Tuesday 24 October 1939

Roland Freisler and his "special court."

Battle of the Atlantic: On 24 October 1939, the Soviets are still confused about what to do with the City of Flint and its crew. Today, they send the crew, which the day before were going to return to their ship, into informal custody. The Americans are not allowed to contact the US embassy in Moscow but technically are not under arrest because of a highly technical reading of the international law of ship seizures. Nobody knows what the next step will be. There are conflicting reports, in fact, as to who exactly is being interned.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) has a big day. It sinks the British freighters Ledbury (3,528 tons), Menin Ridge (2,474 tons) and Tafna (4,413 tons). The successes are all against independents and about 90 miles west of Gibraltar.

Greek freighter Konstantinos Hadjipateras (5962 tons) hits a mine just off the English coast in the North Sea. Four perish, the rest are picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.

The British detain the US freighter Wacosta. They release the US freighter Iberville after seizing its cargo. They also seize US mail destined for the Continent from the Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden. The aggressive British seizures are raising some eyebrows in the United States.

Convoy HXF 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

Western Front: The Germans mount a minor attack on a French outpost in the Forest of Warndt in the Saar region. There are scattered raids all along the Front, but no concerted troop movements.

German Government: State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Reich Ministry of Justice discusses "special courts," or Sondergerichte. He characterizes them as  the "tank corps of penal law" which will be used to eliminate those who "stab the dagger in the people's back." In practice, they will constitute show trials, with Freisler shouting at defendants and berating them in open court. The defendants invariably are polite and respectful as Freisler hectors them and sentences them to concentration camps or death (sometimes the same thing). The trials are popular, and in a macabre way constitute the first use of courts as entertainment.

German/Soviet Relations: Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs a trade deal with the Soviets. The Soviets agree to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder.

German Propaganda: Ribbentrop makes a rare speech in Danzig. He affixes Great Britain with war guilt for working steadily against the Germans. He also blames the British for refusing to even consider "the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."

London almost immediately dismisses the speech, saying that it "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."

Finland: The Finnish delegation once again returns to Helsinki to review border proposals made by the USSR.

Poland: The Polish government-in-exile has had an ace up its sleeve all along. Only now Polish gold reach Paris that has been on the road via Romania and then Syria. It totals more than £15,000,000.

Separately, the Polish government in London (the government-in-exile is still in Paris) announces that exile Poles will be used in a Polish Army in France.

Japanese/German Relations: Ambassador Oshima meets with Hitler.

American Homefront: Joe DiMaggio of the four-time World Series Champions New York Yankees is named the American League MVP. Joe hit .381. Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is second.

Nylons!

Nylon stockings go on sale nationwide for the first time. Stores report being sold out of their stock within hours. It is perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the decade.

Future History:  F. Murray Abraham is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus."

"The Long Swing," Joe Dimaggio.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14, 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2020

Sunday 4 February 1940

2nd East Yorkshire Regiment soldier in snow gear with camouflaged rifle, 4 February 1940.

Winter War: Reports surface on 4 February 1940 that the Germans are sending arms by sea to the Soviets at Petsamo (occupied by the Soviet 14th Army) and Murmansk.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet 7th Army advances on Summa Village in fierce fighting. The Finns are fighting fiercely in return from the woods while the Soviets consolidate their capture of Finnish bunkers. The Soviets still have not launched their main attack.

At Kuhmo, the Siberian ski battalion (Col. Dolin) has reached the trapped Soviet 54th Division. The Siberians counterattack the Finnish 9th Division. Elsewhere, Finnish IV Corps destroys the West Lemetti motti (log), capturing 4 field guns, 2 antitank guns, 1 mortar, 32 tanks, 6 machineguns, 120 rifles and 26 trucks. The official orders use the word "motti" for the first time.

Winter War Air Operations: Soviet bombers attack targets throughout Finland, including 141 towns, railways and harbors. Viipuri suffers terribly, with other attacks on Ekenaes and Rovaniemi. In Helsinki, 14 are killed and 179 injured. The Soviets drop about 6,800 bombs. Overall, there is a total of 193 casualties, mostly civilians. The Finns claim to have shot down 11 more Soviet planes.

Winter War Peace Efforts: The Finnish Foreign Minister travels to Stockholm for secret negotiations with Soviet ambassador Madame Kollontai.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) torpedoes and sinks 1,365 ton Norwegian freighter Hop 100 miles south of the Shetland Islands at 04:17. All 17 crew perish.

U-37 continues on and at 21:25 torpedoes 4,330 ton British freighter Leo Dawson about 15 miles east of Bressay after missing with the first torpedo. All 35 on board perish.

