Monday 13 May 1940

The SS crosses the Meuse near Mook on 13 May 1940.

Western Front: It is a good day for German Generals who lead from the front.

On the morning of 13 May 1940, General Erwin Rommel's 7th "Ghost" Panzer Division is the first Wehrmacht unit across the Meuse near Dinant. He personally finds a weir and lock gate across the river that his troops can use to establish a bridgehead, and sends over motorcycle troops. His troops spend the rest of the day slowly expanding the bridgehead against scattered French opposition. Taking the broadest view, Rommel's troops threaten to separate the BEF from France if they eventually reach the coast at Abbeville.

The other German formations further south are also across during the day. Generals Guderian and Reinhardt make crossings at Sedan and Monthermé, respectively. Guderian's crossing by XIX Corps includes portions of 1st Panzer Division, 2nd Panzer Division, 10th Panzer Division, and (SS) Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland. This part of Panzer Group Kleist's breakout threatens a penetration into good tank country in the French heartland and is a serious breach of the Allied line. Guderian's men take a more traditional approach than Rommel's, with their initial crossing in rubber boats. There are still some French holdouts in Sedan, but many are beginning to surrender as the Luftwaffe launches mass raids at them (1000 bombers, including Stukas, engage in hours of bombing). Guderian is the first General firmly on French territory, and he gains the nickname "Fast Heinz."

This is true Blitzkrieg stuff, with the Stukas blasting holes through the French lines for the German troops to capitalize on. All of the German bridgeheads quickly put up pontoon bridges by evening. Tanks are able to cross and help expand the slender German footholds. French General Huntzinger has brave words about the penetrations: "That will just mean we take more prisoners."

However, the nearby French troops are not nearly as sanguine. The French troops begin to panic - in fact, the situation is known as the "Panic of Bulson" due to French troops fleeing a portion of the line on Bulson ridge 10 km (6.2 miles) behind the river. Any French chance to pierce the German bridgehead or even contain it is lost within the opening hours due to this panic and slow reflexes by the Supreme Allied Headquarters.

Northeast of Namur, Belgium, the French 2nd and 3rd Light Mechanized Divisions fight the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions of the German XVI Corps of the 6th Army. There is fierce fighting with many destroyed tanks throughout the day. The French tanks line up in a long line to cover the Gembloux gap, a strategy that fails. The Germans prevail through sheer numbers. While many German tanks are disabled, the Wehrmacht retains possession of the battlefield and many of them can be repaired; the French, however, incur staggering tank losses (roughly 105 tanks lost), with all complete write-offs. The French retreat to a defensive position at Gembloux.

The Germans take Liege.

German ground troops link with the paratroopers holding the bridges at Moerdijk, a rare success for the airborne troops. The 9th Panzer Division of 18th Army breaks into "Fortress Holland" and is approaching Rotterdam from the south. The 22nd Flieger Division holds key bridges in the city. The Germans are approaching the Nieuwe Maas River.

At the Afsluitdijk in the far north, German troops advance after 62 Luftwaffe planes bomb Fort Kornwerderzand, losing four of their number. The assault fails completely, with heavy German casualties.

At Grebbeberg, the Germans shift their axis of attack to the north of the main hill. The Dutch are hampered by the withdrawal of support aircraft to fight the German penetrations across the Meuse to the south. Attacking first, the Dutch make some gains, but the Germans begin their own preparatory bombardment for an attack, and this, combined with rampant confusion and much friendly fire, destroys the Dutch attack. The Germans seize upon the confusion, mount attacks all along the line, and in the end, the entire Dutch line falls. In the process, Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Hilmar Wäckerle and his battalion of the SS brigade, who had impetuously advanced through the Dutch lines on the 12th and then been surrounded in a factory, are relieved.

The Allies, ensconced on the Dyle Line, have taken some prisoners. Some 900 German POWs are transported to Britain aboard Dutch ship Phrontis.

The BEF receives reinforcements, as the British 2nd Battalion of Irish Guards Regiment arrives at Hook of Holland.

