Sunday 24 March 1940

A French destroyer of the L´Adroit class. One of these destroyers is sunk on 24 March 1940.

Battle of the Atlantic: La Railleuse, a French destroyer of the L´Adroit class, is leaving port in Casablanca, Morocco on 24 March 1940 when one of its own torpedoes accidentally explodes. The La Railleuse is destroyed, with 28 crewmen killed and 24 wounded.

Convoy OA 116 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 116 departs from Liverpool.
European Air Operations: The RAF carries out more night-time reconnaissance flights over northwest Germany. One plane is lost.

The Luftwaffe intercepts a French Potez 637 over Zweibrucken and shoots it down.

The RAF mounts another raid against the Hornum seaplane base on Sylt, but achieve little. The raids are good for public morale (and for PM Chamberlain keeping his job) but of almost no military consequence.

French Government: Prime Minister Reynaud's inner war cabinet is considering different alternatives for prosecuting the war but face roadblocks. There also is a certain amount of self-deception going on. For instance, they wish to focus on submarine attacks on Soviet shipping in the Black Sea - but France doesn't have a fleet of submarines. Another option is bombing Soviet oilfields at Baku - but their bombers cannot reach them. One option that is emphatically rejected and not under consideration is venturing beyond the Maginot Line and invading Germany because the Maginot Line is the country's security blanket. Basically, the French government is contemplating "panacea" operations that wouldn't involve very much bloodshed, and certainly no fighting on French soil.

Two British seamen work their Victory Garden at their training site as winter turns to spring, 24 March 1940. This is more the reality of warfare than bombs and bullets.

Terrorism: Members of the IRA rioting at Dartmoor Prison wish to prevent two of their number for being taken to trial for treason.

China: The Japanese continue battling to cross the Wu-chia River for the third day without success. Headquarters is sending more troops.

In the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Chinese 46th Army continues attacking the Japanese 22nd Army at Lingshan.

German Homefront: William Shirer, working in Berlin, is fascinated by the German mindset: "How patiently Germans stand in the rain for a tiny ration of candy!" Just wait about 10 years, William.
American Homefront: It is Easter weekend, and even rabbits can make a mess...

The cover of the New Yorker, 23 March 1940.

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

Tuesday 19 March 1940

Gandhi greeting well-wishers, 1940.

Winter War: The Finns release their most recent casualty figures for the war on 19 March 1940, stating that of 58,500 total casualties, 15,700 had been killed. These figures are subject to revision.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiralty calculates that up to 13 March 1940, the Royal Navy had escorted 12,816 ships in convoy, losing only 28 while under RN protection.

U-19 (Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke) is operating in the Moray Firth, Scotland. It torpedoes and sinks 1,229-ton Danish freighter Minsk at 22:21. There are 9 survivors, 11 perish.

U-19 quickly follows that success up at 22:37 by torpedoing and sinking the 1,026-ton Danish freighter Charkow. All 20 aboard perish.

Destroyer HMS Jervis collides with Swedish freighter Tor northeast of Blyth at 03:00. The destroyer suffers heavy damage and 2 killed, 15 missing.

HMS Norfolk, seriously damaged in the 16 March raid on Scapa Flow, heads down to the Clyde under her own power for repairs.

Convoy OA 113GG departs from Southend, Convoy OB 113 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF mounts a major night raid composed of 50 bombers - 30 Whitleys and 20 Hampdens of 10 Squadron No.4 Group RAF Bomber Command - against the Germans' Sylt seaplane base. They attack the Hornum airbase at the island's southern end. This supposedly is in "retaliation" for the embarrassing 16 March 1940 raid on Scapa Flow. Little damage is caused to the German base, and the British lose a bomber. However, PM Chamberlain is able to make a dramatic announcement about it to the House of Commons while it is in progress, which goes a long way toward saving his job.

It is the first (intentional) British air attack against an enemy land target. The lack of effectiveness forces some soul-searching about the RAF's conduct of operations and the accuracy of the bombing. To the crews involved, however, the raid is a tonic: RAF Gunner Larry Donnelly states, "The atmosphere is charged with excitement that we're dropping bombs instead of bloody propaganda leaflets.”

As a footnote to the incident where an RAF bomber accidentally lands in a German field and then took off again after the crew conversed with locals, one of them, German Albert Kartes, 17, is imprisoned for 2 years for "aiding the enemy."

Norway: The Norwegians file another official protest with Berlin regarding the air attack against Norwegian freighter Bott.

