junction of Rovaniemi and points further south, potentially hooking up with the Soviet 9th Army. The Finns are executing a form of guerilla warfare in the treeless, windy, endless dark, cutting supply lines and launching harassing attacks.

Another view of the knocked-out Soviet tank at Summa, 21 December 1939.

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet bombers raid Helsinki.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-21 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) is positioned perfectly as the day begins. At 07:25 he torpedoes and sinks 1,352-ton Swedish freighter, Carl Henckel, off the Island of May, Scotland. Seven survive, ten perish. Around 10:00, he torpedoes and sinks 1,475-ton Swedish freighter Mars near the same spot. There is one survivor, 18 perish. Frauenheim is sparing with his torpedoes, using one on each freighter. The survivors spend a miserable day and night in the sea and are then picked up and taken to Kristiansand.

U-46 (Herbert Sohler) torpedoes and sinks 924-ton Norwegian freighter Rudolf northeast of Rattray Head, Scotland. All 15 crew survive.

British defense vessel HMS Bayonet strikes a mine in the Firth of Forth and sinks. Three perish.

USS Twiggs tails the British RFA tanker Patella in the Caribbean.

Captain Langsdorff is buried in Buenos Aires as his men from the Admiral Graf Spee go into internment there.

Convoy OG 11 forming at Gibraltar.

U-62 is commissioned.

European Air Operations: The RAF once again sends a mass of bombers to attack German shipping in the north sea, but they find nothing and, while returning, have two of their 42 number shot down by Supermarine Spitfires.

There also are some interceptions along the French border, but no engagements.

German/Soviet Relations: Hitler loves to celebrate other leaders' birthdays, and this is Joseph Stalin's 60th big day. He sends Stalin a telegram wishing him "good health and a happy future for the peoples of the friendly Soviet Union."

Stalin responds as a good Communist should: "To the Chancellor of the German Reich, A Hitler. The friendship of the peoples of Germany and the Soviet Union, cemented by blood, has every reason to be lasting and firm."

Hitler is working very hard to become "friendly" with Stalin. He has ulterior motives for this which will not be known until later.
German/Romanian Relations: The two countries sign an economic agreement. Germany is highly dependent upon Romanian oil.

French Government: The government releases a compendium of pre-war documents in the "Yellow Book." The British had done the same thing on 21 September 1939 in its "Blue Book."

Canada: The newly arrived Canadian 1st Division hold a parade at Aldershot.

Sweden: Swedish volunteers cross over to Finland to help in the Winter War.

China: The Winter Offensive continues. The Chinese retain the initiative but are getting bogged down now. The Chinese 3rd War Area raids Nanchang, the Chinese 8th War Area is fighting within Paotou, the Chinese 9th War Area is cutting Japanese lines of communications at Chingan, and there is fighting around Kunlunkuan.

The Japanese 5th Infantry Division takes Lungchow.

The funeral procession for Kapitän zur See Hans W. Langsdorff in Buenos Aires, 21 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