Tuesday 27 August 1940

Polish aviators in England, with a light day due to poor weather, exercise (IWM).

Battle of Britain: The fickle summer of 1940 turns rainy again throughout most of England on 27 August 1940, though the Channel is only cloudy and hazy. Operations largely are on hold until the afternoon. The rain causes some accidents, as a Blenheim of RAF No. 219 Squadron crashes on landing and a Spitfire of No. 72 Squadron crashes on landing. These types of accidents also are a function of the overstrained nature of the RAF. In terms of combat, there are only a few scattered losses on both sides.

Early in the morning just after midnight, Gillingham is hit hard, with its bus depot, fire station and several other structures destroyed or heavily damaged. There are 20 killed and 40 injured.

Around noontime, a large formation approaches from Cherbourg. RAF No. 10 Group sends up a couple of squadrons to chase them off, with each side losing a plane.

Toward the evening, Dornier Do 17s raid the southwest area, and No. 10 Group sends up three squadrons. The RAF downs three bombers and disrupts the attack. Another raid around midnight on the Bristol area results in some small-scale damage.

Ireland receives some bombs again at Port Clarence in County Durham.

The Luftwaffe raids Scapa Flow during the evening, interrupting Home Fleet operations for a few hours.

Royal Navy armed 23 ton yacht HMY White Fox II catches fire and sinks after being bombed by the Luftwaffe at Plymouth.

Freighter Sir John Hawkins is hit by the Luftwaffe and damaged at Plymouth.
RAF Bomber Command continues its raids on Italian factories, bombing the Turn Fiat works and the Sesto San Giovanni (near Milan) Marelli automotive parts factory. Other raids are sent against the north German ports of Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, the Augsburg Messerschmitt factory, oil installations at Mannheim, and various airfields in northwest Europe.

The RAF shuttles units around, sending RAF No. 603 Squadron to Hornchurch, No. 65 Squadron to Turnhouse, No. 32 Squadron to Acklington and No. 79 Squadron to Biggin Hill.

The Luftwaffe awards the Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) to Oblt. Helmut Wick of JG 2. He has 20 victories.

Oberleutnant Helmut Wick.

British Military: Simmering tensions between Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park of Group 10 and Air Vice Marshal Leigh-Mallory of Group 11 break out into the open at a meeting between the RAF fighter commanders. Park believes in getting fighter squadrons up as quickly as possible, while Leigh-Mallory insists on assembling at least three squadrons into a group (the "Big Wing") before sending them to intercept. Park considers the Big Wing tactic inefficient and tardy, while Leigh-Mallory considers it dangerous to send out-numbered fighter forces. There is the additional complication that Leigh-Mallory resents Park having the more prestigious command of Group 10, which protects the most sensitive areas in the south. Nothing is resolved at this point.

German Military: Contrary to many media accounts, the Luftwaffe has not been ordered at this point to bomb London, and it does not do so today. In fact, Hitler has not issued any orders on terror bombing, a decision he expressly reserved to himself in his mid-July Fuhrer Directive. Conceivably, the tit-for-tat raids on London and Berlin may still turn into one-offs.

The London press is full of stories about attacks on London that are wildly overblown, like much of the reporting about the Battle of Britain. There is widespread reporting that the Luftwaffe is "trying" to raid London but is only prevented from doing so by the valiant RAF.

Operation Sea Lion remains active within the German High Command even though nothing seems to be going as hoped in the continuing Battle of Britain. The Army still wants a broad landing area, while the Navy says that it can only supply a smaller invasion. General Keitel sides with the army, but Hitler intervenes and agrees with the Navy, with landings to take place between Eastbourne and Folkestone.

Another proposed operation, Operation Felix, receives a blow when Abwehr chief Admiral Canaris returns from Madrid with a pessimistic outlook. He tells OKH Chief of Staff Franz Halder that the operation depends upon a completely unreliable potential ally. During their meeting, Spanish General Juan Vigón Suerodíaz had made the discouraging request for Germany to supply food and fuel because the Spanish food situation was deteriorating.  Franco, Canaris reports, is steadily losing domestic support. Canaris tells Halder that Spain would be "unpredictable" and concludes:

We shall get an ally who will cost us dearly.

Operation Felix remains alive within the planning process, but, like Operation Sea Lion, it is growing more and more unlikely.

