Real Time WWII

[Pumba]

March 27, 1940


Canadian General Election has begun- Liberal PM Mackenzie King running on platform of wartime solidarity, but has promised no conscription.

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Soviet Ambassador in Paris, Jakob Suritz, has been sent home after congratulating Stalin for Finnish victory over "Anglo-French warmongers".

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Ad in today's NY Times: "When you insult your stomach, apologise" with water from unremarkable French spa town of Vichy



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Today's Daily Mail (UK paper) declares: "Goebbels has had a walkover in the propaganda war" & calls on govt to jam German radio propaganda.

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Canadian election results coming in- Liberal party has won by a landslide, returning Mackenzie King as Prime Minister



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Himmler, head of the SS, ordering construction of a new concentration camp in occupied Poland, to be called Auschwitz.



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Dr. Robert Ley, head of the Nazi Labour Front, says war "is a blessing, as women love fighters." Ley & his wife, Inga:



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Today's Times: "PARIS: Thoughtful observers here do not expect any change on the Western Front for a long time to come."

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"Given their basic policy of 'no rash adventures', Allies must compel Hitler to rashly attack Maginot Line- which he is not expected to do"

[Pumba]

March 28, 1940


Today's Times: "PARIS: Thoughtful observers here do not expect any change on the Western Front for a long time to come."

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"Given their basic policy of 'no rash adventures', Allies must compel Hitler to rashly attack Maginot Line- which he is not expected to do"

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UK War Cabinet have unanimously rejected secret proposal, by new French PM Reynaud, to bomb Soviet oil fields- don't want war with USSR.

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French PM Reynaud has also privately suggested mining the Rhine or mining Norwegian coastal waters to block German iron shipments.

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French PM Reynaud has also privately suggested mining the Rhine or mining Norwegian coastal waters to block German iron shipments.

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1,600 Jewish refugees have arrived in Palestine after 6 month's flight from advancing Nazis. UK troops have interned them for illegal entry.

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Michael Savage, Prime Minister of New Zealand, has died of cancer. He led NZ to war saying: "Where Britain goes, we go"

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NOON: UK War Cabinet is now meeting to discuss week's news of war, particularly attacks by UK submarines. Read more:

ww2today.com/british-submarines-sink-german-ships-off-denmark

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Allied Supreme War Council now meeting in London; France & Britain promising each other that neither will make a separate peace with Germany

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Allied War Council planning operation 'Royal Marine': parachuting mines into the Rhine. Churchill: "It will cause the utmost consternation"

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Churchill: "No people are more completely upset when their plans miscarry than the Germans. They cannot improvise."

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More from Churchill at Allied War Council: "Reynaud spoke of impact of German propaganda on French morale. Radio blares each night..."

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"Nazis claim Reich has no quarrel with France, that Britain has dragged them into war. Question widely asked in France: How can Allies win?"

[Pumba]

March 29, 1940


A German submarine & her crew have been interned after running aground on a Norwegian island- Norway claims strict neutrality in the war.

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The U-boat was found by a Norwegian fishermen; crew gave him a sausage "more than a foot long" to tow them free- but he notified authorities

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From today's edition of UK magazine "Flight": the Spitfire "popular with pilots, dreaded by Germans"

www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/1....ter_Station.pdf

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William Shirer, US journalist in Berlin: "Germany can't stay in war without Swedish iron, shipped via Norway- which UK may cut off."

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"It's a life-or-death matter. If British destroyers go into Norway's waters, Germany will act- but how? German navy no match for British."

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From today's issue of The War Illustrated: Eyewitness report of an attack on a German u-boat!

www.thewarillustrated.info/#!/realtimewwii/status/185323707567316993



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Molotov, Foreign Minister of USSR, now lecturing Supreme Soviet- says Soviet Union has no territorial ambitions & will stay neutral in war

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In areas under German rule, it is now illegal to give medical attention to Jews, even in hospitals. Only Jewish doctors may treat Jews.

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Dr Zygmunt Klukowsk is a Pole living under Nazi occupation: "What do we do when there are no Jewish doctors? I had a difficult situation..."

