Saturday 2 December 1939

Doric Star ~ Coup de grâce by a torpedo from the Admiral Graf Spee ~ The track visible on right-hand side  ~ 2/12/1939 ~ Courtesy Ron Young.

Winter War: The Finns on 2 December 1939 claim 36 tanks destroyed and 19 planes shot down. They also claim to have sunk a Soviet warship off the island of Russaro (the ship was only damaged, though with numerous casualties).

Winter War Army Operations: Finnish troops are slowly withdrawing to the Mannerheim Line. They are proving adept at ambushing Soviet tanks and setting booby traps. There are some 13,000 front-line Finnish troops on the Karelian Isthmus facing several times their number. The lines are still well ahead of the major Mannerheim Line defenses.

At the north end of the Front, the Soviets have occupied Petsamo and are advancing toward Rovaniemi against light opposition. The Finish 10th Separate Company and 5th Separate Battery, both part of the Lapland Group, face two Soviet Divisions (the 52nd and the 104th).

Soviet 8th Army north of Lake Ladoga captures Suojarvi.

Winters in Finland are cold. December 2, 1939. Suvilahti, Finland.

Finnish Government: The government issues an appeal to the League of Nations.

Soviet Propaganda: The Soviet government signs a "pact of mutual assistance" with its puppet Finnish People's government.

German Propaganda: The German state media launch a campaign against Sweden. This contributes to the general sense of unease felt throughout Scandinavia.

Western Front: A French communique states that it is "a quiet day."

Battle of the Atlantic: Battleship HMS Renown and cruiser HMS Sussex attack the German freighter Watussi off South Africa, whose crew scuttles it. HMS Renown rescues the 155 crew and 43 passengers and deposits them for internment in South Africa.

Admiral Graf Spee's Arado floatplane spots the 10,086 British Blue Star Line freighter Doric Star near St. Helena. Captain Stubbs has the British crew radio a distress message and disables the ship. Admiral Graf Spee then takes off the crew and sinks it after taking all worthwhile moveable objects such as sextants and binoculars.

U-56 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Zahn) torpedoes 3,829-ton British freighter Eskdene off Tyne in the North Sea. All 28 crew survive and abandon ship. The Eskdene remains afloat, though abandoned.

U-56 also sinks Swedish vessel Rudolf.

British freighter Calisto hits a mine and sinks.

Convoy OA 45G leaves Southend, Convoy SL 11 leaves Freetown, and Convoy HXF 11 departs from Halifax.

Doric Star, sunk by the Admiral Graf Spee.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 24 Vickers Wellington bombers of 115 Squadron against the Kriegsmarine base at Heligoland. A bomb is dropped on land when it "hangs up" in the bomb bay and eventually drops on Heligoland Island, where it apparently quite fortuitously hits an anti-aircraft battery. This marks the first RAF bombs dropped on the Reich in World War II.

US Government: President Roosevelt proposes a "moral embargo" on the sale of American arms to unnamed countries perpetuating "terror bombing."

British Government: The government extends conscription to all men aged between 19 and 41 years. There are very limited occupational deferments.

Italy: There are pro-Finnish demonstrations in Rome as the Vatican condemns the Soviet attack.

Sweden: The Army calls up reserves. The Foreign Minister resigns when the government refuses to send troops to help Finland.

Olympics: The IOC announces that, just as in November they had canceled the Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, they also now were canceling the summer 1940 Games. Those Games had been planned for Helsinki, but the Winter War makes holding them there impossible.

American Homefront: US politician Harry Reid is born in Searchlight, Nevada. He becomes Senate Majority Leader in the 2000s.

LaGuardia Airport opens.

On December 2, 1939, LaGuardia opened to commercial traffic when a TWA DC-3 from Chicago landed minutes after midnight. Within a year, LaGuardia was the busiest airport in the world.

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

Friday December 1 1939

The Soviet bombing of civilian areas in Helsinki.

Winter War: On 1 December 1939, the Soviets bomb Helsinki again during the night, killing 80 people.

On the ground, the Soviet advance is slow. The Finns may be small in numbers, but they are big in heart. The Karelian Front is the scene of savage fighting. The Finns report capturing 1200 prisoners, destroying 19 tanks and shooting down at least 16 aircraft.

Winter War Army Operations: Soviet 7th and 8th Armies on either side of Lake Ladoga are advancing, but slowly. They are meeting unexpected strong resistance and are behind schedule. Soviet tanks are operating independently from the infantry. These occasionally penetrate the Finnish lines but are eventually neutralized.