Rommel's troops cross the Meuse. That building in the background is still there. You can recognize that it is near Dinant by the steep bluffs.

European Air Operations: New French fighters appear over the front. Dewoitine D-520 fighters, which match any other fighters in the world, engage Bf 109s over the Meuse front and have a great debut, destroying four Luftwaffe planes without loss to themselves.

RAF bomber command switches to tactical missions, attacking bridges and roads around the German breakouts near Maastricht and Eindhoven.

Battle of the Atlantic: German raider Widder continues its journey along the Norwegian coast. British submarine HMS Clyde spots Widder but is unable to damage it.

Dutch submarines HNLMS O-23 (P-23) ( Lt. Commander Gerard Koudijs) and HNLMS O-24 (P-24) (Lt. Commander Gerardus B. M. van Erkel) are commissioned.

Norway: It is twilight throughout the night in Narvik. The Allies advance on Narvik from Harstad. Norwegian 6th Infantry Brigade leads the assault on Narvik. The Wehrmacht troops in Narvik are heavily outnumbered, one regiment facing several divisions, but are well-led and have advantages of terrain.

British cruisers HMS Aurora and HMS Effingham bombard Bjerkvik early in the morning. At 01:00, the French land the Foreign Legion and light tanks at Bjerkvik and Øyjord (13th Demi-Brigade Legion Etranger). This position can be used for landings across the Rombaksfjord, and also offers the chance to cut the main Narvik rail line to Sweden. The French take 36 casualties, and the local citizens also suffer.

British No. 2 Independent Company arrives in Bodo.

British Government: While introducing his new war cabinet in a radio broadcast, Winston Churchill fires off one of his best lines: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." The aim is:

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be, for without victory, there is no survival.

His new Minister of Labour and National Service is Ernest Bevin, appropriately a Labour politician in Churchill's coalition government.

War Crimes: The Battle of Grebbeberg is fiercely fought, and there have been potential war crimes on both sides. Obersturmbannführer Wäckerle, in a desperate situation (he could not foresee the fall of the Dutch defenses so quickly), uses Dutch prisoners as human shields to break out. He also orders his men to don Dutch uniforms - though they forget to put on Dutch boots, which gives them away. The real Dutch units recognize the deception and fire on the escaping SS men, whose breakout fails. Wäckerle himself is badly wounded and evacuated once his troops are rescued.

Holland: Several members of the royal family, including Queen Wilhelmina (aboard HMS Hereward), and part of the Dutch government (HMS Windsor) arrive in London.

Canada: Robert Manion, whose leadership of the Conservative Party has been disastrous and who even was defeated in his own seat, formally resigns as leader of the party.

British Homefront: The British government interns all Germans and Austrians in England as possible saboteurs.

China: US gunboat USS Tutuila (PR 4), stranded on a reef in the Yangtze River near Chungking, escapes from its predicament.

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

2019

Friday 10 May 1940

German Junkers Ju 52s dropping paratroopers in the Netherlands, 10 May 1940.

Fall Gelb: Hitler finally permits the much-postponed invasion of France and the Low Countries to proceed on 10 May 1940. The German ambassadors in Belgium and Holland issue memoranda to those governments full of justifications for the violation of their neutral status. The two nations in turn appeal to Great Britain and France. Queen Wilhelmina of Belgium in particular is incensed.

The British government is now led by Winston Churchill, who has been warning the neutral countries of their danger for months. It immediately warns the Germans against bombing civilians.

Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg declare war on Germany.

French fortifications along the frontier were incomplete and never were intended to cover the entire border. The French, however, placed a great deal of faith in them.

Western Front: Fall Gelb opens with 77 Wehrmacht Divisions (10 Panzer, 2 airborne) in the front line. Hitler issues his prophetic order of the day:

Soldiers of the West Front ! The battle which is beginning today will decide the fate of the German nation for the next thousand years.

