Tuesday 24 October 1939

Roland Freisler and his "special court."

Battle of the Atlantic: On 24 October 1939, the Soviets are still confused about what to do with the City of Flint and its crew. Today, they send the crew, which the day before were going to return to their ship, into informal custody. The Americans are not allowed to contact the US embassy in Moscow but technically are not under arrest because of a highly technical reading of the international law of ship seizures. Nobody knows what the next step will be. There are conflicting reports, in fact, as to who exactly is being interned.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) has a big day. It sinks the British freighters Ledbury (3,528 tons), Menin Ridge (2,474 tons) and Tafna (4,413 tons). The successes are all against independents and about 90 miles west of Gibraltar.

Greek freighter Konstantinos Hadjipateras (5962 tons) hits a mine just off the English coast in the North Sea. Four perish, the rest are picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.

The British detain the US freighter Wacosta. They release the US freighter Iberville after seizing its cargo. They also seize US mail destined for the Continent from the Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden. The aggressive British seizures are raising some eyebrows in the United States.

Convoy HXF 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

Western Front: The Germans mount a minor attack on a French outpost in the Forest of Warndt in the Saar region. There are scattered raids all along the Front, but no concerted troop movements.

German Government: State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Reich Ministry of Justice discusses "special courts," or Sondergerichte. He characterizes them as  the "tank corps of penal law" which will be used to eliminate those who "stab the dagger in the people's back." In practice, they will constitute show trials, with Freisler shouting at defendants and berating them in open court. The defendants invariably are polite and respectful as Freisler hectors them and sentences them to concentration camps or death (sometimes the same thing). The trials are popular, and in a macabre way constitute the first use of courts as entertainment.

German/Soviet Relations: Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs a trade deal with the Soviets. The Soviets agree to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder.

German Propaganda: Ribbentrop makes a rare speech in Danzig. He affixes Great Britain with war guilt for working steadily against the Germans. He also blames the British for refusing to even consider "the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."

London almost immediately dismisses the speech, saying that it "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."

Finland: The Finnish delegation once again returns to Helsinki to review border proposals made by the USSR.

Poland: The Polish government-in-exile has had an ace up its sleeve all along. Only now Polish gold reach Paris that has been on the road via Romania and then Syria. It totals more than £15,000,000.

Separately, the Polish government in London (the government-in-exile is still in Paris) announces that exile Poles will be used in a Polish Army in France.

Japanese/German Relations: Ambassador Oshima meets with Hitler.

American Homefront: Joe DiMaggio of the four-time World Series Champions New York Yankees is named the American League MVP. Joe hit .381. Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is second.

Nylons!

Nylon stockings go on sale nationwide for the first time. Stores report being sold out of their stock within hours. It is perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the decade.

Future History:  F. Murray Abraham is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus."

"The Long Swing," Joe Dimaggio.

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

2020

Tuesday 7 November 1939

Bob Hope and Judy Garland on 7 November 1939.

European Air Operations: Two Polish destroyers and other light craft are attacked by the Luftwaffe in the North Sea on 7 November 1939. There are no losses on either side.

A Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft is fired upon by anti-aircraft batteries and driven off by the RAF. There are scattered other intrusions of British airspace.

The RAF conducts further reconnaissance over western Germany without incident.

British Propaganda: Lord Halifax makes a radio broadcast setting forth Great Britain's war aims.

German Propaganda: The German Navy Ministry states to the U.S. Naval Attaché in Berlin that it had been "definitely established that no German U-boat had torpedoed the Athenia." In addition, the German Navy considered the incident "closed as far as the Navy was concerned" and possessed only "an academic interest in how the ship was sunk." This, of course, is all a complete fabrication, as the German Naval Ministry knows exactly how the Athenia sank when one of its U-boats put torpedoes into it.

Finland: The Finnish government tells its negotiators to tell the Soviets "Nyet."

Poland: General Władysław Sikorski is named General Inspector of the Armed Forces by the Polish government-in-exile in Paris.

General Sikorski is named Commander-in-Chief of Polish armed forces (in exile) in addition to being Prime Minister. He and the government form a General Staff.

American Homefront: Judy Garland guests on Bob Hope's "The Pepsodent Show."

Future History: The Academy Theater in Inglewood California opens on 7 November 1939. It was originally designed to host the Academy Awards but never did. It served as a major suburban theater for the Fox West Coast Theaters chain with many film premieres and showed movies until 1976 when it became a church. Designed by architect S. Charles Lee.

The Academy Theater is showing "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" starring Jimmy Stewart, released 19 October 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

2019

Tuesday 24 October 1939

Roland Freisler and his "special court."

