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Post by Pumba on Mar 18, 2012 11:11:46 GMT 8
March 11, 1940 US peace envoy Sumner Welles meeting UK PM Chamberlain now: outlining plan "to ensure peace in Europe" via mutual disarmament. --------------------------- Chamberlain & UK foreign ministers unimpressed: "Even a supposedly 'disarmed' Germany could threaten its smaller neighbours with invasion" -------------------------- From tomorrow, the Highlands of Scotland are off-limits to unauthorised non-residents. Army cordoning off area to protect naval & airbases -------------------------- New Zealand now $8 million over budget due to war expenditure; Finance Minister hopes "free gifts" from citizens will cover shortfall. -------------------------- Meat rationing begins today in Britain: 1 shilling & 10 pence worth of meat/person/week. Poultry, game, offal, sausage & pies not rationed. --------------------------- Current UK meat allowance enough for 1 pound joint of lamb or beef/week- but restaurant food not rationed.  --------------------------- German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop meeting Italian Count Ciano in Rome to discuss "shared destiny of Fascist nations"  ---------------------------- Ribbentrop now meeting with Mussolini; interpreter Dr. Schmidt: "Ribbentrop is at his most flatulent, talking of world affairs for hours." |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 18, 2012 11:23:27 GMT 8
March 12, 1940 Ribbentrop has left to meet the Pope. Mussolini: "I do not believe in this planned German offensive; It will not bring complete victory" ----------------------------- Red Army forces preparing a massive assault on Finn city of Viipuri, even though Finns have agreed to surrender- Viipuri will be handed over ---------------------------- Finnish government has, for 1st time, announced it is seeking peace with the USSR. It also admits Red Army has broken through on all fronts -------------------------- French warships Bretagne & Algerie have set sail for Canada. Onboard is a sizable chunk of the French national reserve gold (2,379 bars).  -------------------------- Finland's president, Kyösti Kallio, signing acceptance of Soviet peace terms saying: "Better my hand should wither than sign this paper!" ------------------------ Sweden inviting Finland to discuss a mutual defence pact. Many Finns feel this offer comes slightly late, since USSR invaded 104 days ago |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 18, 2012 11:45:43 GMT 8
March 13, 1940
72 German Jews being deported to a "Jewish Reservation" near Lublin have frozen to death after a 14 hour forced march through the snow.
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Among the dead was a mother carrying her 3-year old child; she had taken off her warm clothes to wrap it up. They were found frozen together
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Hitler today told American Nazi Colin Ross: "I'd welcome a positive solution to the Jewish question; but I haven't space for my own people"
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1st U.S. volunteers in Finland now ready to deploy; their Finn commander, knowing peace imminent, has decided not to send them to front line
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Finnish negotiators have signed the Moscow Peace Treaty; war between Finland & USSR will end at noon tomorrow:
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10.45AM Russo-Finnish ceasefire will start at 11AM- Finn defenders starting to relax & emerge from trenches. Suddenly, high whistling sound
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Last-minute Red Army artillery barrage, less than half an hour before war scheduled to end. 100s of Finns killed & wounded
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Red Army signalman Anatoly Derevenets: "The entire earth started vibrating- all weapons on both sides. 2 days' ammunition spent in minutes"
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Anatoly: "Sitting in the shaking bunker, lit by glowing telephone cables overhead, I heard talk of peace over the line from divisional HQ."
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"I told my commander of the overheard conversation: 'The war is to end at noon!' He was stunned: 'Quite a surprise! Now the fun is over..."
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"The war is over for Finland at any rate, & grief grips hold of this brave, little nation in defeat." More from Munthe:
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Winter War has ended. Finland surrenders 25,000mi2 of land, ~10% of its territory, including Viipuri, Finland's 2nd city- Finns evacuating
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In 105 days of fighting, 24,923 Finns have been killed & 43,557 wounded. Red Army dead can only be estimated: 230,000-270,000.
