Friday 24 November 1939

A Finnish soldier and his dog (colorized), February 1941.

Battle of the Atlantic: The German government issues a warning to all neutral shipping. It states that it cannot guarantee the safety of neutral shipping in the waters around the British Isles and the French Coast due to the numerous engagements taking place there. [This is according to the testimony and evidence of Admiral Doenitz at the Nuremberg trials following World War II.]

Drifting magnetic mines are washing up by the scores on the Yorkshire Coast on 24 November 1939.

British vessel Mangalore sunk by a mine.

The British release the US freighter Nishimaha after the master signs an agreement to proceed to Marseilles to unload its "contraband." The US government, though, remains opposed to this.

Convoy OA 40G departs from Southend, Convoy OB 40 departs from Liverpool, and Convoy SL 10 departs from Freetown.

Peace Talks: The two British officers captured at Venlo, Major Stevens and Captain Best, are still very much on the minds of the top Third Reich hierarchy. While they are the subject of German propaganda about the Munich bombing, they also get feelers from the Germans about the sincerity of the desire for peace among the Allies. It is believed but has not been corroborated that the two may have betrayed various classified information while in captivity.

German Homefront: The assets of iron/steel magnate Fritz Thyssen, who has fled to Switzerland, are seized. Thyssen was an early supporter of Hitler's, funding his rise to power, but became increasingly disillusioned.

British Homefront: British Airways Ltd. and Imperial Airways merge to form British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

Finnish Prime Minister Aimo Cajander.

Finland: Finnish Prime Minister Aimo Cajander addresses the nation. He states that Soviet demands are impossible to meet while protecting Finnish security. Since the war with the USSR now is imminent (despite the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact of 21 January 1932), he tells every Finn to man "his own guardpost" and "learn to plow carrying a rifle." Marshall Mannerheim begins situating his forces, some 200,000 men, to meet a likely attack of up to a million Soviet troops.

USSR: Stalin, in fact, has roughly 800,000 troops deployed from Leningrad to the Petsamo region above the Arctic Circle. The Red Army is not yet mobilized, so they literally kidnap men off the street in the manner of historic British press gangs, give them rifles, and send them to the front.

Romania: King Carol II names Gheorghe Tatarescu Prime Minister.

China: The Japanese 21st Infantry Division and Taiwan Brigade capture the main objective, Nanning, during the Battle of South Kwangsi. The campaign has cut China completely off from ocean communication, and its suppliers now primarily must cross the Himalayas (the "Hump") via air or the Burma Road. Both that and the other source of supplies, Indochina, are on the Japanese list of priorities.

A Finnish soldier in 1939 (colorized).

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

Thursday 16 November 1939

TBD-1 Devastator 5-T-7 of VT-5 in flight over Southern California on November 16, 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: A pack of Allied warships is searching for the Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic on 16 November 1939, but it has disappeared into the Indian Ocean for the time being.

While sailing south from Madagascar, the Admiral Graf Spee stops the Dutch vessel SS Mapia. Captain Langsdorff allows it to proceed unmolested due to its neutral status. He knows that the Mapia will report his position, but Langsdorff has decided to return to the South Atlantic anyway due to a lack of targets. He figures that the information the ship gives to the authorities about his position will be misleading.

U-43 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Ambrosius) sinks the 4,915-ton British freighter Arlington Court. Seven perish and there are 28 survivors.

US freighter Lafcomo is detained by British authorities at Weymouth, while the freighter West Harshaw is detained at Ramsgate.

The French report that they have seized 203,297 tons of contraband through 10 November 1939.

Convoy OA 36 G departs from Southend, and Convoy OB 36 departs from Liverpool.

German Resistance: The authorities in Prague declare martial law in Prague following days of unrest. The authorities are said to be using every sort of remedy to quell the demonstrators' violence. Hitler says to end the protests or shoot the protesters and burn the city to the ground.

Peace Talks: The offer of Romanian King Carol to mediate in the European conflict is rejected by both sides just as the offer of the Dutch and Belgian crowns was previously.

Great Britain homefront: Inflation is beginning to bite, with prices up 2.5% in October, a 30% annual rate.

American Homefront: Gangster Al Capone is released from Alcatraz having served seven years, six months and 15 days, and having paid all of the back taxes for which he was convicted. He is showing signs of mental illness (paresis) deriving from syphilis.

China: Having taken the last Chinese-held port, the Japanese 21st Infantry Division and Taiwan Brigade now are advancing north toward Nanning. This is known as the Battle of South Kwangsi.

Al Capone mug shot.

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 15 November 1939

Admiral Graf Spee's launch takes the crew of the African Star off before sinking it.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiral Graf Spee sinks British tanker Africa Shell 6 miles off Madagascar on 15 November 1939. The crew is disembarked and sunk by shellfire. The kill ends an unexpectedly lean two weeks because Australian freighters have been held up due to a late wool-clipping season. Once again, no lives are lost on the ships preyed upon by Admiral Graf Spee, a very unusual record.

British freighter Woodtown sunk by a mine.

Italy launches the battleship Impero.

Germany renames the convoy raider Deutschland to Lützow. The reason is that the Kriegsmarine believes it would be damaging to national morale if a ship with the name of the country were to be sunk. Deutschland/Lützow so far has had an extremely successful career.

German Opposition: Johann Georg Elser signs a full confession of his planting of the 8 November 1939 bomb at the Bürgerbräukeller. He does this after days of beatings and other forms of "interrogation." The confession does not survive the war, though related documents do.

Further turmoil in the Reich provinces of Bohemia and Moravia (former Czechoslovakia) continues. It is related to the funeral of Jan Opletal, a medical student mortally wounded in Prague at the Independence day demonstrations of October 28. Reports of injuries and other casualties vary. There may be summary executions. The Germans do not tolerate very much dissent.

Finland: Dr. Paasikivi is back in Helsinki and blames the Soviets for the failure of negotiations. The Soviet media engages in a strong denunciation of Finland. Stalin orders a huge buildup along the Finnish border.

Poland: The formal incorporation of eastern portions of Poland into Ukrainian SSR is completed.

Peace Talks: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop formally rejects the proposed peace mediation proposed by the Dutch and Belgian crowns. He claims this is because the other side already has made a "blunt rejection" of the proposal.

French Homefront: The workweek is expanded from 40 hours a week to 43 hours.

Australia: The government participates in the Empire Air Training Scheme.

China: A Japanese landing force arrives at the coast of Guangxi at the mouth of the Yuhung River. The Japanese move quickly and complete their conquest of the Chinese coast, taking the port of Pakhoi (just north of Vietnam). Japanese ships also steam up the Yuhung River and land troops which begin the march to Nanning.

Despite some recent setbacks in the interior, along the coast, the Imperial Japanese Army remains supreme and have captured the entire length since beginning in 1937. This success was accomplished by the Japanese 21st Infantry Division and Taiwan Brigade, which landed in southern Kwangsi province on Chinchow Bay. This collectively is known as the Battle of South Guangxi.

Future History: Yaphet Kotto is born in New York City. He becomes famous in the 1970s for films such as "Live and Let Die" (1973) and "Alien" (1979).

The Impero prior to launching at Genoa (Sestri Ponente) on 15 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