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"A sick Jewish man called me. I went to him wondering if I was being spied on. I feel terrible. On my prescription I even omitted his name."

[Pumba]

March 30, 1940


Chinese Nationalists say they've forced Japan's army from town of Wuyuan, killing 3400; Japan retorts they lost 13 men, killed 1500 Chinese

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Prime Minister Mitsumasa Yonai now visiting children whose fathers have died in continuing Japanese invasion of China.



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By "unofficial agreement", France & Germany now using spotlights to mark Swiss border, to avoid accidental bombing of neutral Switzerland.

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UK merchant cruiser HMS Transylvania has intercepted the German freighter Mimi Horn near Greenland, taking the crew onboard & scuttling her.

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An RAF plane, repainted in civilian colours, has set off from Iraq on a top-secret mission: photograph Soviet oilfields for possible bombing

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11AM: Germany, publishing 16 diplomatic memos from the former Polish state, has claimed the U.S. government is plotting to enter the war.

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Memos claim US Ambassadors, incl. Joseph Kennedy, promised American aid to Poland & Allies. US is calling documents "obvious propaganda".

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Nazi Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop, to his juniors: As US is so anti-war "these memos guarantee that Roosevelt & his Jewish clique will fall"

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From today, the 300,000 Poles conscripted to work in Germany must wear a "P" badge or face 6 weeks' imprisonment.

[Pumba]

March 31, 1940


A "reformed national government of China" in Japanese-occupied Nanking has been announced, headed by Ex-Kuomintang minister Wang Jingwei.

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New government's first act: inviting Japanese troops to occupy China. Japan & fascist allies Germany & Italy diplomatically recognize regime

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A little music, to take our minds off things. Top of the US jukebox charts for 12 weeks now: Glenn Miller, In The Mood.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPXwkWVEIIw

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USSR declaring land captured from Finland in the Winter War to be a new "Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic"



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Finns are certain this new Soviet state is a sign that Stalin plans to invade & occupy more Finnish land in near future.

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German cruiser Atlantis launched- 1st of new German "commerce raiders", disguised with hidden weapons & false flags to hunt merchant ships.



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Today's NY Times: "As 8th month of war begins, it seems likely April will be much like March, with no large-scale military operations"

[Pumba]

April 1, 1940



French War Cabinet have rejected British plan to parachute floating mines into river Rhine; fears of Luftwaffe reprisal against France.

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Germany has refused a Vatican request to send humanitarian aid to Poland, or investigate Nazi treatment of Polish Catholics.

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Happy last ever April Fool's Day! Franklin Astronomy Institute, USA, has issued a press release claiming the world will end today at 3pm.

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Press release says: "This is no April Fool joke." It is. However, radio has spread the news, & Institute has already received 100s of calls.

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South African Parliament passes War Measures Act; white troops may now be posted to North Africa. Black men confined "to auxiliary service"

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Berlin warning that "Germany will take suitable counter-measures" if the Allies threaten neutral shipping- ie. iron ore shipped via Norway.

[Pumba]

April 2, 1940


After one of the coldest winters in recorded history, Spring is thawing Europe. Eugen Weber: "Paris has never looked more radiant!"

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Weber: "Paris's windows are taped, its monuments sandbagged, its boulevards full of uniforms. Strapping British soldiers amble in twos."

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UK announces it will act to keep food prices low- new Minister of Food Lord Woolton reminds public: "Dig for victory!"

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From Australia, reassurance that "All Fool's Day" going strong: "Handbags nailed to roads, coins fixed with string…"

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Romania will recruit 4 million children aged 7-18 for farm work, to keep men in army while satisfying German demands for more food exports.

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Hitler now meeting with Field Marshal Göring, Admiral Raeder & General Falkenhorst. They are discussing planned invasion of Denmark & Norway

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British army "shows off its mechanised mobility" in this newsreel; still no sign of the mentioned "blitzkrieg" yet

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmnK18KVA_c&feature=player_embedded

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Hitler has ordered Operation Weserübung: the German invasion of Denmark & Norway. It will begin at 5:15AM on April 9, 1 week from today.

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Hitler orders: "Prevent the escape of the Kings of Denmark & Norway by any means" to stop occupied nations forming governments-in-exile.

