Saturday 20 July 1940

London schoolchildren during an air raid drill ordered by the London Board of Education, July 20, 1940. The rules are to go to the middle of the room, away from windows, and hold their hands over the backs of their necks.

Battle of Britain: There is good weather over the Channel on 20 July 1940, a big change from the last few days. The Luftwaffe continues to focus on shipping, which has the added benefit of drawing the RAF up for combat, which the Germans hope will wear the RAF out. There are several large dogfights during the day, but some produce no downed planes.

During the afternoon, the Luftwaffe attacks destroyer HMS Acheron off the Isle of Wight. It is damaged by near misses and proceeds to Portsmouth for repairs. The Luftwaffe loses two Bf 109s of II,/JG51, while the RAF loses three fighters of No. 32 Squadron. Joseph "Pips" Priller, one of the Luftwaffe's great aces, gets one of the kills.

Luftwaffe Stukas of II,/StG1 attacks Convoy CW 7 off Dover. They sink destroyer HMS Brazen (sinks on the 21st, one death) and 960 ton freighter Pulborough, while damaging 710 ton freighter Westown and Norwegian freighters Kollskegg and Nina Borthen. The Germans lose two planes from 3,/JG27. The RAF loses three fighters.

Losses for the day are roughly even. The British lose 5 Hurricanes, a Spitfire and a Blenheim bomber, and the Luftwaffe lose 6 fighters, a couple of bombers and a seaplane.

The Gruppenkommandeur of JG27, Major Helmut Riegel, is shot down over Sark, Dover by Hurricanes of RAF No. 501 Squadron. His replacement is Major Eduard Neumann.

S/L Aeneas RD "Don" MacDonell of No 64 Squadron RAF, one of the pilots fighting over the convoys in the Channel.

European Air Operations: During the day, RAF Bomber Command sends 24 aircraft against the German airfield at Flushing.

At night, RAF Bomber Command sends raids against Düsseldorf and Wismar. A force from Hemswell-Lincolnshire attacks battleship Tirpitz, under construction at Wilhelmshaven, but makes no hits.

The German night fighter force gets its first victory. Pilot Werner Streib of 2,/NJG1, in a prototype Do 17Z (one of a kind), shoots down a British Whitley bomber over the Ruhr without the use of radar. This kind of night visual interception will later be known as "Wild Boar." Streib himself becomes known as “The Father of Night Fighting.”

The Luftwaffe conducts minelaying operations off England, and the Germans lose an FW200C of 1,/KG40. The Luftwaffe bombs Stirling during the night, causing some damage to vehicles at the Royal Ordnance Factory in Forthside.

Reichsmarschall Goering orders Oberst (Colonel) Josef Kammhuber to follow up on the decisions made on 26 June and organize an expanded night fighter force. Kammhuber, a good organizer who briefly had been a prisoner of the French, will command the force. Kammhuber sets to work preparing a night fighter defensive line across Europe for Nachtverteidigung, or the protection of the skies. This becomes known as the Kammhuber Line, and Kammhuber effectively becomes the Night Fighter Czar with priority to get whatever equipment he needs.

3,/JG77 begins operating out of Tempelhof Airport in defense of Berlin.

Werner Streib (1911 - 1986).

Battle of the Atlantic: British 4886 ton Freighter Troutpool hits a mine and sinks near Bangor Pier. There are 11 deaths.

Destroyers HMS Havelock and Vanoc collide near Liverpool, but the damage is minor.

The British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow receives an erroneous report that German battlecruiser Gneisenau had left its port at Trondheim. It organizes its forces to intercept, but the report is proven false.

Convoy OA 187 departs from Methil, Convoy OB 186 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SL 40F departs from Freetown.

Battle of the Mediterranean: HMS Eagle launches airstrikes by Swordfish torpedo bombers on Tobruk, trying to finish off the damaged Italian cruiser Bande Nere. They sink Italian destroyers Ostro and Nembo in Tobruk Harbor, also damaging 2333 ton freighter Sereno. The British lose two planes. The Italians abandon Tobruk as a naval base, though of course, it remains a formidable fortress.

