- October 6
- Australia agrees to dispatch one cruiser and five destroyers for British use in Singapore. [439.32]
- Last Polish troops cease fighting. German losses in Poland: about 8100 dead, 28,000 wounded, 5100 missing, 217 tanks destroyed, 564 planes destroyed or damaged beyond repair; Polish lost 433 aircraft. [801.23,28]
- Adolf Hitler announces a peace plan in the Reichstag. [185.590]
- October 7
- Adolf Hitler appoints SS Chief Heinrich Himmler to take charge of establishing a New Order in Eastern Europe. [166.303]
- German submarine U-47 leaves German port, destined for the British Royal Navy at Scapa Flow. [617.36]
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks Ashlea east of Ascension Island. [198.140] [560.141]
- October 9
- Adolf Hitler issues a memorandum to senior commanders justifying a policy of full-scale attack on Britain and France, if possible, this autumn. [149.49]
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 6 "for the Conduct of the War", ordering an offensive planned through Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland, as soon as armored units are ready and favorable weather conditions allow. The purpose of the offensive is to defeat the French Army, gain territory in Holland, Belgium, and Northern France to serve as a base against England and protect the Ruhr area. Adolf Hitler fears a delay would lead to an invasion of Belgium and possibly Holland by Western forces. [149.50] [347.28]
- Adolf Hitler gives detailed instructions on the proposed war in the West to the commanders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. [149.51]
- October 10
- A German victory parade is held in Warsaw, Poland. [358.25]
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- In Moscow, a Pact of Mutual Assistance is signed between the Soviet Union and Lithuania, allowing Soviet occupation of stations of military importance. [406.201] [517.1793]
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks Huntsman while en route to the Cape. [198.140] [560.141]
- October 11
- Australian Prime Minister Menzies announces the Empire Air Training Scheme, to train aircrew for operations in Europe. [439.33]
- October 14
- (0130 hours) In Scapa Flow, off the northern coast of Scotland, German submarine U-47 under command of Lieutenant Gunther Prien torpedoes British battleship HMS Royal Oak. The ship sinks in about 20 minutes. 833 men are killed. [74.20] [173.8] [186.617] [503.1737] [617.36] [798.35] [832.10]
- October
- In Germany, Lieutenant General Kurt Student of the 7th Airborne Division, is given the mission of preparing a plan of attack for the Fort Eben Emael in Belgium. [78.259]
- Soviets ask Finland to grant them military bases in return for territorial concessions. [113.503]
- Albert Einstein signs a letter written to US President Franklin Roosevelt urging research into the military use of atomic energy. Roosevelt supports the idea. [166.363]
- Sweden, Denmark, and Norway issue a joint declaration that a Russian attack on Finland would be considered an attack on the whole north. [113.504]
- October 16
- Five warships from England arrive in Halifax, Canada, carrying about 10 million Pounds Sterling in gold from Britain and other Allied nations, for safekeeping during the war. [118.38]
- German troops cross the extreme western end of the German frontier to France, losing twenty tanks in the battle. [186.617]
- British leaflet drops over Germany resume. [84.24]
- October 18
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 7 "for the Conduct of the War". The Navy may attack passenger ships in convoys or without running lights. If Anglo-French forces invade Belgium, the German army may enter Luxembourg. Attacks endangering the civilian population are forbidden in Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. [149.51]
- October 19
- In Angora, Turkey signs a Treaty of Mutual Assistance with Great Britain and France. If Turkey enters the war, France and Great Britain commit to providing assistance. [38.169] [187.656] [406.197]
- October 22
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks Trevanion while en route to the Cape. [198.140] [560.142]
- October 24
- Allied forces agree that in the event of a German attack, to advance into Belgium to the Scheldt River. [83.202]
- October 25
- German General Gerd von Rundstedt is appointed Commander in the West. [149.306]
- October 27
- Britain halts aerial leaflet drops due to bad weather. [84.25]
- Vicomte Davignon, Belgian Ambassador in Berlin, reports to the Belgian Government that he had learnt from a reliable source that Adolf Hitler intended to invade Belgium soon. [347.28]
- October 28
- Adolf Hitler intervenes in war plans to change a limited operation into a strong focused drive to cut Belgium in two. [83.201]
- October
- Adolf Hitler sets the date for invasion of the West as November 12. [166.290]
- (month unknown)
- The three kings of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway meet with Marshal Mannerheim, president of Finland, in Stockholm. Mannerheim seeks the promise of help in the event of an attack from Russia. [109.247]
- November 4
- In the United States, Congress amends the 1937 Neutrality Act, allowing belligerent nations to buy American arms for cash if they provide the transport. [84.340] [166.337,354] [190.768] [293.E4] [503.1737,1762]
- November
- Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyadieslav Molotov sends an invitation to the Finnish Ambassador in Moscow to negotiate on political issues. (Stalin feels that war with Germany is unavoidable, and wants to improve land and sea protection of Leningrad.) [363.22]