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Post by Pumba on Mar 25, 2012 0:56:19 GMT 8
March 14, 1940 Looking at the map of captured Finnish territory, 1 Soviet general gloomily remarks: "We have won just enough land to bury our dead." -------------------------------- Canadian government has established an "Inventions Board" to process huge numbers of "secret weapon" suggestions from public. ----------------------------- Red Army Lt. Viktor Iskrov: "All fighting has died out- we can hear the birds singing. It's a beautiful spring day- the Winter War is over." ------------------------------ Lt. Iskrov: "Finns walked out of their trenches with vodka bottles, shouting: 'Russkies, come drink with us!' But we just sat in our trench" ------------------------------- The Allied expeditionary to occupy Scandinavia has been cancelled; Finland's defeat means there is no excuse to invade Norway & Sweden ------------------------------- UK General Pownall: "Of 4 or 5 division that were to be sent, not 1 was meant for Finland- maybe a brigade or 2. A most dishonest business" --------------------------------- Germans are being urged to save their used tea leaves for recycling; extracted caffeine will be used to make artificial coffee. ---------------------------------- Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä, in a coma since being shot in jaw on March 6, has woken- only to be told war is over ---------------------------------- Mannerheim addressing Finns: "When some day the history of this war is written, the world will learn of your efforts" ----------------------------------- Mannerheim addressing Finns: "When some day the history of this war is written, the world will learn of your efforts" ------------------------------------ Germans have been ordered to donate all household objects made of copper, bronze, nickel & other useful metals for the war effort. ----------------------------------- Finns are evacuating city of Viipuri, still smouldering after 12 days under siege by Red Army. Viipuri Castle on fire:  ---------------------------------- NY Times, on feeling across Europe today: "Once again a small nation relied on the help of the Western powers & paid dearly for her trust" |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 25, 2012 1:03:56 GMT 8
March 15, 1940 Proclamation of victory being read to Red Army troops: "The mighty force of the Red Army has again secured safety & a lasting peace!" ----------------------------------- "Anglo-French warmongers [...] threw Finland into a criminal adventure against the USSR..." Read the rest: www.histdoc.net/history/prikaz1940-nr42.html---------------------------------- Polish government-in-exile has published secret German diplomatic papers: reveals Nazis proposed Polish-German invasion of USSR 5 years ago ---------------------------------- Indian nationalist Udham Singh (C) charged with murder; yesterday he assassinated Michael O'Dwyer, colonial ex-governor ---------------------------------- 800 Romanian fascists from "Iron Guard" party to be released from prison if they swear a loyalty oath to King Carol.  ----------------------------------- Romania, also demobilising currently conscripted farmers, speculated to be moving diplomatically closer to Nazi Germany. ----------------------------------- Finnish civilians are evacuating land surrendered to the USSR- 460,000 people have been made homeless.  |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 25, 2012 1:07:53 GMT 8
March 16, 1940 New thesis by Harvard student John F. Kennedy argues appeasement at Munich wasn't a bad idea. Read "Why England Slept": ------------------------------------ Hitler has summoned German military leaders, incl. Wehrmacht General Staff & Admiral Raeder, head of Kriegsmarine, for a conference tomorrow ----------------------------------- "Road to Singapore", released yesterday in US, getting rave reviews; stars comedy double act Bob Hope & Bing Crosby  ---------------------------------- Finnish Diet (parliament) has ratified peace treaty with USSR by 145 votes to 3. PM Ryti: "Our only failure is in being too small a country" ---------------------------------- An RAF plane, returning from a reconnaissance missions over Warsaw, has become lost. They're landing in what crew think is a French field. ------------------------------------ Flight Lt. Tomlin has climbed out of plane to ask where they are- horrified when local civilians reply in German. RAF have landed in Reich. ------------------------------------ Running back to plane, British crew have managed to get airborne & fly away- newly arrived German soldiers firing after them with rifles. ------------------------------------- Cartoon from today's New York Times; the Grim Reaper of air bombing asks "Who's Next?"  ------------------------------- New German decree orders creation of licensed brothels under medical supervision, "to protect Wehrmacht members against health dangers". ---------------------------------- Prostitutes will be regulated by being forced to work in police brothels. To prevent "racial mixing", Jewish prostitutes banned. |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 25, 2012 1:22:50 GMT 8