During the night, Army Group B (Fedor von Bock) launches its offensive into Holland and Belgium. The ground troops are supported by Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) from the 7th Flieger Division and 22nd Luftlande Division (Kurt Student). These paratroopers land beginning at 05:35 at The Hague, on the road to Rotterdam and atop the Belgian fort at Eben-Emael on the Albert Canal. During the day, the German forces advance 10-15 miles into both Holland and Belgium.

At the Battle of Maastricht, the 4th Panzer Division is briefly delayed by resistance at Gulpen. By the time they get to Maastricht, the Dutch have time to destroy the bridges across the Maas which the Wehrmacht needs. After resisting throughout the day, the Dutch retreat and the Germans take the sector. The German losses are about 190 dead, 9 armored cars and tanks, and 10 Luftwaffe aircraft, while the Dutch losses are  47 troops.

The main German thrust is through the Ardennes with Panzer Corps XI (Guderian), XLI (Reinhardt) and XX (Hoth). Army Group A (von Rundstedt) has 41,000 vehicles in General von Kleist's Panzergruppe, and they have only four road routes through the forest. Congestion occurs immediately. The Luftwaffe maintains air superiority, shooting down dozens of French bombers, allowing the armored columns time to sort things out.

Further south, facing the Maginot Line, Army Group C (von Leeb) attacks the front between Trier and the Swiss border.

The French high command under General Gamelin reacts quickly. It implements Plan D. The French Seventh Army crosses the Dutch border only to run into retreating Dutch forces. It heads to Brussels, Belgium to form a defensive perimeter. The BEF and French with 32 divisions execute the Dyle Plan, crossing into Belgium.

The Dutch commence defensive flooding in East Holland.
European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe has 3500 aircraft in operation to support Fall Gelb. They fly over 1000 sorties during the day.

At Eben-Emael, 78 paratroopers under Oberlt. Rudolf Witzig land in DFS 230 gliders directly atop the fortress itself. The attackers eliminate all above-ground opposition and enemy firepower using top-secret magnetic hollow charges. The day ends with the paratroopers in complete control of the surface of the strategic fort and the 650 Belgian defenders trapped in underground galleries. While the defenders have not yet surrendered, they are helpless and the way is clear for the German 6th Army to advance as the paratroopers also seize bridges over the canal.

At The Hague, the Luftwaffe first bombs the area around Ypenburg airfield then drops paratroopers there. Other paratroopers land at Ockenburg airfield and Valkenburg airfield. The Luftwaffe is unable to land at the airfields due to destroyed aircraft on them, and the Dutch launch furious counterattacks. At the end of the day, the Dutch have retaken all of the airfields and the paratroopers forced into nearby villages and dunes. The Germans also lose a staggering 182 transport aircraft, primarily the workhorse Junkers Ju 52.

The Luftwaffe conducts raids against airfields in all of the enemy territories commencing at dawn.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks Dutch liners Statendam (28,300 t) and Veendam (15,500 t) at Rotterdam.

The RAF and Dutch fighters shoot down Junkers Ju 52 transport planes over Holland. The RAF also conducts fighter-bomber raids on advancing Wehrmacht armored troops. Of 32 RAF Battle bombers sent into action, 16 are shot down and the rest damaged.

The Luftwaffe mistakenly bombs Freiburg by mistake, killing 57 civilians. Propaganda Minister Goebbels promptly blames the French.

There is a major dogfight over Belgium as Nine Belgian Fairey Fox biplane fighters intercept a group of Bf 109s. The biplanes manage to shoot one Messerschmitt down for three of their own number.

The RAF sends 33 Bristol Blenheim light bombers against the advancing Wehrmacht in Holland, losing three bombers.

The RAF also sends 32 Fairey Battle light bombers against the German troops in Luxembourg, losing 13 of their number to anti-aircraft fire and 10 to Luftwaffe fighters.

During the night, the RAF bombs the Wehrmacht lines of communications to the east of the Holland/German border. This is the first attack by the RAF on German soil.

The RAF commences the much-delayed Operation Marine, the mining of the Rhine River.