Sergeant Jack Stokoe transfers today with the rest of his No. 603 Squadron to RAF Hornchurch. Stokoe is a pre-war auxiliary pilot now in the thick of it.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-46 (Kptlt. Engelbert Endrass) torpedoes and sinks (on the 28th) armed 15,007 merchant cruiser HMS Dunvegan Castle west of Ireland. There are 262 survivors and 27 men perish. The AMC was helping to protect Convoy SL 43.

U-28 (Kptlt. Günter Kuhnke) torpedoes and damages 1599 ton Norwegian freighter Eva west of the Outer Hebrides. There are 17 survivors and one man perishes. The Eva remains afloat due to her timber cargo, and it takes two torpedoes and the deck gun to reduce it to a blazing wreck. It still stays afloat long enough to come ashore at the Butt of Lewis, a total loss. Eva is a straggler due to reduced speed resulting from bad coal. The RAF shows up and interrupts U-28's attempts to help the survivors.

U-37 (Kapitänleutnant Victor Oehrn), on its seventh patrol and operating out of Lorient, uses gunfire to sink 3409 ton Greek maize freighter Theodoros T. southwest of Ireland. Everybody aboard survives.

Convoy FN 264 departs from Southend, Convoy MT 152 departs from Methil, Convoy FS 264 departs from the Tyne, Convoy OB 204 departs from Liverpool.

Troop Convoy US 4 departs from Auckland, New Zealand. It has three troopships and is under escort.

Battle of the Mediterranean: The RAF bombs Derna.

Island commander Governor Dobbie receives a telegram from Whitehall telling him that Malta will receive numerous additional anti-aircraft guns during the winter. However, Dobbie has to recruit people to man some of the guns and there are not a lot of people available.

German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin, identification number Schiff 33 (HSK 5). The Royal Navy called her "Raider F."

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Pinguin, with captured Norwegian tanker Filefjell trailing behind, has a big day. It is sailing a few hundred miles south of Madagascar when it spots a mysterious ship during the night sailing under blackout conditions. After stalking it for an hour, the Pinguin stops the ship, which turns out to be tanker British Commander. After some confusion, the Pinguin takes aboard the 45-man crew and disposes of the ship - which takes some doing, because tankers are very difficult to sink. The Pinguin wastes a torpedo and 40 150mm shells on the ship, finally sinking it. The crew of the British Commander is able to send a distress signal with its position.

Later, the Pinguin captures Norwegian freighter Morviken. After boarding the crew and making them POWs, the Pinguin sinks the Morviken.

Pinguin then takes the trailing 7616 Norwegian ton tanker Filefjell south, away from the shipping lanes, to take aboard its 500 tons of fuel oil. It then sinks the tanker (which still has large quantities of oil products) with its deck guns, causing a huge explosion and fireball.

Separately, Panamanian freighter Bolivar takes on the water without any external factors involved and sinks. Everybody survives.

German/Hungarian/Romanian Relations: Hitler requests a meeting in Vienna with Hungarian and Romanian representatives regarding their border dispute. Tensions remain high as Romania continues to maintain that Hungarian aircraft have violated its airspace. Hungary claims the same, and also claims to have shot down a Romanian bomber. There is no proof that anyone actually was violating anyone's airspace.

Free France: Charles de Gaulle's Free France movement receives a much-needed boost in Africa thanks to, among others, Captain Leclerc. About forty men have launched a coup in Cameroon against the Vichy colonial government. Today, Leclerc, Claude Hettier de Boislambert and a few others leave Victoria, British Cameroon in native canoes (pirogue) bound for Douala, Cameroon, where they occupy the Vichy Government Palace without opposition.

US Government: President Roosevelt signs a law authorizing him to call up Army Reserves and National Guard units for one year of service. Other legislation authorizing him to call up US Navy and US Marine Corps reserve aviators also is in the works. The legislation allows for the appointment of reserve aviators to become regular pilots.

The destroyers-for-bases deal faces some opposition in Congress, but Roosevelt has his people continue with the preparations. Admiral Stark certifies that the destroyers are not necessary to protect US shores. Attorney General Robert H. Jackson certifies the sale as legal under US law.