Battle of the Atlantic: On 24 October 1939, the Soviets are still confused about what to do with the City of Flint and its crew. Today, they send the crew, which the day before were going to return to their ship, into informal custody. The Americans are not allowed to contact the US embassy in Moscow but technically are not under arrest because of a highly technical reading of the international law of ship seizures. Nobody knows what the next step will be. There are conflicting reports, in fact, as to who exactly is being interned.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) has a big day. It sinks the British freighters Ledbury (3,528 tons), Menin Ridge (2,474 tons) and Tafna (4,413 tons). The successes are all against independents and about 90 miles west of Gibraltar.

Greek freighter Konstantinos Hadjipateras (5962 tons) hits a mine just off the English coast in the North Sea. Four perish, the rest are picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.

The British detain the US freighter Wacosta. They release the US freighter Iberville after seizing its cargo. They also seize US mail destined for the Continent from the Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden. The aggressive British seizures are raising some eyebrows in the United States.

Convoy HXF 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

Western Front: The Germans mount a minor attack on a French outpost in the Forest of Warndt in the Saar region. There are scattered raids all along the Front, but no concerted troop movements.

German Government: State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Reich Ministry of Justice discusses "special courts," or Sondergerichte. He characterizes them as  the "tank corps of penal law" which will be used to eliminate those who "stab the dagger in the people's back." In practice, they will constitute show trials, with Freisler shouting at defendants and berating them in open court. The defendants invariably are polite and respectful as Freisler hectors them and sentences them to concentration camps or death (sometimes the same thing). The trials are popular, and in a macabre way constitute the first use of courts as entertainment.

German/Soviet Relations: Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs a trade deal with the Soviets. The Soviets agree to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder.

German Propaganda: Ribbentrop makes a rare speech in Danzig. He affixes Great Britain with war guilt for working steadily against the Germans. He also blames the British for refusing to even consider "the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."

London almost immediately dismisses the speech, saying that it "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."

Finland: The Finnish delegation once again returns to Helsinki to review border proposals made by the USSR.

Poland: The Polish government-in-exile has had an ace up its sleeve all along. Only now Polish gold reach Paris that has been on the road via Romania and then Syria. It totals more than £15,000,000.

Separately, the Polish government in London (the government-in-exile is still in Paris) announces that exile Poles will be used in a Polish Army in France.

Japanese/German Relations: Ambassador Oshima meets with Hitler.

American Homefront: Joe DiMaggio of the four-time World Series Champions New York Yankees is named the American League MVP. Joe hit .381. Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is second.

Nylons!

Nylon stockings go on sale nationwide for the first time. Stores report being sold out of their stock within hours. It is perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the decade.

Future History:  F. Murray Abraham is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus."

Joe Dimaggio.

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 7 October 1939

The Ashlea, left, as seen from the Admiral Graf Spee. The captured Newton Beach is shown to the right.

Western Front: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) completes its crossing to France on 6 October 1939. It has suffered no losses on the crossing during the month-long operation. The crossing involved:

• 161,000 troops;
• 24,000 vehicles, including tanks;
• 140,000 tons of supplies.

Some BEF forces already are manning sections of the front.

Artillery duels take place between the Moselle and Saar rivers, along with minor skirmishes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiral Graf Spee stops and boards the 4,222-ton British freighter Ashlea in the South Atlantic. After transferring its crew to its captured British freighter Beech, the Graf Spee sinks the Ashlea.

The 6,873-ton Dutch freighter Binnendijk, carrying oil and other cargo, hits a mine laid by a U-boat and sinks in the English Channel. All 42 crew survive.

The Kriegsmarine sorties toward Norway to try to lure British ships into an ambush.

The British detain US freighter Black Heron at Weymouth.

Convoys OA 16G and 17 depart from Southend.

Convoys SL 4 departs from Freetown to Liverpool.

German Government: Hitler issues an order appointing Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler as the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood. This new position is intended to:

• Arrange the return to the Reich of the Volksdeutche and Auslandsdeutsche (Reichsdeutsche who live abroad)
• Prevent "harmful influence" of Germans by populations alien to the German Volkstum;
• Create newly populated areas settled by Germans, mostly by the returning Auslandsdeutsche.

This order is a key step in Himmler's gradual accumulation of more titles and executive positions in Germany than any other Hitler crony. In practical terms, the position will involve eliminating "inferior races" before they "contaminate" the Reich.

Hitler also issues a decree ordering Poles to be evicted from western Poland or face death.

Lithuania: The Lithuanian Foreign Minister returns to Moscow for more talks with Molotov.

Spain: Official establishment of the Spanish Air Force.

US Government: The US government grants official recognition to the Polish government-in-exile, currently located at Angers, France.

American Homefront: Game three of the World Series is won by the NY Yankees, 7-3, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

On 7 October 1939, the 48th Highlanders march from their home at the Armouries on University Avenue to in Toronto to the new army training camp on the Exhibition. Thousands line the street to watch. The Highlanders are accompanied by their full brass and pipe bands, and their mascot, Kinross, a Scottish staghound.

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