March 17, 1940 Italy announcing it will defend Romania's neutrality, declaring war if anyone attacks it; rumours of Nazi-Romanian pact still unconfirmed ----------------------------- A flight of 14 German Ju-88 bombers is attacking the British Home Fleet in Scapa Flow, in the far north of Scotland.  ----------------------------- 1 German plane, returning from raid, has bombed tiny hamlet of Brig o'Waithe- inhabitants, ignoring siren, were in streets to watch air raid --------------------------------- James Isbister, 27, has been killed by shrapnel whilst running to help a neighbour. He is the 1st British civilian to die to a German bomb. -------------------------------- Last Finnish civilians leaving Viipuri; 1 officer: "All belongings being hastily taken away to deprive Russians, who occupy city tomorrow" ------------------------------ "It was upsetting to see villages burning in battle; it is more so to leave undamaged houses for the Russians. But we carry our heads high."  ------------------------------ Admiral Raeder is reporting to Hitler & German generals: "Sooner or later Germany must attack Norway- as soon as possible, before April 15" -------------------------------- Nottinghamshire miners have voted to forgo part of their holidays to boost coal production for the war effort. -------------------------------- Fritz Todt, architect of the Autobahn system & the Siegfried line, has been appointed Reich Minister for Armaments  --------------------------------- German papers describe last night'd Luftwaffe raid on Scapa Flow- killing 1 civilian & 7 sailors- as "a portent of what England may expect" -------------------------------- Luftwaffe Major Fritz Doensch: "It was a long flight, but we're used to that. 1 radio operator had a harmonica to keep us cheerful." --------------------------------- "When we arrived over Scapa Flow we bombed 4 ships, & came so close to others that they jumped from the water. All our planes made it back" --------------------------------- French soldier Jean-Paul Sartre: "The war machine is running in neutral; 1 man said to me, insane hope in his eyes: 'England will climb down" |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 21:16:25 GMT 8
March 18, 1940 Italian foreign minister Count Ciano: "The meeting is cordial, but a monologue. Hitler talks all the time, but is less agitated than usual" -------------------------- Hitler now leaving Mussolini, who promises: "Once Germany has made victorious advance, Italy will intervene at once."  ----------------------- 4 German pilots interned in neutral Denmark after their plane crashed on Lolland Island. They were caught after begging a farmer for food. ---------------------- Wartime austerity already being abandoned in Paris & London: flowing dresses & silk, lace, chiffon etc. back in fashion  ------------------------ London: A woman has been fined £75 for "hoarding" after buying 140 weeks' ration of sugar. She drove away from court in a Rolls-Royce. ----------------------- Britain's Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, is in Parliament defending Allied failure to send military aid to Finland in war vs USSR.  ---------------------- David Lloyd George, former UK PM, speaks: "Always too late. Too late for Czechoslovakia, for Poland, now for Finland. We never save them." |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 21:44:28 GMT 8
March 20, 1940 James Cromwell, US Ambassador to Canada, condemned Nazism today: 1st official American denunciation of Hitler's regime.  ------------------------- Cromwell also said US should join Allies, leading Isolationist Congressman Martin Sweeney to tell him: "get the hell out of this Republic". ------------------------- Neville Chamberlain scorning critics in UK Parliament by announcing RAF planes are now in the air to bomb a major German naval base. --------------------------- This is the 1st RAF raid on German land target, in retaliation for bombing of Scapa Flow last week. Target: naval base in Friesian Islands  Whitley Bomber, one of the heaviest RAF aircraft in the early part of the war --------------------------- RAF Gunner Larry Donnelly: "The atmosphere is charged with excitement that we're dropping bombs instead of bloody propaganda leaflets.” --------------------------- Donnelly: "We ran the gauntlet of the flak & searchlights. The plane lurched as the bombs dropped away..." --------------------------- All-India Nationalist Congress has voted Gandhi leader of its campaign to win indepedence from British rule- civil disobedience threatened. --------------------------- German Albert Kartes, 17, imprisoned for 2 years for "aiding the enemy": he spoke to a UK pilot who accidentally landed in Germany last week -------------------------- French Premier Édouard Daladier, increasingly unpopular, has called for a vote of confidence in his government ------------------------- Daladier staked his war plans, & his government, on (cancelled) Allied mission to Finland- French govt desperate to avoid fighting in France |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 22:15:55 GMT 8
March 21, 1940 A book once owned by Hermann Göring & annotated by Hitler has been auctioned at Sotheby's. "The Secrets of the Elders of Zion" sold for £19 ----------------------------- RAF planes now photographing "smoking ruins" of German naval base bombed last night; aggressive raid has been hugely popular in Britain --------------------------- 239 French deputies have voted in favour of government, only 1 against- but 300 abstained. French Premier has announced his resignation. ---------------------------- German labour battalions have begun constructing a line of fortified bunkers- the "Ostwall"- along the border with their ally, the USSR.  --------------------------- UK Home Secretary has announced that 1,959 enemy aliens have been interned. There are 74,000 registered Germans in Britain, mostly refugees. ---------------------------- Sir Henry Tizard, scientific advisor, informing UK cabinet of research by 2 scientists at Birmingham University into an atomic "super-bomb" ----------------------------- "It is quite conceivable that Germany is, in fact, developing this weapon". UK govt has authorised research into building the "super-bomb" ------------------------------ Out today: Review of Mein Kampf by George Orwell. Best line: "I would kill Hitler if I could, but I cannot dislike him" |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 22:21:46 GMT 8