North of Lake Ladoga, the advance Finnish forces near the border flee back to the Mannerheim Line. The Soviets are in hot pursuit, aided by naval forces on Lake Ladoga.

Soviet 14th Army in the far north accomplishes its prime objective and captures the prime port of Petsamo.

Winter War Naval Operations: The Finnish troops on Russaro Island beat back the Soviet cruiser Kirov that is bombarding it. The Soviet ship takes 17 dead and 30 wounded, while the Finns report no casualties. The Finns are armed with four massive 234 mm coastal guns there, and they are able to return fire at a range of 24 km to good effect.

Soviet gunboat Orangenbaum runs aground on a sandbar in Lake Ladoga, a notoriously treacherous lake for ships. It is accompanying other ships trying to shell Finnish shore batteries and land troops at Taipale behind the Mannerheim Line. The overall Soviet attack is unsuccessful.

The Soviet Navy lands troops on Someri Island and Narvi Island.

Scandinavia: There are widespread pro-Finnish demonstrations throughout the Nordic region. These nations live in perpetual fear of heavy-handed tactics such as the USSR is displaying, and now the nightmare is coming true.

A recruitment office for volunteers wishing to help the Finns opens in Stockholm.

Winter War Peace Talks: Molotov rejects requests to negotiate with the new Finnish government.

United States Government: President Roosevelt condemns the Soviet invasion of Finland. US Ambassador to the USSR Laurence B. Steinhardt states that in particular, the US objects to "the alleged bombardment of civilians in Finland by Soviet airmen."

Soviet Propaganda: The Soviets set up a puppet Finnish government (the Democratic Republic of Finland) just across the border in occupied Finland, at Terijoki. It is led by Finnish Communist Otto Kuusinen, who asks Finns to "overthrow the oppressor" in Helsinki.

The TASS news agency touts the Kuusinen government that the Soviets have installed: "The people already rose in various parts of the country and proclaimed the formation of a democratic republic. Part of the soldiers of Finland's army already have sided with the new government, backed by the people." In actuality, the entire Finnish Army is fighting with great skill and determination against the Soviet hordes.

Battle of the Atlantic: British freighter Dalryan hits a mine and sinks off the southeast coast of England. Norwegian freighter Realf is reported lost at sea.

U-21 (Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim) sinks 4,260-ton Finnish freighter Mercator off Buchan Ness, Scotland in the North Sea. One crew member perishes, 35 survive.

U-31 (Kapitänleutnant Johannes Habekost) sinks 1,277-ton Norwegian freighter Arcturus east of Scotland.

Convoy OA 44 departs from Southend.

Battle of the Pacific: The US sends six submarines to join the Asiatic Fleet in Pearl Harbor.

France: Premier Edouard Daladier addresses the French and British people (with simultaneous translation as usual). He states that it "has not been necessary to take an attitude of aggressive attack" due to the strength of the Maginot Line. He makes a point of blaming French communist leaders' subversion ("treating with foreign governments") for France's situation, stating that it constitutes "treason."

China: A major Chinese winter offensive, long-planned by Chiang Kai-shek, begins. It starts in north China. The Chinese 1st War Area (Honan and northern Anhwei, with 3rd Army Group and 36th Army Group) cuts the Lunghai Railway in three places (Lowang, Neihuang, and Lanfeng).

In the Battle of Kwangsi, the Japanese, pursuing the fleeing Chinese, capture Kaofengyi north of Nanning.

Edouard Daladier.

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

Wednesday 29 November 1939

Fritz Kuhn of the German-American Bund with Adolf Hitler.

Soviet/Finnish Relations: On 29 November 1939, the Soviet Union severs diplomatic relations with Finland without waiting for a formal reply to its diplomatic note of 28 November. A Finnish offer to renew discussions over the territorial issues, perhaps via arbitration, is spurned. US Secretary of State Cordell Hull announces that he is prepared to mediate.

At 24:00, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov orders the invasion of Finland.

Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Diomede, a recently reactivated Great War cruiser, chases the German freighter Idarwald from Tampico, Mexico. The Germans scuttle the ship off Cabo Corrientes, Cuba before it can be captured. A US destroyer (either the USS Broome or USS Sturtevant) has been shadowing the freighter but does not intervene in its destruction.

U-35 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Lott) surfaces and surrenders after a depth-charge attack by British destroyers HMS Icarus, Kashmir and Kingston. The U-boat then sinks. All 43 crew survive, a rarity for U-boats, because Lord Mountbatten, in command on the Kashmir, sends boats over to rescue the Germans.