At Malta, there is an air raid at 02:42 by three airplanes which attacks the airbase at Hal Far and at Kalafrana. The raid causes extensive damage at Kalafrana, damaging a Sunderland Flying Boat and other assets. One of the Italian planes is damaged.

Morale at Malta is faltering, so the War Office plans a propaganda campaign to prop up the citizens' spirits.

German Military: Wehrmacht soldiers are warned to avoid too much mingling with the French in Paris and to patronize Wehrmacht coffee shops and canteens (which are being set up). France, particularly Paris, quickly is gaining a reputation as the favorite billet for Wehrmacht soldiers.

British Government: With Hitler having given his "Last Appeal to Reason" speech to the Reichstag on the 19th, there are some within the British government who at least want to open some kind of negotiations with the Reich. Churchill, however, remains adamantly opposed.

The Ministry of Home Security gives statistics on recent civilian casualties. During the month beginning 18 June 1940, there have been 336 civilian deaths and 476 other casualties.

Churchill continues to reshuffle the military top commands. He appoints Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, the former BEF commander, Inspector of Training and the Home Guard. Sir Alan Brooke, the new commander of the Home Guard, has full authority, so this is a meaningless post. However, Gort remains under consideration for posts with real authority, though not for anything critical.

New Zealand: The Chief of the General Staff and Chief of the Air Staff depart Auckland and head for Suva on HMS Achilles for conferences.

France: New Hebrides Islands residents vote to join Charles de Gaulle's "New France."

Vichy France installs Admiral Decoux as Governor-General of French Indochina in place of General Catroux. This solidifies Vichy France's control over this sensitive foreign possession.

Dutch Homefront: In retaliation for the refusal of Dutch colonies to surrender, the Germans arrest Dutch leaders.

Italian Homefront: The University of Rome seeks the return of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.

British Homefront: New car sales are banned.

American Homefront: Glenn Miller tops the charts with "The Woodpecker."

The first Highland Park segment of the Arroyo Seco Parkway on its opening day, July 20, 1940. Courtesy of the Herald-Examiner Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.

July 1940

July 1, 1940: Vichy France
July 2, 1940: Arandora Star
July 3, 1940: Operation Catapult at Mers El Kébir
July 4, 1940: Romania In Crisis
July 5, 1940: The Five Freedoms
July 6, 1940: Hitler's High Point
July 7 1940: Dakar And Ringo
July 8, 1940: Tea Rationing in England
July 9, 1940: Battle of Calabria
July 10, 1940: Battle of Britain Begins
July 11, 1940: "Nous, Philippe Petain"
July 12, 1940: Enter Laval
July 13, 1940: German Surface Raiders Attack!
July 14, 1940: Bastille/Mourning Day
July 15, 1940: Tallest Man Dies
July 16, 1940: Plans for Sea Lion
July 17, 1940: Burma Road Closed
July 18, 1940: FDR Runs Again
July 19, 1940: Last Appeal To Reason
July 20, 1940: First Night Fighter Victory
July 21, 1940: Soviets Absorb Baltic States
July 22, 1940: First RAF Night Fighter Victory
July 23, 1940: Invasion False Alarm
July 24, 1940: The Meknés Incident
July 25, 1940: Black Thursday for RAF
July 26, 1940: Capture The Duke?
July 27, 1940: What's Up, Doc?
July 28, 1940: Destroyers Pulled From Dover
July 29, 1940: Barbarossa On The Burner
July 30, 1940: Hitler Delays Sealion
July 31, 1940: Bloody Wednesday of Olkusz

2020

Friday 23 February 1940

HMS Gurkha.

Winter War: Finland, feeling the strain of the unceasing Soviet attacks on 23 February 1940, once again asks Sweden and Norway to grant transit rights to Allied troops. The Swedes already have denied the request, the Norwegians have not really addressed it, but both must agree. The weather has brought operations all along the line to a halt.

The Soviets appear to have an inkling about the Allied plans to intervene in Finland. They slow the tempo of operations and submit peace terms, suggesting that the Finns may have just a tiny bit of negotiating room.