British Politics: Prime Minister Chamberlain resigns at 18:00 after the Labour Party at 17:00 reports that it will only agree to support a coalition government led by someone other than Chamberlain. Winston Churchill is voted in as the new Prime Minister, visits the King, and forms a coalition government.

New British Cabinet:

• Churchill: Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, First Lord of the Treasury;
• Chamberlain: Lord President of the Council;
• Clement Attlee: Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Privy Seal;
• Lord Halifax: Foreign Minister;
• General Ismay: Secretary of the Imperial Defense Chiefs of Staff Committee, Deputy Secretary of the War Cabinet, and Chief of Staff to Churchill in his role as Minister of Defense.

Battle of the Atlantic: Iceland has declared its de facto independence from Denmark, but the British are not taking any chances. Four Royal Navy warships deposit 800 Royal Marines in Reykjavik of the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion under Force Sturges. They arrest German citizens and sympathizers, close down the German embassy, and fortify the harbor. The Icelandic government issues a formal protest to the British government. It also asks its citizens to treat the British invaders as "guests."

2019

Thursday 4 April 1940

Queen Wilhelmina reviews a military parade of the 3rd Division troops stationed at Noordwijk and Katwijk. Here, she is reviewing bicycle troops of the 1st Squadron stationed at Katwijk.

Operation Weserubung: German transports have set sail for the far reaches of Norway as Operation Weserubung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, begins. The date of the invasion is set for 9 April 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: Operations remain relatively quiet - too quiet - on 4 April 1940 because the U-boats are aiding Operation Weserubung instead of attacking merchant ships.

The Norwegian passenger liner "Mira" reaches Norway after its 107 passengers and crew have suffered numerous (failed) Luftwaffe attacks during its 6-day crossing.

Convoy OA 123GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 123 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends up bombers to attack German destroyers at the Jade estuary at Wilhelmshaven.

RAF Sunderland flying boats encounter six Stukas (Ju 87) over the North Sea. They shoot one down and force another to crash-land in Norway.

Western Front: It is raining heavily all along the front, so little action.

Royal Navy: Admiral Horton continues sending his submarines to patrol on the likeliest routes from Germany to Norway. HMS Snapper departs today from Harwich to the Skagerrak. Horner also commands allied submarines, so he sends French subs Amazone and Antelope from Harwich to patrol the Frisian Islands and Heligoland.

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill is flummoxed by the French intransigence about cooperating with mining activities in the Rhine (Operation Royal Marine). He flies to Paris and makes a decision: "[Operation] Wilfred should go forward notwithstanding the French refusal of Royal Marine (mining of the Rhine)." The British War Cabinet concurs.

US Military: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child flies the first production P-40 Warhawk, c/n13033, Air Corps serial number 39-156, at Buffalo, New York. The cruising speed of the P-40 is 272 miles per hour (438 kilometers per hour) and the maximum speed is 357 miles per hour (575 kilometers per hour) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The Warhawk has a service ceiling of 30,600 feet (9,327 meters) and the absolute ceiling is 31,600 feet (9,632 meters). The range is 950 miles (1,529 kilometers) at 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour). These are all good figures for 1940, and the Air Corps designates the fighter as "pursuit."

German/Italian Relations: Hitler authorizes staff talks between the OKW (military high command) and Italian Commando Supremo.

French Government: The Minister of Marine reports that the French Navy has destroyed 23 U-boats during the conflict. In actual fact, the number is well below a dozen, and none of those were due to the French Navy.

The government sentences 34 French communists to five years in prison. Eighty others receive 4-year suspended sentences. The charge is illegally attempting to reorganize the banned Communist Party. It is now illegal, subject to the death penalty for treason, to read or spread communist or anti-war propaganda.

British Government: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announces that the government has set up a special trading corporation backed by the Treasury to foster economic penetration of the Balkans, which trade Germany dominates.