[Pumba]

April 3, 1940


Yesterday, the BBC broadcast a new speech by Adolf Hitler, proclaiming that to protect Germans living in America, Germany has annexed USA.

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The speech was an April Fool, by Austrian actor Martin Miller. Germany, of course, would not pick a fight with USA.

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Luftwaffe raiders are again striking at Scapa Flow harbour in Scotland, hoping to hit UK ships; however, they've been driven off by the RAF.

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1st German troops are now embarking for transport to invade Norway; to maintain secrecy, soldiers not told destination.



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Britain has secretly decided to mine Norwegian waters (Operation Wilfred) to disrupt German shipping, even without French agreement.

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From today's Times: "All Scandinavia breathes easier today", thinking threat of Allied or German military intervention "is largely over".

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RAF is now using 500,000 homing pigeons, to carry messages to airbases from reconnaissance planes while maintaining radio silence.



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1 RAF homing pigeon, released at a height of 13,000 ft. in a blizzard over North Sea, astonished pilot by returning to base 3 days later.

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Germany has scrapped its old-age pension plan; payments delayed until after the war, when "plutocrats in Paris & London" will foot the bill.

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Luxembourg has issued all 300,000 residents with a "purely precautionary" evacuation plan to flee their homes in case of emergency/invasion.

[Pumba]

April 4, 1940


Cartoon in UK Daily Chronicle justifies blockade of neutrals: "We thought if we gave you teeth you wouldn't chew us!"

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Cabinet reshuffle in the UK: Winston Churchill has been appointed Minister for Co-Ordination of Defense, making many more military decisions

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Anti-Nazi German, Col. Oster, has warned a Danish diplomat, Kjølsen, of imminent invasion of Denmark- Kjølsen's superiors don't believe him.

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NKVD (Soviet secret police) have finished "assessment" of Polish prisoners-of-war. Out of ~22,000, 395 judged "of value". Rest to be killed.

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"Of value" to NKVD: some of the Soviet informers in POW camps, ethnic Germans or Latvians (allies of USSR) or those with foreign protection.

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A new French law authorises the death penalty for spreading anti-war or Communist propaganada, which may now be tried as treason.

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British PM Chamberlain now speaking to Conservative Party, claiming he is "10 times" as confident of victory: "Hitler has missed the bus."

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Chamberlain: Germany was expected to attack France & UK before they could prepare defenses. "How extraordinary no such attempt was made!"

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From UK magazine Punch, cartoon titled "Life in the BEF"- bored soldiers hang out their washing (on the Siegfried line)



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Actually, it's raining heavily on the Western front- action dampened, no washing on the Siegfried Line today.

[Pumba]

April 5, 1940


German warships ferrying invasion force to Norway disguised as UK vessels; carrying Union Jack flags & respond on radio with: "British ship"

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First groups of Polish officers being transported from Soviet prison camps. At Kozelsk prison, captives form "honour guard" to say farewell.

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These Poles, prisoners of Soviets since last autumn, think they're being taken home. Their real destination is a nearby forest, called Katyn

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After a train & bus journey at bayonet point, Polish prisoners now at an NKVD resort on edge of Katyn forest, being searched for valuables.

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1 Pole, Adam Solski, has been keeping a diary: "They asked about my wedding ring, which I…" He breaks off. NKVD have come to take him away.

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Adam is ordered to kneel in a dark cell, specially soundproofed. He probably suspects nothing until the pistol touches the back of his head.

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Adam's body is taken to a waiting truck; Polish corpses are loaded head-first, then feet-first, to stack. A mass grave waits in the forest.

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Tonight at least 1000 Polish prisoners have been shot, at Katyn & 4 other Soviet execution sites. More than 20,000 condemned still to come.

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Chinese Army has captured town of Wuyuan, ending their winter offensive; during this, ~50,000 Japanese & ~150,000 Chinese troops have died.

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12 British destroyers have left port to start mining Norwegian waters, hoping to block German shipping. German invasion force already at sea

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Swedish Anti-Profanity League has donated to the army 1500 signs for hanging in barracks: "Don't curse. Cursing proves a lack of culture"

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Turkey orders all high school girls to get military training before graduation; 11-16 year olds to learn sharpshooting, tactics & first aid

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UK General Ironside, to press conference: "Thank goodness Germany didn't attack in 1st 7 months of war- we've now made a fine army".