The minesweeper Sphinx, bombed on the 3rd, sinks at 04:30 while under tow in rough seas. Five officers and 49 crew perish. It is the first Halcyon-class ship lost at sea.

The British confiscate 390 sacks of German mail from the US passenger liner Manhattan and then release her. American diplomatic pouches on board were not touched.

Convoy OB 85 departs from Liverpool, and Convoy HXF 19 departs from Halifax.

French Military: The French decorate RAF Flight Lt. R.V. Jeff with the Croix de Guerre.

Joseph Stalin with - and without - Nikolai Yezhov. Foreign Minister Molotov is on the left.

Soviet Government: Stalin has Nikolai Yezhov, his former head of the NKVD (later the KGB), executed for disloyalty. Not only is Yezhov executed, but Stalin orders him removed from all known photographs of him with Stalin in an early version of photoshopping. This incident and others like it perhaps informs George Orwell as he writes his classic "1984" later in the decade.

Balkans: The ministers meeting at Belgrade declare regional neutrality and solidarity.

China: At the First Battle of Wuyuan, the Japanese advance from the city and capture Linho from Chinese 8th War Area.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese capture Shanglin and attack Wuning, while the Chinese counterattack and capture Yungshun, which threatens Japanese lines of communication. The Chinese also attack around Pinyang.

HMS Sphinx after being bombed.

February 1940

February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2016

Saturday 3 February 1940

Soviet T-20 Komsomolets armored tow vehicles towing 45mm AT guns.

Winter War Army Operations: Today, 3 February 1940, is day three of the Second Battle of Summa, and the Finns continue holding their positions against Soviet probing attacks. The Stavka gives final approval to Timoshenko's plan for breaking through the Mannerheim Line there.

The Soviets form an assault party to capture and destroy a particularly vexing bunker known as bunker No. 2. The men are riflemen of the 5th Company, 355th Rifle Regiment, along with two T-26 tanks and two squads of sappers. Fighting hand-to-hand through Finnish trenches, they make their way to the bunker and plant 3,500 kg of explosives on its roof during the night, along with other charges totaling 5,300 kg. The men of the 5th company blow the bunker up. It is the first large bunker occupied even temporarily by the Soviet troops, and the 100th Rifle Division commander, Yernakov, focuses his attack in this direction. The Finns, though, hold fast in the forest north of the bunker and prevent any further incursion.

Winter War Air Operations: The Finns claim in a communique that they have brought down another 13 Soviet planes over the scene of the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus. The Soviets also send bombers against various Finnish cities, including Kuopio and Pori on the Bothnian coast.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-25 (Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 6,805-ton British freighter Armanistan, which is sailing with convoy OG-16, at 14:32 100 miles west of Lisbon. Everyone on board survives and is landed on Tenerife.

U-58 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) torpedoes and sinks 815-ton Estonian freighter Reet in the North Sea. All 18 men perish. Hartmann is determined to get the tiny vessel, and he chases it from Stavanger, Norway almost to Aberdeen, Scotland over the course of 13 hours, ending at 09:36. He also wastes three torpedoes on it.

US passenger liner Manhattan, which was directed to Gibraltar by a French patrol, is detained there.

Convoy OA 85G departs from Southend and OG 17F forms at Gibraltar.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on British shipping, sending 20 Heinkel He 111 bombers. The sink two ships, but lose three of their own number to RAF fighter sweeps. One crashes in Yorkshire, the other in the sea off the River Tyne. The British minesweeper HMS Sphinx (Commander John R. N. Taylor) is hit and heavily damaged, but not taking on water. Taken in tow by fellow minesweeper HMS Speedwell, she eventually capsizes and sinks in heavy seas. There are 41-54 dead (accounts vary), including Commander Taylor.

Anglo/Turkish Relations: The two nations sign a trade agreement.

China: The First Battle of Wuyuan begins, as Japanese forces brush aside the Chinese 8th War Area forces and capture Wuyuan.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, Japanese forces capture Tsouhsu and attack Wuning, while a Chinese counterattack takes Kantang and Kula. This poses a threat to the lead Japanese formations.

A Soviet tank column. The Soviet tractor tows a T-26 that has been disabled by a mine. The tank on the right is a Cht-26 chemical tank.

February 1940

February 1, 1940: Second Battle of Summa
February 2, 1940: Soviet Assaults at Summa February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2019

Tuesday 24 October 1939

Roland Freisler and his "special court."