Soviet Government: The NKVD reports to Molotov: out of the 22,000 Polish officers, 395 are "of value" and thus should be spared. The rest should be liquidated per the Politburo's decision of 5 March 1940. The way to get on the "of value" is to be an informer in one of the camps, or to have some foreign connection that would make their sudden absence noticed abroad.

German Homefront: Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering broadcasts an appeal to the nation's young to behave with decency and morality "not only in the light of day but also in the blackout."

British Homefront: Prime Minister Chamberlain takes a little-used expression (first used in George Reid's "My Reminiscences" (1917)) and takes it to the next level. Before an audience of friends, he for once exceeds Winston Churchill's oratorical heights by stating that Hitler has "missed the bus" by running afoul of the British empire and not destroying it when he had the chance. He is now "ten times" as confident of final victory as he had been in September. He states that it is "extraordinary no such attempt was made" to invade during the fall.

By point of fact, of course, the bus, er, boats indeed had set sail - Nazi transports were at that moment on their way to Norway.

Rather oddly, the British newspapers comment upon large concentrations of German troops at Kriegsmarine bases. Nobody in the Allies' military services appears to find this of interest.

China: The Chinese 8th War Area, having recovered Wuyuan and other objectives, changes to the defensive. The Winter Offensive is now for all intents and purposes over. It was a huge success, bringing down the Japanese government and sending Japanese forces reeling.

Summary of the Chinese Winter Offensive:

• Japanese military casualties: 50,000;
• Chinese military casualties: 150,000;
• Chinese civilian casualties: unknown.

4 April 1940: Curtiss-Wright’s Chief Test Pilot H. Lloyd Child flies the first production P-40 Warhawk, c/n13033, Air Corps serial number 39-156, on its first flight at Buffalo, New York.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel


2016

Saturday 11 November 1939

The Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka: BEFORE (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

Western Front: On November 11, 3939 the BEF holds Armistice Day memorials on the 21st anniversary of the end of World War I (still known as the Great War). It is an especially poignant ceremony - really, the most vivid celebration of the World War I event for all time, due to later events which will create new, more recent things to memorialize - because the same forces are occupying the same battlefields.

An interesting aspect of this particular Armistice Day is that the British government moves the two-minute period of silence to Sunday in order not to disrupt war production. This sets a precedent that is maintained, making Remembrance Days always fall on the closest Sundays.

Otherwise, activity on the Front is right. The day does not quite hold the same meaning to the Wehrmacht forces.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British detain US freighter Nishmaha at Gibraltar and the Yaka at the Downs. They release the freighter Scanpenn.

Convoy HG 8 departs from Port Said, and OG 6 forms at Gibraltar.

Anglo/French Relations: King George and the French President exchange Armistice Day messages.

Anglo/Finnish Relations: The British sign an agreement to charter much of the Finnish merchant fleet.

British Government: Queen Wilhelmina broadcasts a message to the women of the Commonwealth from Buckingham Palace. Women "have real and vital work to do" as they are "keeping the Home Front, which will have dangers of its own, stable and strong."
European Air Operations: The RAF completes reconnaissance missions over southwest German cities such as Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Nuremberg. One aircraft is lost. The Luftwaffe did the same over northwest France and loses one aircraft over Dunkirk.

German Propaganda: The German Foreign Ministry assures the low countries that their neutrality will be respected.

French Military: There are two main theories as to how tanks should be integrated into the armed forces: in discrete tank units, or as solo operatives supporting the infantry. French Colonel Charles De Gaulle advocates that French tanks are put together in armored divisions, as advocated by General Guderian. That appears to have worked well in Poland for the Wehrmacht, who have separate panzer divisions. The French general staff takes the other view.

German Opposition: Johann Georg Elser, the prime suspect for planting the bomb at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, is subjected to daily beatings at the Munich Gestapo headquarters. Witnesses say he is virtually unable to communicate. The Gestapo, led by Hitler's choice Arthur Nebe, head of Kripo (Criminal Police), also is pursuing ordinary police work, such as identifying where various parts of the bomb were purchased.