March 22, 1940 France's deputies have selected a new premier: Paul Reynaud, a staunch anti-German who urges an aggressive strategy  ---------------------- UK ocean liner RMS Queen Mary is setting sail for Australia, to be refitted into a troop ship. Her launch, 6 years ago: ----------------------- William Shirer, US journalist in Berlin, writes in diary: "Germany can now try to force the issue on western front, but this is improbable" ------------------------- Shirer: "The German General Staff has a great respect for the Maginot Line & the French Army. Even if they broke Line, might not win war" --------------------------- Gerald Winter, a farmer from Sussex, UK, awarded an Empire Gallantry Medal: yesterday he dragged an RAF man from a crashed, burning plane. --------------------------- UK submarine HMS Ursula has sunk German steamer Heddernheim, with its cargo of Norwegian iron, deep in Germany's "safe" Baltic waters |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 22:26:06 GMT 8
March 23, 1940 Military slang fashionable in UK; London full of bodysnatchers (medics) & bus drivers (pilots) getting "shot up" on bottled sunshine (beer) -------------------------- More serviceman's slang: Girlfriends are lush bints, popsies, or pushers. Dating is "nibbling". An amorous couple are "kittens in a basket". --------------------------- German scientists at Peenemünde Research Center now test-firing engine of new rocket, A4: world's 1st ballistic missile  --------------------------- Japan's Foreign Minister has announced he is "certain" of a long-running European war, but that Japan will not "take sides" ---------------------------- Deposed French PM Daladier, now Minister of War, rejects Major de Gaulle's idea of fast-moving tank divisions: France remains on defensive ----------------------------- New German austerity drive: private automobiles (immobilised by petrol rationing) must donate car batteries to war effort. ------------------------------ More on German austerity: bronze church bells will be melted down to provide metal for armaments production. |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 22:30:33 GMT 8
March 24, 1940 It's Easter Weekend; US journalist William Shirer reports from Berlin: "How patiently Germans stand in the rain for a tiny ration of candy!" ----------------------- An American view of Easter from the cover of today's New Yorker. Naughty Easter bunny!  --------------------- Members of the Irish Republican Army, held in Dartmoor Prison, UK are rioting to try & prevent 2 of them being taken to trial for terrorism ---------------------- A UK submarine has sunk German cargo ship Hugo Stinnes off the Danish coast- more Norweigian iron heads to the seabed rather than to arms |
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 22:39:05 GMT 8
March 25, 1940
UK butter ration doubles tomorrow, to 1/2 pound/week. Milkmen fear customers will not buy extra, having grown used to cheaper margarine
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UK Foreign Minister Lord Halifax warns USSR that Allies "will not shrink from war with the Soviet Union" to protect Romanian neutrality.
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UK hopes to strangle German economy, cutting off oil from Romania/USSR & iron from Sweden. Halifax: blockade will end war in "2-3 years".
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Today is Easter Sunday; in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 100s of ANZAC troops stationed in Palestine are amongst worshipers.
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Telephones, telegraph & short-wave radios have stopped working across western hemisphere, as severe sunspots are temporarily disrupting them
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Post by Pumba on Mar 26, 2012 22:43:02 GMT 8
March 26, 1940 British govt bans UK prisoners of war speaking on German radio: captured airmen have been heard on wireless before they're reported missing ---------------------------- Crowds thronging London on the Easter bank holiday, defying official warnings of possible air attack- all West End shows & cinemas sold out. ----------------------------- Huge queues at railway stations as servicemen head back to units after Easter leave- impromptu sing-song has started at Waterloo station ----------------------------- Wilhelm Solf, an Austrian undergraduate at Oxford University, has been interned after being caught photographing a crashed RAF plane. ----------------------------- "Clamour from public over treatment of Germans in UK, who have been seen as persecuted refugees, but may harbour many enemy spies" (Times) ------------------------------ It's Easter, but 1st Lord of Admiralty Winston Churchill is hard at work: "Memo: More backgammon sets on warships- quicker game than cards" ----------------------------- British newsreel, in cinemas now, tells story of an RAF crew who accidentally landed in Germany- and got away. Watch: youtu.be/w_gS_GW4jb4---------------------------- Stalin has declined Hitler's request to meet in person & discuss the border between Germany & the USSR. The allied dictators have never met |
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