Wednesday 29 August 1940

Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke.

Battle of Britain: The weather on 29 August 1940 presents low clouds and rain in the morning, causing the Luftwaffe to be slow off the ball again. There are only a few reconnaissance flights until well in the afternoon, but then the Germans get active.

On the 28th, the RAF had swallowed the bait and sent fighters up to attack Bf 109s on "Freie Jagds" (attacks without bombers). Perhaps to see if the same will happen again, they send very few bombers during daylight hours. Since the British refuse to engage only fighters, the only planes flying over England for much of the afternoon are Luftwaffe fighters looking for targets to strafe. There are literally hundreds of them, but they have little to do.

Around 15:00, large formations of German aircraft head for Dover. They split off and attack RAF fields at Tangmere and Biggin Hill. These are massive fighter sweeps of Bf 109Es which strafe but can do little damage to infrastructure. The RAF barely deigns to notice these sweeps, as they are more interested in defending against the bombers and not frittering away strength in dogfights.

About an hour later, a smaller force attacks the Scilly Isles.

At 17:25, a group of about 20 aircraft heads for Rochester.

At dusk, the Luftwaffe sends raids against Debden and Duxford airfields.

During the night, Liverpool is attacked. There is some damage to flats and electrical/water works, but manageable. The British try a new tactic of setting decoy fires in the countryside to attract bombers thinking that it is a blazing city, and some of the bombers fall for it. These are called "Starfish sites."

The Luftwaffe damages British freighter Baltistan.

RAF Bomber Command raids various targets along the Channel coast and in the Ruhr. Oil installations remain at the top of the list.

Losses for the day are usually put at around 17 for the Luftwaffe and 10 for the RAF. Some accounts state that the Luftwaffe actually won the day or at least tied in terms of fighter losses, which, if true, is a rarity.

The decision by the RAF - primarily by Vice Air Marshal Keith Park at No. 11 Group - not to contest the Luftwaffe's fighter sweeps results in the erroneous conclusion within the Luftwaffe that they have won the Battle of Britain.

RAF No. 305 (Polish) forms at Bramcote, Nuneaton. RAF Fighter Command decides to fob its Bolton Paul Defiants, which have been death traps for their pilots, off on the Poles of No. 307 Squadron.

U-100.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-100 (Kptlt. Joachim Schepke), on her first cruise out of Kiel, has been stalking Convoy OA 204 in the Northwest Approaches west of County Donegal, Ireland. Today, patience pays off with a big day. There are 15 ships in the convoy, and it is a calm sea with only a light swell. In a wild sequence, Schepke manages to destroy a convoy singlehandedly.

Schepke waits until dark, then surfaces in the middle of the convoy. He first fires two torpedoes. One of the torpedoes hits 4608-ton British freighter Dalblair, with the torpedo hitting amidships on the starboard side. It sinks within 10 minutes. There are 18 survivors and 24 men perish (figures are for the end of the night). Some of the survivors are picked up by the Swedish freighter Alida Gorthon, others by Royal Navy escort destroyer HMS Clematis.

The other torpedo hits British freighter Hartismere. It is only damaged and makes it to port.

U-100 then stalks another ship, the 2393 ton Astra II. Just as Schepke is about to fire, the ship drastically alters course and almost rams the U-boat. Schepke evades with difficulty, then uses his stern tubes to put a torpedo into it. The Astra II sinks with 20 survivors and 5 deaths.

U-100 then torpedoes and sinks small 2373 ton Swedish freighter Alida Gorthon. The freighter previously picked up 24 survivors from the SS Dalblair. Among the people on board, there are 11 deaths and 13 survivors from the Alida Gorthon's own crew, and 4 survivors and 20 deaths from the survivors of the Dalblair.

The convoy has been ordered to scatter (a planned maneuver when under threat). Schepke has targets of opportunity all around him but is almost out of torpedoes. Schepke puts his last torpedo into large 6103 ton British freighter Empire Moose, which sinks within 15 minutes. Everybody aboard survives.

Schepke's score for the night is four ships sunk and another damaged. Now out of torpedoes, he evades the escorts and heads for U-100's new homeport of Lorient, France.