India: The All-India Nationalist Congress votes Mahatma Gandhi leader of its campaign to win independence from British rule. He threatens civil disobedience to achieve those aims.

British Government: Prime Minister Chamberlain makes a speech before the House of Commons explaining what went wrong in Finland. He explains that Great Britain and France were prepared to send a 100,000-man expeditionary force to Finland, but were unable to due to Norwegian and Swedish intransigence. The Allies had, he states, sent large quantities of arms, planes, and munitions.

The MPs, especially Harold Macmillan, heavily criticize the conduct of operations. However, Chamberlain survives.

French Government: After Prime Minister Edouard Daladier calls for a vote of confidence, the French Chamber of Deputies casts a 239-1 vote in his favor. Because well over half of the 551 deputies abstain from voting, which Daladier recognizes as lack of confidence in him, Daladier resigns.

US Government: US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles has one last meeting with Count Ciano before leaving Italy.

United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Canada James H.R. Cromwell in which he condemns Hitler and Hitlerism for openly destroying the social and economic order vital for western civilization. It is the first open attack on the German Reich by a US official. Furthermore, he states that the US should join the Allies, which earns him criticism from Isolationist politicians.

James H.R. Cromwell and wife Doris Duke.

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

Monday 15 January 1940

U-44, a Type IXA boat, showing pennants. Member of the 2d Flotilla operating out of Wilhelmshaven.

Winter War: The Soviets no longer take the Finns lightly by 15 January 1940. Whereas during the first days of the invasion in December they blithely waltzed in expecting no serious opposition, now they prepare their attacks more carefully.

Winter War Army Operations: Soviet heavy artillery opens up in sustained fashion on the Summa section of the Mannerheim. Such bombardments are typically a prelude to a set-piece attack, but such an attack is nowhere in sight yet. The bombardment provides the Finns no rest and damages their fixed fortifications (which are minimal anyway, such as barbed wire).

Elsewhere, the Soviet armies are largely on their own. Stalin has no big tasks for them, and instead is focusing on new, better-planned operations with fresh troops. Without attention and replenishment, the Soviet forces along the line are gradually weakening and making it easier for the Finns to carve them up into mottis (logs).

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet bombers attack Viipuri and other Finnish cities.

Mechelen Incident: The British respond to the Belgian request for guarantees first thing in the morning in a manner that is considered weak. The Belgians stop removing border obstacles on the French border. At noon, Premier Daladier tells Pol le Tellier, Belgium's ambassador to France, that Belgium must invite French troops into Belgium by 20:00 or he would pull all French and British troops from the border. The Belgians not only do not respond, but they begin replacing the barriers on the French border.

General Raoul van Overstraeten, King Leopold's military adviser, instructs the Belgian border troops to "repulse by force any foreign unit of whatever nationality which violated Belgian territory," which is not what the French were looking for. The Belgians also have given a negative reply to the same request previously by the British. Once again, the threat of a German invasion has not drawn the Allies together, but rather thrown them further apart. By forbidding the entry of French troops, the Belgians maintain their neutrality but also force the other Allies to rely on them for the defense of the section of the Front not covered by the Maginot.

On the German side, General Jodl of OKW advises Hitler that the weather is too poor for an invasion and it should be called off indefinitely, not just postponed for a few days now and again. Hitler, still set on an early invasion, decides to think it over and gives no firm decision.

Battle of the Atlantic: Around midnight, U-44 (Kapitänleutnant Ludwig Mathes) torpedoes and sinks the 1,590-ton Norwegian freighter Fagerheim southwest of Quessant in the English Channel. Five survive, 15 perish.
At 07:00, U-44 spots the 7,906-ton Dutch freighter Arendskerk.  The Dutch ship tries to outrun the U-boat but is stopped after 7 shots across the bow. The crew abandons ship, and the U-boat then shells the ship and uses one torpedo on it. All 65 crew survive.

Inter-American Relations: An Inter-American Neutrality Committee is formed, due to the Battle of the River Platte, to strengthen neutrality in the Western Hemisphere. It holds its first meeting in Brazil.

German/Danish Relations: The Germans request that the Danes blackout their island of Roenoe, which the British are using as a guide to the German base on Sylt. The Danes comply.

US Military: The army and navy conduct joint amphibious landing exercises in California.

China: The Winter Offensive has run its course for the 9th War Area, which winds down its attacks. The offensive has regained vital territory and brought down the Japanese government.

Lord Halifax on the cover of the 15 January 1940 cover of Time Magazine. There is some thought that he may be the next British Prime Minister.