Winter War Naval Operations: The Finns operating out of Viipurinlahti Bay attempt to re-take Lasisaari Island, but withdraw after dark.

Winter War Peace Talks: The Soviet ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Kollontai, delivers a list of Soviet demands for peace to the Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner. The Finns are displeased at the terms. The Finnish Foreign Affairs Committee meets to consider them. Among other things, they require the entire Karelian Isthmus, including Finland's second-largest city Viipuri. The Soviets also require territory completely surrounding Lake Ladoga, islands in the Gulf of Finland and a 30-year lease on the naval base at Hanko. In exchange for these concessions, the Soviets would agree to return Petsamo. The terms expire on 1 March 1940.

Looked at from the cold gaze of 75 years later, the terms are not too onerous. There are no reparations demanded, Finland would retain its heartland along the Gulf of Finland and its independence, and it would still have an outlet to the sea in the north. All things considered given an unwinnable war...

Battle of the Atlantic: U-53 (Korvettenkapitän Harald Grosse) is sunk in the North Sea in the mid-Orkneys by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Gurkha. All 42 aboard perish.

HMS Ajax and Exeter, two of the ships from the Battle of the Platte, return to England and march through London's Guildhall. Cheering crowds salute the 700 officers and men. HMNZS Achilles returns to New Zealand to a similar reception.

British freighter Benvolio hits a mine and sinks.

The RAF bombs German warships in the Heligoland Bight during the night, with one aircraft failing to return.

The Luftwaffe returns the favor, attacking British shipping by moonlight. The freighter Gothic is strafed.

The British at Gibraltar detain the US freighter Lehigh for several hours, then let it proceed.

Convoy OA 97 departs from Southend, Convoy OB 97 departs from Liverpool, and Convoy OG 19 forms at Gibraltar.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts a leaflet raid on Prague, which has been the center of numerous student protests in recent months. It also performed reconnaissance over Austria and Bohemia-Moravia.

Moscow denies bombing the Finnish town of Pajala along the Swedish border on 21 February.

German/Norwegian Relations: The two nations sign a trade agreement.

Turkey: The Turkish government declares a state of emergency following a (false) report of a Soviet unit crossing the frontier.

Future History: Actor Peter Fonda, son of Henry and sister of Jayne Seymour Fonda (currently 2 years old), is born in New York City. He becomes famous as an actor in the 1960s for films such as "Easy Rider." He passes away on 16 August 2019.

Väinö Tanner, Finnish Foreign Minister.

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

2020

Wednesday 13 December 1939

Battle of the Atlantic: The Battle of the River Platte on 13 December 1939 is the one military event of late 1939 that people remember. It received endless media coverage during a dreary winter of waiting for the larger war to shift into high gear and watching the Soviet Union grind into Finland. In the end, it is a sideshow, but full of valor and death. It is the first of the great "epics" that characterize the German war effort in World War II.

Captain Langsdorff in the Admiral Graf Spee closes on the three British cruisers (Exeter, Achilles, and Ajax) in Force G that are waiting for him just outside the Platte River. This is his second mistake (his first was offering battle at all): the Admiral Graf Spee has the range to stand off and destroy at least one of the British ships with impunity. By moving in, Langsdorff exposes his own ship to damage. The British ships immediately disperse, make smoke, and wait for their prey to get in range.

Langsdorff fires his first shot at 06:18 from 11 miles away. Commodore Harwood in command of Force G splits his forces to put pressure on Langsdorff's ship because its big guns are not agile. By 06:23, the British ships are in range and returning fire, and they begin scoring hits. The pocket battleship's fire is accurate,, too, and early on hits the HMS Achilles (four dead). HMS Exeter is the largest British ship, and Admiral Graf Spee focuses on it, hammering it with 7 11-inch shells that kills 61 crew. By all rights, that should have finished the Exeter, but it is a lucky ship (for now).