Convoys OA 206 and MT 154 depart from Methil, Convoy OB 205 departs from Liverpool, Convoy FN 266 departs from Southend, Convoy FS 266 departs from the Tyne.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The Italians send a large force of bombers and escorting CR 42 biplane fighters (a dozen of each) against Malta at 08:37. Defending Hurricane fighters scramble and a dogfight begins. The bombers damage numerous buildings with 30 high explosive bombs and cause 6 civilian casualties. Neither side loses any planes.

A large convoy (MF 2) with supplies for Malta sails from Alexandria. As a diversion, some Royal Navy assets (Force F) at Gibraltar will head east toward Alexandria (Operation Hats). This is a major fleet operation in two directions at once led by battleships Malaya and Warspite and aircraft carrier Eagle.

The South African Air Force conducts raids against Italian positions in Somaliland and Mogadishu. The Italians bomb Matruh with 30 bombers.

A British 9.2-inch coastal defense gun crew watch an RAF Coastal Command Short Sunderland flying boat passing overhead, 29 August 1940.

Battle of the Pacific: The Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-67 sinks off the Bonin Islands during an exercise, taking all 87 of her crew.

Applied Technology: British scientists of the so-called Tizard Mission, named for scientist Sir Henry Tizard, board a liner with the so-called "secret box" of advanced scientific instruments. They are bound for the United States, where Sir Henry is waiting for them. Their most significant item is a prototype cavity magnetron, which is a leap forward in radar technology. Other items include blueprints and circuit diagrams for rockets, explosives, superchargers, gyroscopic gunsights, submarine detection devices, self-sealing fuel tanks, and information relating to the development of the jet engine and the atomic bomb.

Anglo/German Relations: In a rare bit of attempted cross-Channel diplomacy during the Battle of Britain, Germany proposes to the British that Red Cross ships be used to recover downed Luftwaffe airmen in the Channel. The British, who have been shooting down the Luftwaffe's Heinkel seaplanes used for this purpose, refuse.

German/Irish Relations: In a rare act of contrition during the conflict, Germany formally apologizes to Ireland for bombing Wexford a couple of days previously.

German/Italian/Hungarian/Romanian Relations: The foreign ministers from each country meet in Vienna to reach an accommodation regarding territorial claims in the region. Hungary desires pieces of Romanian territory, and both sides have been accusing the other of unlawful overflights. The outline of a plan develops in which northern Transylvania will be ceded by Romania to Hungary. This is the famous "Vienna Award."

Gabon: While Equatorial Africa and Cameroon have joined the Free French movement, Gabon is less certain. Governor Georges Pierre Masson first offers his support, but then retracts it under pressure from the French naval commander at Gabon, who sides with the Vichy government.

US Military: The new commander of the US Navy Ninth Naval District and the US Naval Training Center in the Great Lakes is Rear Admiral John Downes. This is where many naval aviators are trained on a special paddle-wheel aircraft carrier.

The first mass paratroop jump in US Army history - following on some previous "experimental" jumps - takes place at Fort Benning, Georgia. US land air forces are organized at this time as the US Army Air Corps or USAAC.

Cruisers USS Quincy and Wichita make port in Buenos Aires as part of their "Show the flag" mission.

The Daily Sketch, 29 August 1940.

US Government: A bill reinstating the draft passes the Senate. It is hotly contested virtually everywhere, and there are daily demonstrations outside of Capitol Hill against it. The bill or something similar still must be passed by the House before it can become law.

Vichy France: The government forms the Legion Francais des Combattants, a government-sponsored organization for veterans.

Spain: The country remains neutral even if heavily leaning toward the Axis. Belgian Prime Minister Pierlot and Foreign Minister Spaak have taken refuge there, and today they attempt to reach London to form a government-in-exile.

Soviet Union: Kombrig Grigorii Fedorovich Kondrashov (various spellings), who had commanded the 18th Rifle Division during the Winter War, is executed. The charge is that he abandoned his division, which was encircled near Lemeti due to his negligence. Witnesses claimed that Kondrashov split his encircled force into two parts, then put all the best troops into his group and all the sick and wounded into the other group under someone else's command, and then broke through the lines with his picked men. Kondrashov himself supposedly changed into an ordinary soldier's uniform during the breakout. Ironically, the other group made it back intact, while Kondrashov's force was badly mauled. The division had been disbanded afterward, and Kondrashev arrested on 3 March 1940.