American Homefront: Admiral Byrd's giant snow cruiser is unloaded from the merchant ship North Star in the Antarctic. It breaks through the wooden ramp that is required to unload it, but once it is on the ground, its (unaccountably) smooth tires (designed for swamps) give it little traction. It quickly gets stuck. Experimenting, the team discovers that the cruiser is able to drive through the snow and ice - but only in reverse. Some exploration drives are made with it in that fashion - over very level ground.
Future History: The story of the snow cruiser is too good to just leave there. If you watch the footage in the above video carefully, you can actually see the wheels begin to lose traction the minute it is driven off the ship.

Admiral Byrd drove the beast - in reverse - for a few weeks. He covered up to 92 miles (148 km) in one journey. However, eventually, even in reverse the snow cruiser eventually gets stuck. Rather than attempt further heroic measures, Byrd just left it in situ and used it as a heated camp for his Little America 1- a function which it performed admirably, though burning a lot of precious gasoline. Byrd left it behind when the expedition concluded - and there it sits to this day, assuming the ice below it never melted.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019

Wednesday 10 January 1940

Crash site of Bf 108 Taifun on 10 January 1940.

Western Front: The "Mechelen Incident" occurs on 10 January 1940 when a German Bf 108 liaison aircraft flies, against very strict regulations, on the Belgian side of the border with an officer carrying Fall Gelb (Invasion of France) plans. Major Erich Hoenmanns, the pilot, loses his way while flying from Loddenheide to Cologne due to fog banks. He fails to see the Rhine River, which is frozen over and flies all the way to the River Meuse. He then accidentally cuts off the plane's fuel supply, and it crash-lands in a Belgian field at Mechelen-sur-Meuse. His passenger, Major Helmuth Reinberger, is a paratrooper carrying plans to the 7th Air Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) Division in Cologne detailing the dropping of paratroopers at Namur (somewhat ironically, on the Meuse) to seize bridges there. The plans carry the current (much postponed) date for Fall Gelb of 17 January 1940.

Reinberger attempts to burn the documents but fails. The two men are taken by Belgian border guards to a border guardhouse. Still somehow in possession of the papers, Reinberger tries to stuff them in a burning stove, but one of the border guards seizes them (and badly burns his hands in the process).

Enough of the papers survive for the Belgians to see that they are copies of a secret plan to invade their country, along with Holland and France. The countries involved study the plan and adapt their defenses accordingly.

The Germans, of course, quickly learn of the loss of the plans (the Belgians helpfully tell them for some reason) and the invasion finally (and quite fortuitously, because it would have been a terrible time to launch an offensive) is postponed indefinitely - right after Hitler tells his three service chiefs (Goering, von Brauchitsch, and Raeder) that this time the 17th of January was a firm date.

Winter War: Some 350 Hungarian men begin military training. They are to be formed into the Hungarian Volunteer Detached Battalion. It will be commanded by Lieutenant Imre Kémeri Nagy and have 24 officers, 52 NCOs, 2 doctors, and 2 Padres.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet command is consumed with recriminations about the defeats suffered to date. It is not a time for grand operations. Much of the rest of January is consumed with court-martials, command changes and replacement of lost troops.

European Air Operations: The RAF mounts a bombing raid on the German seaplane base at Sylt. There is a running battle with Bf 109s over the North Sea that costs each side one plane, with damage to two other German planes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Luftwaffe sinks the British freighter Upminster.

The Kriegsmarine lays mines along the Channel coast.

Convoy OG 14F forms at Gibraltar.

British Homefront: The Railway Executive responds to passenger complaints about untimely departures and arrivals. He claims that it is the fault of the blackout, which makes loading and unloading more difficult and causes other delays. Troop movements and the commandeering of trains for vital food shipments also are blamed.

British Military: General Sir Alan Cunningham becomes commander of the 66 Infantry Division.

General Freyberg leaves New Zealand by air and proceeds to Egypt in advance of the troop convoy leaving New Zealand and Australia.

Australia/New Zealand: New Zealand and Australian troop convoys join and head for the Suez Canal. Convoy is US 1.

Sweden: The government passes new laws giving it sweeping authority in the event of an invasion. It also responds in the negative to the Soviet accusation that it is not acting in a neutral fashion.

China: Chinese 4th War Area captures Chingyuan. Chinese 9th War Area attacks to the rear of Japanese positions and cuts their communications. At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese 18th Infantry Division and Konoye Division move to assist the Japanese 5th Infantry Division near Nanning.

The Mechelen incident plane.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019