Thursday 11 January 1940

Gloster Gladiator in use in Finland during the Winter War.

Winter War: Kombrig Vinogradov, Commissar Parkhomenko, and Chief of Staff Volkov of the 44th Rifle Division each are found guilty by a court-martial and sentenced to death. The charges are irrelevant, the outcome was preordained by the military defeat, but they are accused among other things of leaving behind wounded to die. They are executed on 11 January 1940 in Vazhenvaara by firing squad in front of what remains of their troops. The commissar of the Ninth Army, Furt, is appointed the acting commander of the 44th Rifle Division, which must be completely rebuilt.

Winter War Army Operations: The Finnish IV Corps (12th Infantry Division and 13th Infantry Division) surround the 34th Tank Brigade, Soviet 168th Division and 18th Rifle Division of Soviet 8th Army north of Lake Ladoga. They call this the "Great Mottie of Kitilä." The weather is good enough for the Soviets to supply the pocket by air, but the men inside are miserable and immobilized. The Finns beat off a Soviet relief attempt and set to work cutting up the pocket as they did near Suomussalmi. Major Matti Aarnio of the 4th Jaeger battalion leads the effort and becomes famous as "Motti-Matti."

At Salla, the Soviets try another attack toward the Kemijarvi-Tornio railway but make a little progress.

Winter War Air Operations: At frozen Lake Kemi, the Swedish volunteer air group, Flygflottilj 19, starts off with a dozen obsolete Gladiator Gloster fighters and 4 Hart light bombers. They are a good match for Soviet airplanes, however, which in general are also obsolete by current standards.
Future History: Flygflottilj 19 remains in operation to the end of the Winter War and claims 12 Soviet aircraft downed for 2 planes of their own lost to enemy action, and four lost in accidents.

"His Girl Friday" is remade in 1974 as the Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau comedy "The Front Page."

Dutch soldiers training on the ice, 11 January 1940.

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

Monday 8 January 1940

Soviet dead stacked up near their abandoned vehicles.

Winter War: By 8 January 1940, the Finns have astounded the world by beating back most of the Soviet incursions on their territory, including all of the most deadly ones.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet holdouts on the Ratte road surrender around Lakes Kuivasjarvi and Kuomasjarvi (near Captain Mäkinen’s original roadblock). The Finns will take a few days to finish off the remaining Soviet stragglers who ran into the woods or are still hiding in abandoned equipment on the Ratte road. In essence, though, they now have completely eliminated what had been considered the most dangerous advance into the country.

Casualties of the 44th Rifle Division totaled over 5,000 men. All told, in the Suomussalmi battles, the Soviets lost 13,000-27,500 dead or missing, with 2,100 prisoners, 71 field guns, 260 trucks, 1,170 horses, 29 anti-tank guns, and 43 tanks captured.

While it is an epic defeat, the Soviet Union is far from defeated.

A Wellington bomber with the DWI apparatus.

Battle of the Atlantic: A Wellington 1A bomber is converted into a magnetic mine killer with DWI (Directional Wireless Installation). It is powered by a Ford V8 engine driving an electrical generator. By flying over the mines, it makes the explode. The installation is an awkward aluminum coil inside a balsa wood ring with a diameter of 51 feet.

Operating from Manston, Kent, England, must fly low (60 feet) and slow. If it flies lower than 35 feet, it risks damage from the exploding mines. It makes its first sortie over the North Sea. This is one solution to the magnetic mines, the other is degaussing of individual ships, but that will take longer to implement and is much more costly.

Convoy HG 14 departs from Finland to Liverpool.

British Homefront: Weekly British food rationing begins and ration books are issued. Every person gets 40z (100g) of back or ham, 12z (350g) of sugar.

German Military: The Germans establish a new military headquarters at Recklinghausen about 10 miles from the Dutch frontier.

British Military: General Wavell departs for an inspection tour of British Somaliland and French Somaliland.

Japan: The Japanese cabinet establishes a puppet government over occupied China. It is headed by Ching-Wei, who previously had lost a power struggle with Chiang Kai-shek for control of the Nationalist government and now seeks to control China by another route.