Future History: James Brady is born in Centralia, Illinois. He will become President Ronald Reagan's press secretary in the 1980s and be permanently disabled during the assassination attempt on Reagan's life. He later supported gun control, and the "Brady Bill" is named after him. Brady passed away on 4 August 2014.

A Whitley bomber pilot gives the 'thumbs up', 29 August 1940.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020

Wednesday 14 August 1940

	In this colorized photo, 11-year-old cousins Wendy Atherton and Cathie Jones stand with Heinkel He 111P-2 of 8./KG27 near their home at Border House Farm near Chester in Cheshire, August 14, 1940. The German plane had been targeting RAF Sealand along with two other planes and was shot down (along with the other two planes) by Spitfires from RAF Hawarden after bombing the airfield.

Battle of Britain: The fickle weather once again turns against the Germans on 14 August 1940, with clouds and rain. This gives the British a chance to repair some of the damage wrought to airfields and radar stations in recent days before another massive Luftwaffe onslaught.

Operations do not even begin until noontime when Bf 110 Zerstörers of Epr.Gr 210 attack RAF Manston. Despite the absence of RAF fighter cover (above the low-hanging clouds dealing with the German escort), the British anti-aircraft fire is deadly and downs several of the attackers. The attack accomplishes little, only damaging some Blenheim bombers and destroying some hangars. Emblematic of the Luftwaffe problems is a collision between two of the Bf 110s over the airbase which kills three of the four men in them.

Another raid at the same time takes place further north, where approximately 300 Luftwaffe planes cross the coast near Dover and split off into multiple groups with different targets. One detachment sinks the Gate Light Vessel, another attacks Hawkinge. JG 26, Adolf Galland's unit, once again demonstrates that it is an elite formation by protecting the Stukas competently and allowing only one to be shot down.

Another major raid occurs at 17:07 when medium bombers attack RAF Middle Wallop, RAF Andover and the railway at Southampton. These attacks are reasonably effective, with hangars destroyed at Middle Wallop and radio equipment destroyed at Andover.

There are other, smaller raids of less consequence that still result in losses. British sloop HMS Kingfisher and tug Carbon are damaged in Portland Harbour. Once again, the Luftwaffe attacks the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton and nearby industrial targets. Other raids target various railway and air installations, such as Whitchurch airfield and the station at Westons Mare. A major air battle develops over Dover during the afternoon, with JG 51 aces Hauptman Walter Oesau and Oblt. Josef "Pips" Priller getting victories.

Oberst Alois Stöckl, Gruppenkommandeur of KG 55, is killed in his Heinkel He 111 near Wallop and replaced by Oblt. Hans Körte.

After dark, the Luftwaffe sends over a few lone raiders, but nothing major develops. The score for the day once again is lopsided, with most accounts giving the losses as about 20 for the Luftwaffe and around 5 for the RAF. Accounts vary widely, especially on the Luftwaffe side.

The British newspapers are full of glorious feats of derring-do by the British military which have only a slight semblance to reality. It is all about "smashing" Italian attacks and wild estimates of Luftwaffe losses, not so much about crumbling British defenses in British Somaliland and RAF bombing raids with catastrophic losses.

European Air Operations: There is an unusual air raid alert in Berlin around midnight, only the fourth of the war, but it appears to be a false alarm. The British in fact raid oil installations, airfields and railway targets at Bordeaux, Cologne, and other typical targets in northwestern Europe.

Western Front: The final informal Royal Navy evacuations from southern France, which have been continuing clandestinely at Mediterranean ports since June, conclude. This terminates Operation Ariel. It is estimated that 191,870 people have been evacuated in Operation Ariel, which excludes the other two major evacuations, Operations Dynamo and Cycle.

German Government: The debate and confusion about Operation Sea Lion continues within the German high command. Admiral Raeder yesterday told Hitler that the Kriegsmarine cannot protect and supply any landings on a broad front. Today, army Commander-in-chief Field Marshal Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch, who is the projected leader of the operation, has his say. Von Brauchitsch proposes just the opposite of what Raeder suggested was feasible, namely, landings on a broad front with multiple landing sites (similar to what the Allies later did on 6 June 1944). This makes perfectly good sense from an army perspective, stretching out the British defenses and creating multiple opportunities for success. However, it makes no sense whatsoever from a naval perspective because the Kriegsmarine simply doesn't have the ships to supply and defend multiple beachheads.