Heavy cruiser Exeter is left barely afloat but still firing. By 06:38, only twenty minutes into the battle, one of Exeter's 8-inch shells plunges into the ship and luckily destroys most of Admiral Graf Spee's fuel system. The battle is decided, though the British have by far taken the worst of the fighting: Admiral Graf Spee, now needing repairs but still functional, scurries for sanctuary in Montevideo. The British ships remaining outside the harbor call for reinforcements. British cruiser HMS Cumberland comes up from Port Stanley in the Falklands to replace the battered Exeter.

Admiral Graf Spee, its guns still hot and raised, enters Montevideo Harbor with colors proudly flying.

In the North Sea, HMS Salmon (Lt. Commander Edward O. Bickford), which narrowly missed sinking the Bremen on the 12th, spots both the cruisers Leipzig and Nürnberg in the Heligoland Bight and pumps a torpedo into each. Both survive and struggle back to port, badly damaged.

U-38 (Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe) torpedoes and sinks 4,101-ton British freighter Deptford. Only five survive, 32 perish.

U-57 (Kapitänleutnant Claus Korth) torpedoes and sinks 1,173-ton Estonian freighter, Mina. All 17 onboard perish.

British freighter William Hallett hits a mine and sinks.

US freighter Exochorda is released from detention at Gibraltar by the British.

Convoy OG 10 forms at Gibraltar.

Winter War: International aid continues to flow to Finland. France ships arms there for the first time. General Wallenius takes command of the Finnish Lapland Group. On the Soviet side, Grigori Shtern replaces Ivan Khabarov as commander of the 8th Army, an indication of how poorly the battle is going for the Soviets north of Leningrad.

Winter War Army Operations: Both sides continue battling over Salla, but the Soviets are tightening their grip on the village and looking for their next step. They are at a crossroads there in more ways than one. At Suomussalmi, the Finns remain in control and have completed surrounded the trapped Soviets in the village.

European Air Operations: The RAF intercepts and damages two Dornier flying boats over the North Sea.

Briefing pilots of B Flight at Vitry-en-Artrois after flying in from Merville on 13 December 1939, F/L James G "Sandy" Sanders (third left) of No 615 Squadron RAF chased a He 111 up to 23,000ft during a weather patrol 16 days later in Gladiator Mk II KW-T and, losing it in the clouds, was hit by return fire, ending with a crash near Valenciennes. The badly concussed 25-year-old flight leader was later awarded a damaged claim, the only validated score of an obsolete RAF Gloster biplane in France.

Western Front: The same type of patrols without results that have continued along the border continue.

League of Nations: The League adopts a formal resolution condemning the Soviet Union for its invasion of Finland and calls on member nations to assist Finland.

British Government: The House of Commons meets in secret session for the first time since World War I. The debate is about supplies, and one good guess is that it is a hard look at the true impact of the U-boats on Britain's shipping imports.

Romania: King Carol receives a negative reply from the British on whether they will defend his country from the Soviet Union.

US Military: Lt. Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, a long-time aide to General MacArthur in the Philippines, boards the liner President Cleveland to return to the United States for re-assignment.

China: The Chinese Winter Offensive proceeds on multiple axes:

• Chinese 1st War Area clears Taihsing Shan and cuts Taotsing rail line
• 40th Army and 27th Army of Chinese 2nd War Area open offensive against Japanese 36th Infantry Division around Changtze and Tunliu
• 10th Army Group of Chinese 3rd War Area raids Fuyang, Yuhang, Nanchang, and Hangchow
• Chinese 5th War Area captures Changnaoyuan, Hsinchenshih, Chuankoutien, Chianghsitien, and Yangliuho
• Chinese 9th War Area turning back Japanese columns around Wulimiao, Tashihling, and Kueihuashu and also attacking around Fenghsin and Chingan 
• 27th Army Group of Chinese 9th War Area attacking around Chungyang, Kueihuashu, and Shihchengwan

The Japanese forces are reeling and giving up ground everywhere from this vicious attack, which they appear to have had some advance notice of.


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 6 December 1939

Winter War: It is Finnish Independence Day, 6 December 1939, and it is especially poignant with the country fighting to retain that independence.