The Caproni Campini in flight. This was considered a major event at the time because it was the first publicized flight by a jet aircraft. In fact, the Luftwaffe got there a full year before, but that was kept secret.

Italy: Jet aircraft Caproni Campini N.1. (C.C.2.), powered by a motorjet, takes its first flight at Caproni's Talledo factory. Test pilot Mario De Bernardi is impressed, but the plane has very poor fuel economy and other issues. This flight is made public - unlike the August 1939 flight of the jet Heinkel He 178 V1 - so it is recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (for a time) as the first jet flight. Italian engineer Secondo Campini has been working on the project since first proposing it in 1931.

Iceland: RAF Coastal Command establishes its first airbase to protect the sea lanes. This is becoming urgent because the U-boats operating out of French ports now can reach out into the middle of the Atlantic. The first patrols use obsolete Fairey Battles. The patrols are only as good as the aircraft used, and the increasing range of operation of RAF (and later USAAF) aircraft is destined to have a major influence on the Battle of the Atlantic.

Canada: Troop Convoy TC 7 departs from Halifax under heavy escort. It includes six troop transport ships each carrying between 1153-2801 Canadian troops.

All single Canadian men 21-45 become subject to the military call-up.

Downed Luftwaffe planes accumulated in a giant scrap heap in England. 27 August 1940. (AP Photo).

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 29 November 1939

Fritz Kuhn of the German-American Bund with Adolf Hitler.

Soviet/Finnish Relations: On 29 November 1939, the Soviet Union severs diplomatic relations with Finland without waiting for a formal reply to its diplomatic note of 28 November. A Finnish offer to renew discussions over the territorial issues, perhaps via arbitration, is spurned. US Secretary of State Cordell Hull announces that he is prepared to mediate.

At 24:00, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov orders the invasion of Finland.

Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Diomede, a recently reactivated Great War cruiser, chases the German freighter Idarwald from Tampico, Mexico. The Germans scuttle the ship off Cabo Corrientes, Cuba before it can be captured. A US destroyer (either the USS Broome or USS Sturtevant) has been shadowing the freighter but does not intervene in its destruction.

U-35 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Lott) surfaces and surrenders after a depth-charge attack by British destroyers HMS Icarus, Kashmir and Kingston. The U-boat then sinks. All 43 crew survive, a rarity for U-boats, because Lord Mountbatten, in command on the Kashmir, sends boats over to rescue the Germans.

The U-35 was a moderately successful predator, sinking four vessels for a total of 7,850 tons. U-35 was the U-boat involved in the Diamantis incident. After disembarking the ship and sinking it, the U-35 brought all 28 Greek crewmen to safety at Ireland on 4 October 1939. It is an event still remembered fondly by people in Ballymore at Ventry Harbor. The rescued U-35 crew are temporarily imprisoned in the Tower of London before being sent to POW camps.

The 3,114-ton British freighter Ionian hits a mine and sinks near Newart Lightship in the English Channel. All 37 crew survive.

The Admiral Graf Spee transfers to the tanker Altmark all of its British prisoners from the six ships that it has sunk, where they remain imprisoned.

US freighter Nishmaha is detained by the French at Marseilles and the US freighter Extavia at Gibraltar.

German Government: Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 9, "Instructions for Warfare against the Economy of the Enemy." It specifies tactics for starving Great Britain into submission.

European Air Operations: There is an air duel over the Northumbrian coast. Two British patrol aircraft and a Dornier seaplane are shot down over the North Sea.

Western Front: French troops perform reconnaissance in Vosges Forest areas held by German troops.

Spanish/German Relations: The Spanish government ratifies a friendship pact with Germany. It includes secret protocols permitting Germany the use of Spanish ports and cooperation regarding propaganda and policing.

Soviet Government: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issues a decree granting citizenship to all permanent residents of territory recently incorporated into the USSR (all of it has been). Such citizens are obligated to serve in the military.

British Government: The British government announces in the preceding week (ending 25 November) that it seized 21,500 tons of contraband allegedly destined for Germany.

Ireland: The Government of Eire commissions some motor torpedo boats and armed trawlers.

British Homefront: The Chancellor of the Exchequer reports that foreigners are sending in contributions, often in the form of family jewels, gold, and other tangible gifts, to help finance the war effort.

