Wednesday 24 January 1940

An NKVD blocking detachment. They are not there to fight the enemy, but their own fleeing comrades.

Winter War: On 24 January 1940, Other nations continue contributing to the Finnish war effort. Two planes full of medical supplies depart from London for Helsinki. In addition, there are reports that 30 British aircraft have arrived in Finland to help with air defense.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviets resort to a typical tool to keep men at their guns. They create special NKVD "preventative detachments" or "blocking detachments" (zagraditelnyi otriad). These are set up in the rear of Soviet front-line units and are armed with machine guns just like regular army units. If troops retreat without orders, they are shot.

Group Talvela is at Kollaa, defending successfully against the Soviet 8th Army. The two sides throw alternating attacks at each other at Aittojoki River (Joki = river in Finnish).

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet aircraft bomb Finnish hospitals, 19 killed.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-44 (Kapitänleutnant Ludwig Mathes) torpedoes and sinks 3,819-ton French freighter Alsacien 5 miles west of Lisbon at 11:40. Four crew perish.

U-18 (Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Mengersen) torpedoes and sinks 1,000-ton Norwegian freighter Bisp. All 14 men on the ship perish.

U-23 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer) has been tailing 1,085-ton Norwegian freighter Varild off northeast Scotland since 20:00 on the 23rd. Kretschmer finally gets within range and fires a torpedo, but it jams in the tube. He tries a second torpedo in another tube, but it misfires and becomes a circle-runner (kreisläufer). Kretschmer, exercising all sorts of patience, fires a third torpedo at 19:00 and it runs true.  All 15 crew perish.

Yugoslavian destroyer Ljubljana runs into a reef at the port of Šibenik and sinks before it can get to shore. The Captain is arrested pending an investigation. The ship is refloated.

Convoy OB 78 departs from Liverpool, HG 16 departs from Gibraltar, SL 18 departs from Freetown.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe drops four bombs on the Shetland Islands but they do no material damage.

British Government: The King reviews Canadian 1st Division training at Aldershot.

British/ Belgian Relations: Prime Minister Chamberlain, attempting to smooth over some of the drama from the Mechelen Incident, tells Belgium that it will aid in their defense if attacked by Germany.

Spain: The Spanish Council of Ministers bans Freemasonry.

China: The Chinese 2d War Area captures Licheng, Tungyangkuan, and She Hsien during the continuing Chinese Winter Offensive.

Paavo Talvela and Marshal Mannerheim.

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

Saturday 18 November 1939

Survivors of the Simon Bolivar.

Battle of the Atlantic: The magnetic mines just laid by the German destroyers do their work quickly. On 18 November 1939, ships are sunk by the mines, including the Dutch liner Simon Bolivar. It strikes two of them. Eighty-six of the 400 on the liner perish.

U-18 (Kapitänleutnant Max-Hermann Bauer) torpedoes and sinks 500-ton British coal freighter Parkhill. All nine crew perish.

U-22 (Kapitänleutnant Karl-Heinrich Jenisch) torpedoes and sinks 345-ton British fishing trawler Wigmore. All 16 crew perish.

Yugoslavian freighter Carica Milica, 6,371 tons, hits a mine and sinks in the English channel.

British freighter Blackhill hits a mine and sinks.

The Royal Navy merchant cruiser California captures German freighter Eilbeck and the German freighter Borkum in the Denmark Strait.

The Norwegians detain the German supply ship Westerwald whilst the vessel is using Norwegian waters to return to Germany from the North Atlantic.

The crew of the Africa Shell identifies the Admiral Graf Spee as having sunk their vessel near Madagascar.

More mine-laying activity by the Kriegsmarine near the Humber estuary.

Convoy OA 37 departs from Southend, and OB 37 departs from Liverpool. Convoy HX 9 departs from Halifax.

European Air Operations: There are Luftwaffe aircraft spotted along the east coast of England, including near the Firth of Forth. The Luftwaffe planes apparently violated Dutch airspace to get there, because Dutch fighters fire on them and chase them off.

Anglo/Polish Relations: Poland and Great Britain sign a naval agreement.

Anglo/Dutch/German Relations: The Dutch and British are outraged that the mining of a major traffic lane was not reported by the Germans as required by international law. The British say that the Germans of violating the 1907 Hague Conventions, specifically Article VIII. Holland lodges a formal diplomatic protest.

Ireland: The IRA explodes four small bombs in London's Piccadilly area.

Holocaust: General Johannes Blaskowitz, one of the most highly decorated officers in the Wehrmacht (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 30 September 1939) submits a memorandum to Commander-in-chief Walther von Brauchitsch, who today forwards it on to Hitler. The memorandum complains about the SS and Einsatzgruppen operations in occupied Poland. Apart from everything else, the General complains about the effect that it is having on morale.

For varying reasons, the entire German command structure perceives the memorandum as inappropriate. Hitler himself calls the General's concerns "childish" and calls it a "Salvation Army attitude." Blaskowitz is informally blacklisted preparatory to being relieved entirely from his command in Poland.

Future History: Brenda Vaccaro is born in Brooklyn, New York. She becomes famous as an actress in the 1960s for films such as "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) and "Cactus Flower" (1965). Also, Margaret Atwood is born in Ottawa, Canada. She becomes a well-known novelist.

From left: Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz, General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Gerd von General Field Marshal Rundstedt during a meeting in Paris in 1944; PK KBZ OB West (Jesse, Federal Archive).

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