This illustrates that none of the branches of the Wehrmacht have the slightest understanding of what the others need and are capable of delivering. The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that there is little communication between the German army, navy and air force and even less cooperation (the Luftwaffe, for instance, absolutely blocks the creation of a separate marine air force as an infringement on its own powers). Hitler is fine with all of this - part of his managerial style is to create warring fiefdoms within the German state, with himself as the only one who has all the information and the ability to coordinate solutions - the ultimate arbiter. It is a variant on the Shakespearean "I want around me men who are fat" dictum from "Julius Caesar," and it enables him to maintain absolute power within the Reich (Hitler also follows the dictum to the letter with portly crony Hermann Goering).

The larger planning flaw is that nobody has anticipated being placed in this situation so quickly, with France vanquished and England the next step. The Germans are not used to or comfortable with planning major strategic naval operations - something they had difficulty with during the First World War, too. Wehrmacht staff planning is concentrated in the Heer (army) because Germany by tradition is primarily a land power (not necessarily by choice in 1940, but the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles had eviscerated the navy). The naval staff and resources are simply inadequate for the job. In essence, the Germans have no idea what they are doing regarding a cross-channel invasion, and they are building castles in the sand with their vapid plans that are pure abstractions without any grounding in experience or reality. It is little wonder that Hitler is casting about for new victims in other directions that he can ravage on good old reliable terra firma.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-59 (Kptl. Joachim Matz) torpedoes and sinks 2,339-ton British rice freighter Betty about 25 miles north of Ireland at 20:34. There are 4 survivors and 30 crew perish in the night.

British destroyers HMS Malcolm and Verity, accompanied by three torpedo boats, attack a German convoy of six Kriegsmarine armed trawlers and three S-boats off of Texel Island, Holland. The German lose a trawler and one of their own S-boats and also suffer damage to other ships.

The Kriegsmarine conducts minelaying in the North Sea.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British submarine HMS Rorqual sinks Italian freighter Leopard.

In Malta, there are no enemy air raids. Governor-General Dobbie complains to the War Office that he has insufficient men to man his anti-aircraft artillery and requests reinforcements. The War Office, for its part, inquires about two celebrity Italian pilots, General Cagna and Prince Pallavicini, who apparently were KIA.

Battle of the Pacific: German raider Orion is operating off of Nouméa, New Caledonia. It launches its Arado Ar 196 floatplane, but the plane has mechanical issues and lands far away. The Orion eventually finds and recovers it, restoring the raider's "eyes."

British Somaliland: Major General Godwin-Austen watches the Italians side-stepping his defenses along the coast road to Berbera. With the enemy almost in a position to cut the vital road, he bows to the inevitable. He requests permission to evacuate not just from that position, but from the country altogether. General Wavell of Middle East Command does not return an immediate decision.

Evacuations from Berbera, the capital of the British government, commence. The British and Australian warships take off 5700 troops and 1500 "non-essentials" (civilians and wounded) across the gulf to Aden.

Sir Henry in 1940.

Applied Science: Sir Henry Thomas Tizard leaves Great Britain on a disguised ocean liner (some sources say he flew) ahead of the rest of his team (popularly known as the "Tizard Mission," officially the British Technical and Scientific Mission) headed for Ottawa, Canada. Whether or not he has with him the famous "box of secrets" (including plans for the Supercharger, Gyroscopic gunsights, and the Cavity Magnetron, among other things) as stated by many sources is unclear and probably false; some reliable sources state that the box came across with the rest of his team on a later date.

The RAF supposedly is trying to use wire nets called "spaghetti shells" to drop on Luftwaffe planes and destroy them, but this idea does not go very far.

Terrorists: One of the German preoccupations is inciting a revolt by the Irish against the British as a distraction, and perhaps even converting them into a military ally. To this end, they send IRA Chief of Staff Sean Russell to Ireland aboard a U-boat, where it is hoped he will coordinate an uprising. Today, however, he perishes unexpectedly of a perforated ulcer aboard the U-boat and is buried at sea.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt and his advisors continue wrangling over the proposed destroyers-for-bases deal with Great Britain. The destroyers will all be Clemson-class and Wickes-class destroyers built circa 1917-1922, manned solely by British seamen. The US Navy already is coordinating with the Royal Navy for their transfer, though nothing is official yet.