Hitler appears briefly in Munich at the funerals of the victims of the bombing. Rudolf Hess delivers the eulogy. Hitler leaves without speaking.

British Homefront: Very few white poppies - a symbol of pacificism - are sold for Armistice Days, unlike in previous years.

The International Car Show in York.

American Homefront: The International Car Show opens in York City. It is the first one televised for the few people who own (tiny) television sets.

Holocaust: The Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka takes place:

On November 11, 1939, 364 Jews (men, women, and children) were executed by a firing squad in the town of Ostrow Mazowiecki, allegedly for setting fire to the town. The execution was carried out by the Fourth Police Battalion commanded by Police Colonel Brenner.

Future History: World War II had a big impact on Armistice Day not only in Great Britain but in the US. As of 11 November 1939, Armistice Day had only been a federal holiday in the US for a year. An Act of Congress approved May 13, 1938, had made November 11 a legal Federal holiday.

In 1954, Congress amended the 1938 act to make the November 11th Armistice Day holiday "Veteran's Day" so as to honor veterans of both world wars and other conflicts, not just World War I. President Eisenhower signed the legislation. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which made the federal holiday fall on the closest Monday to the 11th - thus finally conforming with the British decision resulting from 1939 celebration to set a particular day of the weekend as the official celebration, as opposed to the 11th day of November.

The Massacre of Ostrów Mazowiecka: AFTER (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

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 6 November 1939

The Curtis P-36 Hawk-75 1939-1944.

European Air Operations: There have been numerous uneventful air reconnaissance patrols by both sides over the other's territory, and today, 6 November 1939, one of those erupts into the first massive dogfight of the war. Nine Curtiss P-36 Hawks are escorting a Potez 637 reconnaissance plane when they are bounced by what the French estimate as 27 BF 109 Ds between the Maginot and Siegfried lines in the Saar. In the resulting melee, eight Messerschmitts go down (four crash-land and, of the eight, seven are behind French lines) and one Hawk piloted by Lt. Tremolet crash-lands in French territory.

The P-36 is inferior to the Messerschmitts. It only has four 7.5 mm Browning machine guns, whereas the Bf 109s have two 7.92 mm MG 17s plus 2 wing-mounted 20mm cannon.

Meanwhile, the RAF announces that it has performed successful reconnaissance flights over western Germany. One aircraft is lost.

Battle of the Atlantic: While the City of Flint continues unloading its cargo in Bergen, Germany continues protesting about the resolution of this cause célèbre.

The British detain, and then quickly release, the US freighter Exeter. However, while they hold it, they remove 700 bags of US Mail. The authorities at Gibraltar release the US freighter Exminster.

The Admiral Graf Spee is in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.

Convoy OA 31 departs from Southend. Convoy OB 31 departs from Liverpool. Convoy HG 6 departs from Gibraltar.

Soviet Propaganda: Molotov gives a major speech in Moscow and accuses the Allies of fomenting war. Meanwhile, the Communist International includes Germany in its list of aggressors.

Belgium: King Leopold confers with Queen Wilhelmina of Holland at The Hague. They issue an appeal for peace and offer to mediate.

Spies: Paul Thummel is a double agent. He passes what he knows about Fall Gelb to the Czech government-in-exile. Since planning is in a state of flux on the German side, the information may be accurate but entirely misleading, as if intentionally designed to misinform.

German Government: Following the dramatic confrontation between Hitler and his Commander-in-chief Walter von Brauchitsch the previous day, Fall Gelb - the invasion of France - is formally postponed due to "bad weather."

Holocaust: Deportation of Jews from western Poland. The requirement that the Jews of Warsaw live in a ghetto is temporarily suspended.

In Sonderaktion Krakau, the Germans arrest 183 professors of Jagiellonian University in Kraków and send them to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

British Homefront: The BBC radio broadcasts the classic drama "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes "The Bruce Partington Plans" starring film stars Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

American Homefront: The Grey Building Fire in Los Angeles kills one fireman and causes $400,000 in damage.

The Grey Building fire of 6 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

2019