China: The Chinese Winter Offensive grinds on: Southern Honan Army of the 5th War Area launches a counterattack around the Pingchangkuan - Hsiaolintien - Kungchiafan sector.

A Soviet POW.

Future History: General Chuikov, as students of the war know very well, goes on to glory later in the war. However, in his autobiography of the war written decades later ('From Stalingrad to Berlin"), he devotes not one single word to his command of the Ninth Army during the battles of Suomussalmi and the Ratte road.

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

Sunday 7 January 1940

Abandoned Soviet tanks captured by the Finns.

Winter War: Finland now claims, on 7 January 1940, to have killed 50,000 Soviet troops since the start of the war.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet 44th Rifle Division on the Ratte road collapses. The western end of the column disintegrates, with the Soviet survivors fleeing aimlessly into the frozen woods which are hip-deep in the snow. At the destroyed Purasjoki Bridge crossing, the Finnish 9th Division maintains its roadblock. Facing eastward, other Finnish troops at Ratte on the border block any Soviet attempt at relief.

There are still scattered pockets of armed Soviet survivors back on the Ratte road, including unattended wounded.

The survivors are not greeted warmly on the Soviet side of the border. The 305th Rifle Regiment (Captain Chervyakov), the only relatively intact Soviet formation to make it back, is immediately ordered to man the border against the nearby Finns. Many the men no longer have rifles, and some 40% have no gloves or mittens.

There is no food at the border for the troops of the 44th Rifle Division that escaped. They had abandoned their own field kitchens and supplies to the Finns. The Soviets behind the lines do not believe in helping losers.

Battle of the Atlantic: The City Of Flint, now flying under the Finnish flag, departs from Narvik for Baltimore under its original captain, Joseph A. Gainard. He is awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the ordeal.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Seahorse is sunk by Kriegsmarine minesweepers in the Heligoland Bight. This is in addition to the minesweepers' sinking of the HMS Undine the previous day.

British vessels 2888-ton Towneley and 5160-ton Cedrington Court hit mines and sink.

German freighter Konsul Horn, interned in Aruba, escapes. It disguises itself as a Soviet merchant freighter to evade US neutrality patrols.

The British at Gibraltar release the US passenger liner Manhattan.

Convoy 68 GF departs Southend, Convoy OB 68 departs Liverpool.

Western Front: There is artillery fire east of the Blies River (a tributary of the Saar).

Soviet Military: There is a major command shake-up. Marshal Voroshilov takes personal command of the Soviet armies in Finland, while General Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko takes over the 7th and 13th Armies in the Karelian Isthmus. This command is now named the Northwestern Front.

Finnish Homefront: The Finns have evacuated non-essential civilians from the major cities. there are 400,000 who have left home for safer towns.

British Homefront: First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill visits the BEF in France.

China: Chinese 5th War Area (31st Army Group) captures Huashan.

Italian submarine Tartantini, launched on 7 January 1940.

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 6 January 1940

Fokker D.XXI Finnish fighter.

Winter War Army Operations: The Finnish 12th and 13th Infantry Divisions attack the Soviet 8th Army north of Lake Ladoga early on 6 January 1940.

Time to finish off the reeling Soviet 44th Rifle Division. On the Raate road, the Finns begin at 3 a.m. They attack 5 miles east of Mäkinen’s original roadblock near Suomussalmi. The Soviet soldiers flee into the forests, where the Finns on skis track them down. In any event, there is nothing for them there, no shelter, so most soon perish in the bitter, lifeless cold.

Task Force Fagernas continues holding the Purasjoki River crossing area where they blew up the bridge on 5 January 1940. The NKVD troops from the USSR attempt to get by them to relieve their comrades further east, but fail. The Task Force also has enough troops to spare to cut the Ratte road further west as well.

Comrade Vinogradov, in command of Soviet 44th Rifle Division, radios Chuikov at 9th Army HQ that his men can only return through the forest and must leave all their equipment behind. Chuikov replies that the men must wait where they are until relief forces arrive. However, Chuikov himself asks the Stavka for instructions, requesting a breakout without the heavy equipment.