USS Pope (DD 225), a typical Clemson-class destroyer which served in the Far East during World War II.

US Military: The US military always maintains military plans that seem arcane and improbable - for instance, plans for the invasion of Canada always are locked away in the files - and they go by the designation "Rainbow." Today, President Roosevelt reviews and approves "Rainbow 4," a comprehensive plan to defend the Americas by using every armed man in the United States, including the National Guard, the Reserves, and everyone who can be drafted.

Rainbow 4 assumes the fall of France (already done) and of the UK (still prospective) and a combined German/Italian/Japanese offensive. The initial US response would be to occupy British, French, Dutch and Danish possessions in the Western Hemisphere while trying to avoid conflict in the Pacific. The US fleet would be concentrated in the Caribbean, and the US army would protect only North America and the most northern parts of South America.

Outside the realm of planning and in actual reality, destroyers USS Wake and Wainwright continue their "Show the flag" operation in South America and depart Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Bahia, Brazil.

Admiral Hart makes it to Shanghai aboard the submarine USS Porpoise and transfers his flag to yacht USS Isabel.

Luxembourg: German Chief of the Civil Administration Gustav Simon bans all opposition parties, rips up the nation's constitution, and makes German the only authorized language. Even the term "Grand Duchy" is prohibited in official documents. Simon is setting a precedent for future occupations, where the occupying military authorities are relatively benign (save for Einsatzgruppen and the like), but the follow-up civil administrations enact draconian and punitive laws which quickly stoke local anger.

British Homefront: As the day dawns, local citizens in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and southern Scotland awaken to find large numbers of parachutes on the ground with cryptic military messages and German equipment attached. There also is a report from Creswell Farm of enemy parachutists, which proves false.

This all results from a German propaganda effort to sow confusion and dissension among the British populace by air-dropping items in the British rear which have the appearance of being related to an actual invasion - though to what end is a bit unclear, as there is no follow-up. If you make a feint, but don't use that diversion to actually attack anywhere... what's the point? It also may be counter-productive in the long run, making you look like all talk and no action. For a day or two, though, the operation does create massive fear and even panic among the locals.

German flying magazine Flugsport, 14 August 1940.

August 1940

August 1, 1940: Two RN Subs Lost
August 2, 1940: Operation Hurry
August 3, 1940: Italians Attack British Somaliland
August 4, 1940: Dueling Legends in the US
August 5, 1940: First Plan for Barbarossa
August 6, 1940: Wipe Out The RAF
August 7, 1940: Burning Oil Plants
August 8, 1940: True Start of Battle of Britain
August 9, 1940: Aufbau Ost
August 10, 1940: Romania Clamps Down On Jews
August 11, 1940: Huge Aerial Losses
August 12, 1940: Attacks on Radar
August 13, 1940: Adler Tag
August 14, 1940: Sir Henry's Mission
August 15, 1940: Luftwaffe's Black Thursday
August 16, 1940: Wolfpack Time
August 17, 1940: Blockade of Britain
August 18, 1940: The Hardest Day
August 19, 1940: Enter The Zero
August 20, 1940: So Much Owed By So Many
August 21, 1940: Anglo Saxon Incident
August 22, 1940: Hellfire Corner
August 23, 1940: Seaplanes Attack
August 24, 1940: Slippery Slope
August 25, 1940: RAF Bombs Berlin
August 26, 1940: Troops Moved for Barbarossa
August 27, 1940: Air Base in Iceland
August 28, 1940: Call Me Meyer
August 29, 1940: Schepke's Big Day
August 30, 1940: RAF's Bad Day
August 31, 1940: Texel Disaster

2020

Thursday 21 March 1940

The crew of HMS Ursula in 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: British submarine HMS Ursula sinks German freighter Heddernheim off the Danish coast on 21 March 1940. It is the first victory by a British submarine over a German ship during the war.