Winter War Air Operations: Italy makes a gesture by sending 50 airplanes to Finland to aid the defense. Great Britain also sends airplanes and other armaments. Volunteers also are pouring by sea and air to Finland from other European countries.

Winter War Army Operations: The Soviet 7th Army begins its attacks on the Mannerheim Line on the eastern end of the Karelian Isthmus. So far, the line is working exactly as planned. It is not some masterpiece of military might - more like a bunch of tank ditches - but the Soviets are up against the fixed defenses, the truly skilled and desperate Finns, and the weather. It is becoming roughly an even match. However, the Soviets do have massive numbers behind them and are thus never in any danger of losing the initiative.

The Battle of Taipale begins along the shores of Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus. The Finns have the advantage of coastal batteries there which they can use against land targets also. It is not considered the highest priority defensive sector, and the Soviets have made less progress here than elsewhere, but any breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line would undermine the truly vital components of the Finnish defenses further west. This also would forfeit the protection of natural barriers such as the Suvanto River. Minimal as the Mannerheim Line might be, it is at least something, a point of reference in the endless forests. The Soviets are taking a lot of casualties at the Taipale River near the eastern coast.

Winter War Naval Operations: The Soviets complete their occupation of the islands off the Finnish coast. Largely undefended and small, they are of little military or economic value.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans lay more mines at night off the east coast of England, both by seaplane and destroyers.

British minesweeping trawler HMS Washington strikes a mine and sinks off the eastern coast of England near Great Yarmouth. One crew member survives.

U-31 (Kapitänleutnant Johannes Habekost) torpedoes and sinks the 1,575-ton Estonian freighter Agu. The ship's crew of 18 perishes.

The U-31 also torpedoes the 1,974-ton Swedish freighter Vinga. All 22 crew survive. The U-31 is operating about 100 miles east of Dundee, Scotland.

U-47 (Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien) torpedoes the 6,214-ton tanker MV Britta about 45 miles southwest of Longships Lighthouse in southwestern England. Six perish and 25 survive, picked up by the Belgian trawler Memlinc.

Admiral Graf Spee refuels from the Altmark. It is about 1,700 miles from Montevideo, Uruguay. The Admiralty has learned of the Graf Spee's sinking of a ship off of St. Helena. Commodore Henry Harwood guesses that the German pocket battleship will head for the River Platte and has been sailing his three cruisers (HMS Exeter, Achilles, and Ajax) toward there for some days now.

President Roosevelt, in a rare rebuke of the British during the war, sends a diplomatic note protesting the British "reprisals" for the German magnetic mines. He does not believe it is proper to seize German goods on neutral vessels. The British practiced a similar policy during the First World War.

The British release from detainment at the Downs the US freighter Yaka.

Convoys OA 48 and OB 48 depart from Southend and Liverpool, respectively.

Altmark. In some ways, this miserable little supply vessel is more important to the conduct of the war than the ship it is servicing, the Admiral Graf Spee. But, the ship with the biggest guns always gets the most press.

European Air Operations: Air activity has slackened in recent weeks due to the poor weather. Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe is still intent on overflying Great Britain for various purposes. Today, a wrecked Heinkel He 111 bomber is found on the East Anglian coast. Other aircraft are sighted over the Orkneys. The weather hampers attempts to intercept all of these flights, but it also is causing the Luftwaffe pilots problems.

Anglo-Finnish Relations: President Roosevelt sends a message to President Kallio. The US has never had any issues with Finland.

German/Romanian Relations: The German and Romanian governments reach an agreement for the Romanians to reserve a set fraction of their oil production for the Reich. Oil is always one of Hitler's top concerns, and for good reason.

British Government: The government issues a statement to the press questioning why neutral countries are not doing more to assist the Allies in their blockade of Germany.

Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, the UK's General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Middle East Command, arrives in London to confer with the general staff. So far, his theater of operations has been quiet.

China: The Chinese winter offensive gets in motion with an attack by the 1st War Area on the Japanese 1st Independent Brigade in the vicinity of Anyang.

The Japanese are still launching spoiling attacks against the Chinese at Wenhsi and Hsia Hsien.


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