Division headquarter has lost all contact with the Division on the Ratte road except with the 122nd Artillery Regiment and the 305th Rifle Regiment.

Late in the day, the Finns construct a barrier near the border. Vinogradov breaks down at 16:00 and tells his subordinates to break out at 22:00. Everything is put into the effort, which is led by two rifle companies of the 25th Rifle Regiment under Major Plyukhin. Two batteries of artillery, tanks, and the rest of the Division follow along. The vast majority of the wounded are left behind on the road.

The breakout begins sometime during the night. The breakout failed immediately. The Soviets abandoned their heavy equipment and ran north of the road, into the woods. The vast majority of the heavy equipment remained intact. The fleeing Soviet troops then headed eastward through deep snow, about 2-3 kilometers away toward the border. One group, the 305th Regiment, escaped without opposition. Vinogradov, who had joined the column at some point, escaped guarded by two rifle companies and a Guard Platoon.

Winter War Air Operations: A group of Ilyushin bombers is flying over Utti, 60 miles northeast of Helsinki, when two Finnish Fokker D.XXI fighters intercept them and shoot seven of them down. Finnish pilot Jorma Sarvanto shoots down six of them in 25 minutes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Kriegsmarine issues orders to its U-boats to "make immediately unrestricted use of weapons against all ships" in an area of the North Sea the limits of which were defined. [This is according to testimony and evidence of Admiral Doenitz at the Nuremberg trials following World War II.]

Royal Navy submarine HMS Undine (Lt. Cdr. Alan Spencer Jackson) is captured by Kriegsmarine minesweepers in the Heligoland Bight but sinks due to demolition charges before it can be boarded. Commander Jackson had attacked three trawlers which turned out to be heavily armed German auxiliary minesweepers.

The British 8,317-ton liner City of Marseilles hits a mine in the River Tay of Scotland but is towed to port by salvagers after the crew abandons ship. The mine had been laid by U-13 on 12 December 1939. One crew perishes, 13 survive.

The Kriegsmarine conducts more mine-laying operations in the English Channel.

US passenger liner Manhattan detained by the British at Gibraltar.

Convoy OG 13 forms at Gibraltar, HX 15 departs from Halifax.

Italian/Hungarian Relations: The two foreign ministers, Ciano and Csaky, meet in Venice.

Soviet/Norwegian Relations: The Norwegian government denies the Soviet accusation that is it not acting in a neutral fashion in the Winter War.

British/ Norwegian Relations: The British demand access to Norwegian waters for operations due to German attacks on shipping.

Holland: The government announces that it will defend itself against any attack.

Ireland: Prime Minister Eamon de Valera calls for emergency powers to increase pressure on the IRA. The Emergency Powers Act has been found wanting, as the Irish courts set free 53 men who had been detained as suspected terrorists. The Dall (Irish Parliament) considers a much tougher bill that would authorize their detention without trial or due process.

United States Military: Admiral James Richardson takes command of the fleet in Hawaii.

United States Homefront: Duke indoor stadium is dedicated.

New York City, January 6, 1940. Before environmental protections, a heavy haze over the city was common. Now, it is rare.

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

Thursday 28 December 1939

The XB-24. Notice no armament yet.

Winter War Army Operations: Today, 28 December 1939, is a bug-out day for the Soviets. While the Finns control the few roads and the woods, there is always one route of escape: the frozen lakes. They are extremely dangerous to use because of how exposed to enemy fire the troops are, but they can't be blocked and are always open for business to get home. Today, the Soviets use them.

Winter War Army Operations: Comrade Zelentsov in Suomussalmi gathers his men of the 163rd Rifle Division together at dawn. The troops form a 4 kilometer-long column on the ice of Kiantajärvi lake and head away from the doomed village they have been defending for weeks. The two regiments, the 81st Mountain Rifles, and the 759th Rifle Regiment receive elaborate Red Air Force protection, and tanks assist on the ground. By evening, they have made good progress toward safety that lies 20 km to the northeast, taking with them 2000 men, 48 trucks, 20 field guns, and 6 tanks. The going is slow on the ice, but the Soviets are motivated.