At 01:00, U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) torpedoes and sink1,654-ton Danish freighter Algier about 15 miles northwest of Foula, Shetlands. There are 18 survivors and 5 crew perish. The Algier was carrying 11 Studebakers along with 302 tons of copper, 228 tons of tin, and 130 bottles of mercury. It was bound for Copenhagen.

Then, at 03:26, U-38 torpedoes and sinks 3,270-ton Danish freighter Christianborg. There are 24 survivors and one crew perishes.

Norwegian freighter Svinta sinks from unknown causes.

The Queen Mary departs from New York to an unpublished destination which turns out to be Sydney, Australia. It will be re-fitted as a troopship there.

Convoy OA 114 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 114 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 29 departs from Halifax, Convoy OG 23F forms at Gibraltar.

European Air Operations: A Sussex farmer, Gerald Winter, sees an RAF plane crash and risks his life to drag the pilot out of the burning plane.

German Military: German Labour battalions in the Todt Organization begin constructing bunkers along the "Ostwall," the border with the Soviet Union.

Applied Science: Sir Henry Tizard briefs the British Cabinet of research by two physicists at Birmingham University working on an atomic "super-bomb." He cautions that "It is quite conceivable that Germany is, in fact, developing this weapon." The government has appropriated funds to study this issue.

Three French cabinet ministers, Édouard Daladier, Georges Bonnet, and Paul Reynaud, 1940.

French Government: Paul Reynaud becomes the new Prime Minister, as 239 French Deputies vote in favor and 1 against. However, indicating once again the fractured sentiment, there are 300 abstentions.

Former PM Edouard Daladier becomes Minister of National Defense and War. Reynaud also will serve as his own Foreign Minister. There are three Socialists in the cabinet. There will be an inner war cabinet of nine members. Daladier still has widespread support, and Reynaud essentially is forced to have him in the cabinet. However, former Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet is excluded.

Turkey: There is a secret meeting between British and Turkish representatives.

China: The Chinese battle it out with the Japanese defenders of Wuyuan all day long, then finally capture the city at 16:00. The Japanese move north.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Chinese 93rd Infantry Division crosses the Yung River and heads toward Tatang. This is an attack along the lines of communication of the Japanese 22d Army spearhead at Yungshun.

British Homefront: George Orwell writes a review of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in which he concludes, "I would kill Hitler if I could, but I cannot dislike him."

American Homefront: Woody Guthrie makes his first recording for the Library of Congress.

Howard Hughes increases his stake in Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. (T.W.A.), which he has been building since May 1939, to 30%. This gives Hughes a controlling share of T.W.A.

In this photo, taken between March 7 and 21, 1940, the "Normandie, "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" sit in port. The "Mary" and the "Elizabeth" are painted wartime gray. The "Normandie" is slated to be painted gray, too.

March 1940

March 1, 1940: Soviet Breakthroughs Past Viipuri
March 2, 1940: Soviets Swarm West in Finland
March 3, 1940: Soviets Across Gulf of Viipuri
March 4, 1940: USSR Apologizes to Sweden
March 5, 1940: Katyn Forest Massacre Approved
March 6, 1940: Finns Head to Moscow
March 7, 1940: The Coal Ships Affair
March 8, 1940: Peace Talks Begin in Moscow
March 9, 1940: Soviets Harden Peace Terms
March 10, 1940: Germany Draws Closer to Italy
March 11, 1940: Winter War Peace Terms Finalized
March 12, 1940: War is Over (If You Want It)
March 13, 1940: Winter War Ends
March 14, 1940: Evacuating Karelia
March 15, 1940: The Bletchley Bombe
March 16, 1940: First British Civilian Killed
March 17, 1940: Enter Dr. Todt
March 18, 1940: Mussolini To Join the War
March 19, 1940: Daladier Resigns
March 20, 1940: Soviets Occupy Hango Naval Base
March 21, 1940: Paul Reynaud Leads France
March 22, 1940: Night Fighters Arise!
March 24, 1940: French Consider Alternatives
March 25, 1940: Reynaud Proposes Action
March 26, 1940: C-46 First Flight
March 27, 1940: Himmler Authorizes Auschwitz Construction
March 28, 1940: Allies Ponder Invading Norway
March 29, 1940: Soviets Prefer Neutrality
March 30, 1940: Allied Uncertainty
March 31, 1940: The Tiger Cage

2019