The U-35 was a moderately successful predator, sinking four vessels for a total of 7,850 tons. U-35 was the U-boat involved in the Diamantis incident. After disembarking the ship and sinking it, the U-35 brought all 28 Greek crewmen to safety at Ireland on 4 October 1939. It is an event still remembered fondly by people in Ballymore at Ventry Harbor. The rescued U-35 crew are temporarily imprisoned in the Tower of London before being sent to POW camps.

The 3,114-ton British freighter Ionian hits a mine and sinks near Newart Lightship in the English Channel. All 37 crew survive.

The Admiral Graf Spee transfers to the tanker Altmark all of its British prisoners from the six ships that it has sunk, where they remain imprisoned.

US freighter Nishmaha is detained by the French at Marseilles and the US freighter Extavia at Gibraltar.

German Government: Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 9, "Instructions for Warfare against the Economy of the Enemy." It specifies tactics for starving Great Britain into submission.

European Air Operations: There is an air duel over the Northumbrian coast. Two British patrol aircraft and a Dornier seaplane are shot down over the North Sea.

Western Front: French troops perform reconnaissance in Vosges Forest areas held by German troops.

Spanish/German Relations: The Spanish government ratifies a friendship pact with Germany. It includes secret protocols permitting Germany the use of Spanish ports and cooperation regarding propaganda and policing.

Soviet Government: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issues a decree granting citizenship to all permanent residents of territory recently incorporated into the USSR (all of it has been). Such citizens are obligated to serve in the military.

British Government: The British government announces in the preceding week (ending 25 November) that it seized 21,500 tons of contraband allegedly destined for Germany.

Ireland: The Government of Eire commissions some motor torpedo boats and armed trawlers.

British Homefront: The Chancellor of the Exchequer reports that foreigners are sending in contributions, often in the form of family jewels, gold, and other tangible gifts, to help finance the war effort.

American Homefront: The leader of the German-American Bund, Fritz Julius Kuhn, recently arrested in New York, is convicted of five counts of larceny and forgery.

Salvador Dalí photographed by Carl Van Vechten on November 29, 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

Tuesday 28 November 1939

Meeting of the Jewish council in the Lodz ghetto

Soviet/Finnish Relations: On 28 November 1939, the Soviets renounce the 21 January 1932 Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Pact. They also allege two more "incidents" of Finnish troops firing on Soviet forces along the border on the sensitive Karelian Isthmus. The decision to renounce the pact may seem rather pointless, but Hitler likes to maintain a certain facile pretense of legality to all of his actions. The Soviets quite obviously are adopting his pre-war tactics.

The Finns submit the conclusion of their own investigation to the Soviets. The conclusion is that it was Soviet artillery, not Finnish artillery, that shelled Mainila. This is based on numerous factors, including the absence of Finnish artillery in the area and direct observation of the shelling by Finnish observers as it happened.

Soviet Military: The Kremlin sends orders to its troops along the Finnish border to prepare to invade Finland on 30 November.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British and French governments jointly announce that reprisal measures for German mining of shipping lanes without warning will take effect on 4 December 1939.

The British freighter Rubislaw hits a mine and sinks in the North Sea.

The SS Gustaf E. Reuter, which was torpedoed on the 27th, is still barely floating, so the RN trawler Kingston Beryl gives it the coup de grâce.

The Norwegian government purchases the US-flagged City of Flint.

The HMS Chitral lands its 11 survivors from the HMS Rawalpindi, sunk near Iceland by the Kriegsmarine pocket battleship Scharnhorst. The other survivors were picked up by the Germans.

US freighter Winston Salem is detained by the British at Ramsgate.

Convoy OA 43 departs from Southend and OB 43 departs from Liverpool.

European Air Operations: The RAF performs reconnaissance over northwest Germany.

Twelve Bristol Blenheims of the RAF attack a German seaplane base at Borkum, one of the Friesian Islands. It is a low-level attack with machine guns. All the aircraft return safely and little damage is done to the base, but it is the first such attack by the British after innumerable reconnaissance flights.

Public views Magna Carta after it is deposited in the Congressional Library [Library of Congress], Washington, D.C., November 28, 1939.

Holocaust: Hans Frank in Krakow orders that there be a Judenrat (Jewish council of elders) in every Polish ghetto to carry out German orders and be held responsible for actions within those ghettos.

British Government: King George opens a new session of Parliament.

The British government ceremonially turns over the Magna Carta to the United States for safekeeping. It already is in the United States for display at the New York World's Fair. A return trip to Great Britain during wartime is considered too hazardous. The decision to retain it in the United States was arranged by President Roosevelt personally. The Magna Carta is put on public display in Washington, D.C.

