Thursday 21 December 1939

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet bombers raid Helsinki.

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

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

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

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

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

Convoy OG 11 forming at Gibraltar.

U-62 is commissioned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Japanese 5th Infantry Division takes Lungchow.

The funeral procession for Kapitän zur See Hans W. Langsdorff in Buenos Aires, 21 December 1939.

December 14, 1939: Quisling Meets Hitler
December 15, 1939: Chinese Winter Offensive in High Gear
December 16, 1939: Battle of Summa
December 17, 1939: End of Admiral Graf Spee
December 18, 1939: Battle of Heligoland Bight
December 19, 1939: British Disarm Magnetic Mines
December 20, 1939: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
December 21, 1939: Finns Plan More Counterattacks
December 22, 1939: Enter Chuikov
December 23, 1939: Failed Finnish Counterattack
December 24, 1939: Soviets on the Run
December 25, 1939: Fresh Soviet Attacks
December 26, 1939: Vicious Battles at Kelja
December 27, 1939: Grinding Finnish Victories
December 28, 1939: Liberators
December 29, 1939: Finns Tighten the Noose
December 30, 1939: Finnish Booty
December 31, 1939: Planning More Soviet Destruction

2019

Wednesday 20 December 1939

A dead Soviet soldier lies near his truck on the Ratte road. It is the 44th Division trying to rescue the 163rd Infantry Division in Suomossalmi. 20 December 1939.

Winter War: Support for the Finns extends across the Atlantic on 20 December 1939. Former President Herbert Hoover, who was a key architect of American relief for Europe during World War I, gives a speech for the Finnish Relief Fund at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event is called "Let's Help Finland."

Winter War Army Operations: At Summa, the Soviets are becoming worn out by their repeated tank raids into the nearby frozen swamp which turn into killing zones by defenders throwing Molotov Cocktails and satchel charges. The weather is brutal, -20C, and the Soviet tanks and other armour is having difficulty due to the elements. The tanks can break through the Finnish lines, but they are unable to penetrate the fixed defenses that hold the key to the Mannerheim line. Without infantry support, the tanks are then picked off individually. When the fuel runs out, the vehicles freeze solid and then the Soviets must advance on foot through terrain the Finns handle with ease on skis.

At Suomussalmi, the Finnish 27th Regiment is reinforced and now called the 9th Division. It has had the Soviets in the village surrounded for a week without any significant attempts to break the blockade by the relief force. The Soviet 44th Division has enough problems as it gets cut up by the Finns on the Ratte road. The commander of the 163rd Division trapped in the town, Andrei Zelentsov, asked permission to retreat from Suomussalmi. Permission is denied and he is told that more troops are being sent to rescue him.

The Finnish "Group Talvela" named after now-Major General Paavo Talvela), which is primarily 16th Infantry Division, attacks Soviet 139th Rifle Division. It remains surrounded at Ägläjärvi. Soviet 75th Rifle Division has been sent as a relief but it is accomplishing little.

At Salla, Mannerheim has sent a division from his strategic reserve at Helsinki. It is used to drive the Soviet 122d Division, which has advanced along the southern fork almost to Kemijarvi, back to Salla. The entire advance out of Salla on both the north and south forks of the road has been repelled.

At Taipale, the fighting has diminished considerably after the Soviets stopped attacking strong points that they can't overwhelm.

The Battle of Kollaa is becoming a long, drawn-out affair, which is exactly what the Finns wanted.

Battle of the Atlantic: At some point, local British authorities purchase the salvage rights to the Admiral Graf Spee for £14,000 from the German government. They examine the radar range finder and report back their findings to Fred Hoyle at the British Admiralty in order to develop countermeasures.

Swedish freighter Mars (1,877 tons) strikes a mine and sinks near Blyth in the English Channel. Of the crew, 15 are saved and 7 perish.

British freighter Napia hits a mine and sinks.

The USS Tuscaloosa arrives in New York with 579 survivors of the scuttled German liner Columbus, who are deposited on Ellis Island.

Captain Langsdorff of the Admiral Graf Spee commits suicide at some point during the night of 19/20 December.

US freighter Exochorda is the focus of a brewing international incident over the high-handed detainment of US vessels by British authorities. US Ambassador to Italy William Phillips complains about seemingly arbitrary standards regarding what is contraband and what is to be done with it.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends a dozen bombers to the North Sea to attack shipping, without result.

Convoy OA 57 departs from Southend, OB 57 departs from Liverpool, and HX 13 departs from Halifax.

China: The Chinese Winter Offensive is continuing, but the initial impetus is starting to break. Chinese 2nd War Area is pacifying Wenhsi and Hsia Hsien and captures the villages of Ankuo and Tienwang. Chinese 8th War Area attacks into Paotou. Chinese 3rd War Area, however, is having difficulties advancing on the south bank of the Yangtze, and the Japanese are counterattacking at Kunlunkuan, Hiutang, Kaofengyi, and along the Canton-Hankow railway.

Ruins of the Soviet relief column for Suomossalmi, with Finnish soldiers picking over the wreckage.

December 14, 1939: Quisling Meets Hitler
December 15, 1939: Chinese Winter Offensive in High Gear
December 16, 1939: Battle of Summa
December 17, 1939: End of Admiral Graf Spee
December 18, 1939: Battle of Heligoland Bight
December 19, 1939: British Disarm Magnetic Mines
December 20, 1939: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
December 21, 1939: Finns Plan More Counterattacks
December 22, 1939: Enter Chuikov
December 23, 1939: Failed Finnish Counterattack
December 24, 1939: Soviets on the Run
December 25, 1939: Fresh Soviet Attacks
December 26, 1939: Vicious Battles at Kelja
December 27, 1939: Grinding Finnish Victories
December 28, 1939: Liberators
December 29, 1939: Finns Tighten the Noose
December 30, 1939: Finnish Booty
December 31, 1939: Planning More Soviet Destruction

2019