Battle of the Atlantic: On 24 October 1939, the Soviets are still confused about what to do with the City of Flint and its crew. Today, they send the crew, which the day before were going to return to their ship, into informal custody. The Americans are not allowed to contact the US embassy in Moscow but technically are not under arrest because of a highly technical reading of the international law of ship seizures. Nobody knows what the next step will be. There are conflicting reports, in fact, as to who exactly is being interned.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) has a big day. It sinks the British freighters Ledbury (3,528 tons), Menin Ridge (2,474 tons) and Tafna (4,413 tons). The successes are all against independents and about 90 miles west of Gibraltar.

Greek freighter Konstantinos Hadjipateras (5962 tons) hits a mine just off the English coast in the North Sea. Four perish, the rest are picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.

The British detain the US freighter Wacosta. They release the US freighter Iberville after seizing its cargo. They also seize US mail destined for the Continent from the Finnish freighter Astrid Thorden. The aggressive British seizures are raising some eyebrows in the United States.

Convoy HXF 6 departs from Halifax for Liverpool.

Western Front: The Germans mount a minor attack on a French outpost in the Forest of Warndt in the Saar region. There are scattered raids all along the Front, but no concerted troop movements.

German Government: State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Reich Ministry of Justice discusses "special courts," or Sondergerichte. He characterizes them as  the "tank corps of penal law" which will be used to eliminate those who "stab the dagger in the people's back." In practice, they will constitute show trials, with Freisler shouting at defendants and berating them in open court. The defendants invariably are polite and respectful as Freisler hectors them and sentences them to concentration camps or death (sometimes the same thing). The trials are popular, and in a macabre way constitute the first use of courts as entertainment.

German/Soviet Relations: Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signs a trade deal with the Soviets. The Soviets agree to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder.

German Propaganda: Ribbentrop makes a rare speech in Danzig. He affixes Great Britain with war guilt for working steadily against the Germans. He also blames the British for refusing to even consider "the hand of the Führer stretched out in a peace gesture."

London almost immediately dismisses the speech, saying that it "introduces no new element into the situation nor is it considered as having any particular importance."

Finland: The Finnish delegation once again returns to Helsinki to review border proposals made by the USSR.

Poland: The Polish government-in-exile has had an ace up its sleeve all along. Only now Polish gold reach Paris that has been on the road via Romania and then Syria. It totals more than £15,000,000.

Separately, the Polish government in London (the government-in-exile is still in Paris) announces that exile Poles will be used in a Polish Army in France.

Japanese/German Relations: Ambassador Oshima meets with Hitler.

American Homefront: Joe DiMaggio of the four-time World Series Champions New York Yankees is named the American League MVP. Joe hit .381. Red Sox first baseman Jimmie Foxx is second.

Nylons!

Nylon stockings go on sale nationwide for the first time. Stores report being sold out of their stock within hours. It is perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the decade.

Future History:  F. Murray Abraham is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus."

Joe Dimaggio.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2019

Sunday 15 October 1939

Cuban mail rockets.

Western Front: Paris radio reports on 15 October 1939 that German troops are massing behind the lines. It also reports that French reconnaissance planes are watching the front, as are German reconnaissance planes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiralty publishes a list of the 414 survivors of the HMS Royal Oak.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) sinks the French 5,186-ton merchant freighter Vermont by gunfire. Two crew perish.

The Admiral Graf Spee refuels from the tanker Altmark.

Convoy OA 20G departs from Scotland.

Convoy SL 5 departs from Freetown for Liverpool.

European Air Operations: Having previously lost both legs in an inter-war flying accident, Douglas Bader seeks to regain full flight status in the RAF.

Finland: The military imposes compulsory national service.

Estonia: The Estonian government signs an agreement with the German government for the transfer of ethnic Germans to Germany.

Lithuania: The Polish minister in Kaunas protests to Lithuania that the Soviets had no right to deed the Polish city of Vilnius to Lithuania on 10 October 1939. The Lithuanians, however, had little choice in the matter, as the Soviets wanted to help enhance the reputation of the local communist party and threatened consequences if the territory was not accepted.

Poland: there is an outbreak of typhoid and cholera.

China: The 11th Japanese Army is now back to its starting point in the Battle of Changsha.

Official Post Office cachet for Cuban rocket mail.

Cuba: The Cuban post office tests the use of rockets to deliver mail between cities. The test is unsuccessful.

Prisoner swaps: Germany and England exchange their detained consular officials.

Holocaust: German puppet state Slovakia orders that Jews serve in forced labor.

American Homefront: The airport in Queens that eventually becomes LaGuardia Airport (now New York Municipal Airport) is dedicated before 100,000 people. There are air force fly-bys.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2019