British Military: The British recall to service Adrian Carton de Wiart. He is given the rank of Major General. De Wiart is a legendary, heroic figure in the annals of the British military. He has made his home in the Pripyat Marshes in Poland between the wars and has been advising the Polish government since the start of the war. De Cart already has had several narrow escapes from capture by the Germans before returning to England.

China: The Japanese attack Kaofengyi during the continuing Battle of South Kwangsi.

New Zealand: The steamer Waikouaiti runs aground on Dog Island three miles off Bluff in dense fog. It is a total loss, but no loss of life.

American Homefront: Today becomes infamous as Black Tuesday, the worst of many smoke-choked days in St. Louis’ smokiest cold-weather season. The city already is known for the nation’s filthiest air, worse even than Pittsburgh’s. The reason is the area’s reliance on cheap, dirty, high-sulfur “soft” coal dug from the hills and hollows across the Mississippi River in Illinois. St. Louis’ first anti-smoke ordinance was dated 1867 and was out obsolete. But as the city grew in population and industry, the smoke kept getting worse. This day finally prompts the city to ban the use of cheap soft coal, a hard sell during the Great Depression.

London is blacked out.

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

Monday November 27 1939

Holland Amerika Lijn liner Spaarndam sinking, 27 November 1939.

False-Flag Incidents: On 27 November 1939, Finland quickly concludes from its investigation that it was impossible for Finnish troops to have fired upon Mainila, Russia. The reason is that Marshall Mannerheim, wise to "provocations," previously had ordered all artillery out of range of the border. The Finnish government issues a diplomatic note to Moscow denying any involvement in the incident. The Finns suggest a mutual withdrawal of troops. The Soviets in the Kremlin, of course, know exactly what happened and are planning their next steps.

Western Front: Local infantry and artillery action east of the Moselle River.

Battle of the Atlantic: King George signs an order in council approving reprisals against Germany for the indiscriminate mining of shipping lanes without warning. Meanwhile, the British Admiralty is seizing German exports on the high seas.

U-48 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Schultze) torpedoes 6,336-ton Swedish tanker Gustaf E. Reuter near Fair Isle off the northeast coast of Scotland in the North Sea. One crewman perishes, the rest are rescued by the Royal Navy trawler HMS Kingston Beryl. The ship does not sink at once after it is abandoned, so it is taken in tow. However, it sinks during a gale during the night.

Dutch liner Spaarndam hits a mine at the Thames estuary and the entrance to the Lock Deep, two miles from the Tongue lightship, and sinks. The mine had been laid during the night of 12/13 November 1939 by Kriegsmarine destroyers. There are six victims. The liner had been en route from New Orleans to Rotterdam via London. There apparently are no US casualties.

The US freighter Effingham is detained at Ramsgate and the freighter Azalea City is detained at London by the British. They release the US freighter Excambion.

The Luftwaffe drops more mines off the English coast.

Battle of the Pacific: The Japanese launch Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier Zuikaku ("Auspicious Crane").

Sweden: The government protests to the German government about the mining done within its territorial waters.

Holocaust: In the Reich, the marriage of "Aryans" to "Jews" is made illegal. Those so married are given one year to divorce. Just who is an Aryan and who is a Jew - always a huge issue in Germany - becomes a subject of much more deliberation.

Norway: The Nobel Committee in Oslo announces that no awards are to be made for 1939.

American Homefront: Private individuals form two corporations for the collection of war relief for Great Britain and France.

A giant cat pulled by little tin men from the 1939 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, as taken on 23 November 1939 and published on 27 November 1939 (AP Photo).

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

Sunday 26 November 1939

The Mainila, Finland, damage.

False-Flag Operations: Out of a clear sky, seven Soviet mortar shells suddenly fall on the Russian village Mainila (north of Leningrad) at 14:30 on 26 November 1939. It is quite close to the border (800 meters), and Finnish observers observe the incident. The Soviets immediately blame the Finns. (Subsequent analysis shows that) no Soviet troops or civilians are injured or killed. The shelling (as subsequently disclosed by Nikita Khrushchev) is organized by Soviet Artillery Marshal Grigory Kulik.

At 21:00, the Soviets summon Finnish ambassador to the Kremlin. He is told "Finnish artillery shelled the area, killing 4 Soviet border guards and wounding 7 more.” They demand that all Finnish troops be withdrawn 20-25 km from the border, which would remove them entirely from the entire Karelian Isthmus north of Leningrad. Their mere presence is a "hostile act." The Finns are quick to deny any involvement and immediately launch an investigation.