American Homefront: The leader of the German-American Bund, Fritz Julius Kuhn, recently arrested in New York, is convicted of five counts of larceny and forgery.

Salvador Dalí photographed by Carl Van Vechten on November 29, 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

Wednesday 6 September 1939

German troops advancing on Krakow (Falk, Federal Archive).

International Relations: On 6 September 1939, South Africa, part of the British Commonwealth, declares war on Germany. Spain declares neutrality. Australia begins calling up troops, 10,000 so far.

European Air Operations: The first RAF pilot (Pilot Officer Montague Hulton-Harrop) dies during the conflict. Tragically, it is a friendly fire incident along the east coast and becomes known as the Battle of Barking Creek. This involves the mistaken interception and shooting down of two British Hurricanes by 74 Squadron operating out of Hornchurch Airfield. Only one of the pilots dies. The Luftwaffe, in fact, does make a reconnaissance flight along the coast and then turns back, but that is not the cause of the mistaken alarm.

The disastrous incident is the result of inexperience. There were almost 200 RAF fighters in the air and no enemy. The two British victims were operating together away from the main formation. There was a court-martial and the papers remain sealed to this day, but the 74 Squadron pilots who shot down the British planes were exonerated. The commander of 56 Squadron operating out of North Weald Airfield in Essex, who had over-reacted to the report of an enemy sighting and was the commander of the dead man, however, was replaced.

There also are unconfirmed reports of a Luftwaffe raid towards Paris that is turned back by French fighters.

Western Front: French troops make s small advance toward Saarbrücken. There is contact all along a 125-mile span heading south from Luxembourg.

Battle of Poland: The Germans under General Wilhelm von List's 14th Army take Krakow. Other German forces take Różan. Elsewhere, after several days of fighting, the German SVI Army Corps takes Góry Borowskie and Rozprza. Col. Ludwik Czyżewski of the Polish 2nd Legions' Infantry Regiment, who has been reinforced by some light tanks, orders a retreat toward Dłutów. Fighting is fierce because the axis of the German attack is toward the key cities of Radomsko, Piotrków Trybunalski and Bełchatów. The XVI Panzer Corps (1st and 4th Panzer Divisions) of the German 10th Army resumes its advance after taking Piotrkow.

The Germans are pushing the Poles back in most places. The Polish high command issues an order for a general retreat to the Narew-Vistula-Sun rivers.

Battle of the Atlantic: Norddeutscher Lloyd cargo ship SS Minden, 4301 tons, is loaded in Brazil and leaves port for a journey back to Germany. This is a mysterious departure with questions that still linger. There is a theory - unproven but assumed by many to be true - that the Minden is loaded with up to four tons of gold. The story is that officials from Banco Germanico, a subsidiary of German Dresdner Bank, assist with loading special crates on the ship that contain this German gold. The ship's route is planned to take it just south of Iceland and then around Great Britain, then down through Norwegian coastal waters, to avoid the Royal Navy (see 24 September 1939).

Polish Government: The Polish government leaves Warsaw for Lublin.

British Government: The Armed Forces Act combines all British military forces into the British Army.

Future History: The Battle of Barking Creek (the name given to the 6 September 1939 air battle because that was used generically by British comics as a kind of synonym for military blunders) involved Adolph "Sailor" Malan, a South African. He was the leader of 'A' Flight of 74 Squadron. Malan allegedly gave the order to engage the British victims. One of the men who opened fire was Flying Officer Vincent 'Paddy' Byrne, the other was Pilot Officer John Freeborn,. Helping to defend the pilots at the court-martial was Roger Bushell. Everyone was exonerated.

Bushell and Byrne later wound up incarcerated together at Stalag Luft III and helped to mastermind "The Great Escape." Bushell, portrayed as the mastermind of the entire operation in the 1963 film, was murdered during that escape. Byrne, however, was repatriated in 1944 and subsequently given a ground position.

Malan became an excellent pilot, getting 27 kills and rising to be a Group Captain. He received the Distinguished Service Order and bar and the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he worked against the Apartheid regime.

Freeborn, who was found to have mistakenly killed the British pilot, rose to become a Wing Commander. He ultimately flew more operational hours than any other British pilot during the Battle of Britain and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. Freeborn passed away on 28 August 2010, regretting the incident to his dying day.

Sailor Malan.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2019