However, not everyone gets away. Zelentsov's division actually has three regiments, the third being the 662nd Rifle Regiment. It remains back forming a defensive perimeter by the road, oblivious to the departure of the men it had been guarding. Regiment commander Sharov and commissar Podhomutov - both having equal authority - sneak out on their men and leave them to their fate, making their way together through the forest to safety. Virtually everyone they leave behind is annihilated. Both Sharov and Podhomutov are immediately arrested and executed in front of the few of their troops that also survived.

The Soviets are not out of danger yet. They still must cross a very long lake and get ashore before the Finns catch up with them.

Finns at Taipale sorting through booty, most obviously some Maxim machine guns, 28 December 1939.

Aside from recapturing the village and eliminating a substantial Soviet formation, for the Finns it also is a huge strategic victory because now they can turn all of their attention to the stranded and immobile Soviet 44th Rifle Division on the Ratte road. The beleaguered division is stretched over 20 kilometers on what essentially is a rough logging road through deep forests. The division is oriented to proceed west to Suomussalmi, but now there is no need to go there. The division's only rational destination is where it came from, but the best troops are at the wrong end of the 20 kilometers. The division headquarters (kombrig Vinogradov and commissar Parkhomenko) is all the way back on the Soviet side of the border. Orders to the division: no retreat. Form a defensible perimeter and hold on for ... something.

The Soviets are bringing in reinforcements to the Karelian Isthmus, including picked Ogpu troops. However, they are not intended to help the Soviet troops that are in trouble.

Comrade Stalin is showing his ruthlessness. He essentially writes off the Soviet formations in the most difficulty in Finland and prepares a completely new plan. The new mission for Soviet 8th, 9th and 14th Armies essentially is to stand their ground for as long as they can, with no permission to retreat and no plans to resupply or reinforce them. Soviet liquidation squads are ready for any commanders that return from the front without orders or success.

HMS Barham in 1938.

Battle of the Atlantic: First thing in the morning, at 04:00, U-30 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp) sinks the anti-submarine trawler HMS Barbara Robertson. One crew member perishes. This is the equivalent of clearing one's throat, as trawlers are hardly worth the torpedo.

That afternoon, at 15:30, though, Lemp sees a much more appetizing target. U-30 torpedoes British battleship HMS Barham, which sustains relatively minor damage northwest of Butt of Lewis in the North Atlantic. Four crew members perish from the explosion, but the battleship has no difficulty making it back to port. The Barham's escorts HMS Isis and Nubian prevent U-30 from further attacks this day. Lemp is establishing himself as a top U-boat commander.

Danish freighter Hanne (2,473 tons) hits a mine and sinks just one mile off of Blyth Pier, Scotland. Fifteen crew perish and only two survive.

British fishing trawler Resercho (258 tons) hits a mine and sinks southeast of Flamborough Head, England.

US freighter Exilona is detained by the British at Gibraltar.

Convoy OA 62 departs from Scotland, OB 62 departs from Liverpool and OG 12 forms at Gibraltar.

European Air Operations: The British lose a reconnaissance plane over northwest Germany during the night.

US Air Force: First flight of the XB-24 Liberator at Lindbergh Field, San Diego.

British Homefront: Meat rationing is imposed.

Occupied Poland: The Germans plan to remove 70,000 people from the Polish town of Kalisz to make room for ethnic Germans "returned" from the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Switzerland: Fritz Thyssen, who supported Hitler's rise to power and whose assets have been confiscated by the Germans, protests that "I have not sacrificed my millions for Bolshevism but against it." Actually, he has sacrificed his millions to save his own neck. Statements like this, though, do not endear him to Hitler, and Hitler is not someone that you want to cross unless you are behind a big, bad army.

China: The Japanese bomb the Chinese military supply depot at Lanchow.

The Chinese 3rd War Area interdicts boat traffic on the Yangtze River.

Chinese 5th War Area takes Yuntankang. The Japanese are attacking it at Loyangtien, Tzepakang, Tuchungshan, and Hsuchiatien. Japanese troops take Changshoutien from it.

In the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Chinese are attacking the Japanese Fifth Infantry Division at Kunlunkuan.

Finnish soldier using an anti-aircraft rangefinder, 28 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