The incident is eerily similar to the Gleiwitz incident on 31 August August 1939, part of Operation Himmler to create a casus belli for the invasion of Poland. Mainila just so happens to be a favorite location for Red Army war games. John Colville, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s private secretary, noting the similarity to the German false-flag "provocations" along the Polish border, terms the Mainila incident “a technique which does not gain in dignity for being second-hand.”

Soviet state media immediately goes into overdrive blaming the Finns as aggressors. One thing is certain: anyone who does not see the war clouds forming over the two countries is not looking.

Investigating some of the damage.

Western Front: After several quiet days, there are some German patrols in the Vosges forests.

Battle of the Atlantic: The British are still working on the German magnetic mine they captured. The mines continue wreaking havoc on shipping, which is the nation's lifeblood.

Polish liner MS Pilsudski is sunk by a mine in the North Sea. It has been under charter to the Royal Navy.

The Kriegsmarine seizes a neutral Danish steamer, the Cyril, carrying coal from Great Britain to Stockholm. This is the first German seizure of a neutral vessel going to a neutral port.

Admiral Graf Spee, back in the South Atlantic, rendezvouses with the tanker Altmark.

Convoy OA 42 departs from Southend, OB 42 departs from Liverpool, OG 8 forms at Gibraltar, and HX 10 departs from Halifax.

British Homefront: Chamberlain broadcasts a speech to the public on war aims. He discloses that the government now knows the workings of the German magnetic mines.

Future History: Tina Turner is born in Nutbush, Tennessee. She becomes a famous singer in the 1960s as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue and goes on to solo stardom. She eventually moves to Zurich, Switzerland and becomes a citizen there, renouncing her US citizenship perhaps for tax purposes.

Polish liner Pilsudski in New York harbor, 1938.

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

Saturday, November 25, 1939

Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops train with a Type 99-1 7.7mm heavy MG), 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: On 25 November 1939, Germany continues laying its game-changer magnetic mines, this time off southwest Sweden. They are within the four-mile limit of Swedish territorial waters. This is a key strait for international shipping traffic and neutral ships are bound to be affected.

Several neutral nations - Italy, Japan, Sweden, Denmark - make inquiries to the British foreign office as to exactly what "reprisals" Prime Minister Chamberlain has in mind as payback for Germany's magnetic mines.

U-28 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke) torpedoes and sinks 5,144-ton British freighter, Royston Grange, off Land's End. Everyone survives. It has been sailing with convoy SL-8B.

U-28 also engages in some mine-laying on this patrol.

U-43 (Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Ambrosius) torpedoes and sinks 2,483-ton freighter Uskmouth off Cape Finisterre, Spain. Two perish and 23 survive. After two torpedoes malfunction, Captain Ambrosius gets so frustrated that he surfaces and rakes the ship with his deck gun, but it continues trying to evade. Another try with a torpedo misses. Finally, after 149 rounds of shells - an unheard-of amount by a U-boat - the Uskmouth sinks after a two-hour drama.

Kriegsmarine patrol vessel V-301 hits an mine and sinks.

The Gneisenau having had a successful cruise, it gets a new commander, Harald Netzbandt.

The French Force de Raide heads north to hunt for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Convoy OA 41 departs from Southen, OB 41 from Liverpool, HSF 10 from Halifax and SL 10F from Freetown.

European Air Operations: There are more Luftwaffe reconnaissance flights over the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

The RAF also conducts aerial reconnaissance, over Wilhelmshaven and Heligoland.

Romania: Prime Minister Tararescu forms his cabinet, which is significantly less pro-German than the previous one.

British Homefront: New Forest ponies are in danger from the blackout and thus are removed to safer areas.

US Navy: A brand new destroyer, the USS Yarnall (DD 143), drifts ashore at Lynnhaven Roads. It is refloated but needs repairs.

Olympics: International Olympic Committee President Henri de Baillet-Latour officially cancels the 1940 Winter Olympics because they were to be held (again) at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The games were just awarded to Germany in June 1939 after plans collapsed to hold them at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Hitler had stepped in then to offer an easy alternative. There is some dispute over whether the IOC pulled the games from Germany on its own or Hitler withdrew the invitation due to the war situation, but in any event, it would prove to be impossible to hold them anywhere.

The Summer Olympics, originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo but then switched to Helsinki, Finland at Japanese request, are still officially up in the air. However, especially with tensions growing between Finland and the USSR, it does not look promising.

China: In the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Chinese forces have taken a beating at Nanning and are retreating northward to Wuming as the Japanese take control of the town. The Japanese now have cut off Chunking, as intended.

A David Low cartoon from 25 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