- November 6
- Australia agrees for its five destroyers at Singapore to be moved to the Mediterranean, to release British destroyers for anti-submarine work in the Atlantic. In return, two British cruisers would be sent to Australia as protection against armed raiders. (The cruisers never arrive.) [439.32]
- November
- Adolf Hitler postpones an attack on the West from November 12 to mid-January. [166.290]
- November 8
- (2010 hours) The annual "Old Fighters" convention meets in Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, Germany. Adolf Hitler speaks for about an hour, accusing Great Britain of fighting for her own imperialist motives. [691.27]
- (2120 hours) In Munich, Germany, a bomb explodes in Bürgerbräukeller, fifteen minutes after Adolf Hitler left the building. Eight are killed, sixty-three injured. George Elser set the bomb in a gap under a wood panel, possibly arranged by Heinrich Himmler. (In January 1946, General Georg Thomas of the German Army General Staff accuses Reinhard Heydrich of staging the explosion to end the peace movement of high army officers.) [189.751] [534.2] [691.27] (November 5 [293.E4])
- November 9
- Finland rejects Russian demands for an exchange of territory. [517.1793]
- November 11
- French Colonel Charles de Gaulle urges general headquarters that French tanks be formed into armored divisions rather than be dispersed as infantry supports. His ideas are rejected. [83.212]
- In England, Dr. R.V. Jones submits The Hitler Waffe report, listing seven possible secret German weapons, with #5 being long-range guns and rockets. [339.38]
- The Belgian Army cancels military leaves. [292.4]
- Belgian police along the French border receive orders to clear roads to allow for French forces entering into Belgium. [292.4]
- Portuguese Foreign Ministry issues dispatch Number 14 instructing consuls to issue visas (to Portugal) only to those with ticket on ship out of Lisbon, no visas to Czechs, Russians, and Jews. [810.416]
- November 13
- Finnish delegates return to Helsinki from Moscow after negotiations failed to satisfy Soviet demands for moving the border 30-40 miles and the lease of the Hanko Peninsula for a naval base to protect the Gulf of Finland. [363.28]
- Britain resumes aerial leaflet drops over Germany. (The drops continue until April 9, 1940, when German forces invade Denmark and Norway.) [84.24]
- November 15
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks Africa Shell in the Mozambique Channel. [198.140] [560.142]
- November
- The British naval attaché in Oslo, Norway, receives a seven-page anonymous report on German radar and weaponry, including naval rockets, and mentioning Peenemünde as a location of research. (The report is generally regarded at the time as a German hoax.) [84.197] [449.40]
- Britain accepts responsibility for Australian defence. [439.10]
- November 18
- German forces begin deploying new magnetic mines in the ocean. [173.13]
- (morning) A German mine sinks Dutch liner Simon Bolivar off the east coast of Britain. [190.780]
- November 20
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 8 "for the Conduct of the War". Code-words for the day prior to attack on the West will be Danzig (proceed) and Augsburg (delay). If Holland shows no resistance, the invasion is to take on the character of a peaceful occupation. Centres of population in Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg are not to be attacked without strategic military necessity. [149.53]
- November 21
- British destroyer Gipsy is sunk by a mine off the east coast of Britain. [191.816]
- German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau leave German ports. [173.8]
- Japanese liner Terukuni Maru is sunk in the North Sea by a German mine. [191.816]
- November 22
- A German magnetic mine lands in mud off Shoeburyness, England. It is recovered, stripped, and evaluated by a team from HMS Vernon, revealing the secret of its magnetic polarity. The underwater mine is activated when subjected to a magnetic field of 50 milligauss. British ships can now install degaussing systems to make them invisible to the mines. [212.6]
- November 23
- (evening) British armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi sights the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau between the Faeroe Islands and Iceland. They battle, and the Scharnhorst sinks the Rawalpindi. [173.8,13] [191.822]
- November 26
- Finland rejects the Soviet demand for military bases on her territory. [166.354]
- A shooting incident occurs between Finland and the Soviet Union. Soviets claim Finns killed three privates and one officer from seven shells. Finns claim they fired none. [191.827] [517.1793]
- Polish trans-atlantic liner Pilsudski is sunk by a mine or torpedo. [191.816]
- November 27
- Dutch liner Spaarndam strikes a mine of the Thames estuary and sinks. [191.816]
- November 28
- The Australian Cabinet approves the dispatch of the 6th Division to the Middle East, after completing basic training. After then receiving further training, the Division would be sent to France to counter an expected German offensive in the spring. [439.29]
- November
- The Soviet Union sets up the Finnish People's Liberation Government under Finnish exile Otto Kuusinen at Terijoki. [363.22]
- November 29
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 9, "Instructions for warfare against the economy of the enemy". Tasks of the Navy and Air Force against England include mining, blocking, and destroying ports, attacks on merchant shipping, destroying storage facilities for oil, food, and grain, and destroy industrial plants. London, Liverpool, and Manchester are listed as handling 58% of total imports. [149.56]
- November 30
- Soviet Union forces attack Finland, commencing with air raids on Helsinki. [38.126] [81.11] [110.445] [143.49] [166.354] [192.845] [197.125] [363.27] [404.237] [517.1793]
- December 2
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks Doric Star southeast of St. Helena. [198.140] [560.142]
- December 3
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks Taiora southeast of St. Helena. [198.140] [560.142]
- Finns evacuate Helsinki. [192.857]
- British Bomber Command initiates anti-mining patrols. 24 British Wellington bombers attack two cruisers and other ships off Heligoland, sinking a minesweeper and downing a German fighter plane. No British planes are shot down. [84.27,340]
- British Bomber Command planes attack German seaplane bases at Hornum and Sylt. [84.340]
- December 5
- German submarine U-28 lays several mines off Swansea, England. [798.35]
- December 7
- In Finland, the Soviet Union's 163rd Rifle Division reaches Suomussalmi. [81.12]
- German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks the Streonhaln. [560.142]
- December 9
- Death of Thomas Priday on patrol near Maginot Line, France; Corporal in First Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry; believed to be first British soldier killed in action in World War II. [203.383] [840.10]
- December 10
- The first Canadian troop convoy leaves Halifax destined for Britain. 7400 men of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division leave on five ocean liners, escorted by Royal Canadian Navy destroyers Ottawa, Restigouche, Fraser, and St. Laurent. [27.17] [1.2] [117.5]
- Vidkun Quisling of Norway meets with Adolf Hitler and many others in Berlin, over eleven days. They agree that Germany should aid Quisling and his Nazi party to seize control of Norway at a favorable moment. [162.337] [404.239]
- Finland asks "all civilized nations for help". [766.34]
- December 11
- Finnish forces counterattack Soviet forces at Suomussalmi. [81.12]
- December 12
- Soviet forces capture Salla, Finland. [197.125]
- December 13
- British cruisers Exeter and Ajax, and New Zealand Achilles attack German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the south Atlantic off South America. [193.917] [560.142] [840.10]
- December 14
- The League of Nations expels the Soviet Union for aggression. [166.354] [193.917]
- British submarine Ursula sinks a German cruiser in the mouth of the Elbe River. [193.925]
- (1700 hours) Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling meets with Adolf Hitler in Germany. He suggests Germany launch a pre-enptive strike on Norway. Quisling says he would take control of the Norwegian government through a coup. [38.15]
- (by 1800 hours) Adolf Hitler issues an order that Denmark and Norway be seized and occupied during the upcoming attack on the West, to gain control of Norwegian territorial waters. [38.15] [149.61]
- 12 British Wellington bombers attack a German warship near the mouth of the Elbe River. Six planes are lost, with no damage inflicted to the ship. [84.28]
- December 15
- Finns wreck metal mines and withdraw from Salmijärvi. [197.125]
- December
- Sweden declares itself a non-belligerent, and allows 12,000 volunteers and arms to cross the Gulf of Bothnia to aid the Finns. [109.248]
- December 17
- Germany begins unrestricted air warfare on shipping. [195.50]
- Canada's Prime Minister William King signs the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, providing facilities for airmen in the Commonwealth to train. Price of the plan is $1.281 billion. [1.38] [5.34,104] [84.340] [166.354]
- (1952 hours) Off the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay, German sailors open seacocks on the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, and set off a series of explosions, scuttling the ship. SS Tacoma and two other vessels take 1055 of crew to Buenos Aires. [44.28] [149.61] [166.354] [193.932] [293.E4] [560.142] [717.288] [840.10] (December 13 [29.81])
- December 18
- 22 British Wellington bombers approach several warships at Wilhelmshaven. German forces intercept radio messages and tracked the incoming planes, launching fighters to intercept them. 12 of the bombers are shot down in about an hour. [84.28,340]
- December 19
- Argentine government issues a decree saying Germans from the Graf Spee are to be interned in Buenos Aires. [717.288]
- December 20
- Captain Langsdorff of the pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee kills himself. [212.14] [717.288]
- December 24
- In Finland, the Soviet 163rd division begins an all-out attempt to break free of the Finnish troops, with the Soviet 44th Motorized Rifle Division attempting to reach them. [81.14]
- December 26
- The first squadron of Royal Australian Air Force on active service lands in England. [194.4]
- December 27
- The Finnish 9th Division launches several attacks against remains of the Soviet 163rd Division. [81.15]
- Finns are victorious at Suomosalmi, scattering the Russian 163rd Division. [196.80] [197.120,125]
- December 30
- Count Ciano, Italian Foreign Minister, tells Belgian Princess Marie-José to warn her brother King Léopold that Adolf Hitler would soon invade Belgium. [347.29]
- December 31
- The Russian 163rd Division on the middle of Finland fails, with the division virtually annihilated by the Finns. [778.1]
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