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Ironside: "German army must do something, or its morale will crack. I believe the great silence is worse to the Germans than anything else."

[Pumba]

April 6, 1940


UK servicemen have been given free entry to London Zoo; to help morale, here's a sailor sharing a nut with a porcupine.



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Today only 250 Polish prisoners have been taken to Kalinin to be killed- yesterday's 390 was too many for overworked NKVD executioners.

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British Ministry of Food announces new drive on "The Kitchen Front" to save food & avoid waste.



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1,700 German mountain troops now boarding cruiser Admiral Hipper- their destination, the Norwegian port of Trondheim.



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Aerial photos of USSR's oilfields have arrived in London; Allied generals have decided to bomb them to try & strangle German oil supplies.

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Plan calls for 122 Soviet oil refineries to be bombed over 45 days. Allied generals: "This will decide the entire course of the war"

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Josef Perl is a 10 year old Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Yesterday, Jews were ordered to synagogues for a "census".

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Josef: "Doors crashed open; Hungarian soldiers & an SS man crashed into the synagogue with dogs, carrying batons & guns. All hell let loose"

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"We were kicked & beaten to the rail station. In the frenzied confusion, mothers lost children. The old & infirm were first to go under"

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The Jews have been put on cattle trucks, for deportation to Poland. Read the rest of Josef's account:

ww2today.com/deportations-of-jews-begin-in-czechoslovakia

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New film premiering in Berlin: "Feuertaufe" ("Baptism of Fire") celebrates the Luftwaffe bombing of Poland. Göring attending first screening

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"Feuertaufe" ends with its theme song, "Bombs Over Englad": "We drive the British lion to the last deciding battle…"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKeO_foFsM0&feature=related

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For the other side of Luftwaffe bombing, watch Siege, released earlier this year: 1st film showing invasion of Poland.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8eAmFrPS7U

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Germany recalling all 1, 2, 5 & 10 pfenning coins to use their valuable copper & bronze for the war effort. New zinc coins will replace them

[Pumba]

April 7, 1940


Chinese puppet govt in Nanking has announced conscription of men aged 19+, to begin next year; the troops will fight under Japanese command.

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Nazis have expelled all foreigners (incl. diplomats & Red Cross workers) from Poland. German-occupied Poland now cut off from outside world.

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Britain has suspended its airborne propaganda leaflet drops over Germany after public criticism of this "inglorious confetti war".

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Britain has issued a captured Nazi map of "world domination", showing plans to conquer all Europe in the next 8 years.



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Ministry of Propaganda in Berlin has dismissed the map as "an obvious English fabrication".

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A wreck, thought to be a French "treasure ship" from 1790, has been raised near Rouen. Excavations, however, found nothing but mud inside.

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London: Columnist Lord Castlerosse writes in today's Sunday Express: "Any girl not married by the end of the war is not really trying."

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Doris Melling, 23, from Liverpool, is unimpressed: "Most of my friends- who are all marrying or having babies- have made a mess of it."

[Pumba]

April 8, 1940


RAF have spotted dozens of German warships at northern port of Kiel- but don't know these are exceptional numbers, gathered to attack Norway

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9.15PM British Home Fleet is leaving port, to intercept German ships in North Sea- they think Germans are trying to break out into Atlantic.

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8.00AM: British destroyer HMS Glowworm, searching for a man overboard, has stumbled across the German invasion fleet.



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In heavy fog, Glowworm's lookout spots a ship- a German destroyer. She's flying a Swedish flag, but Glowworm's captain, Roope, isn't fooled.

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German destroyer Bernd von Arnim, after 1 hit from Glowworm, is retreating into fog. Roope: "Poor show. She could have put up a fight."

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Fleeing German destroyer has signaled German cruiser Admiral Hipper, now joining the battle; she's 10x Glowworm's size.



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In heavy fog, Glowworm doesn't recognize Hipper as a German ship; she steers close & starts flashing identification signals.

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Under crushing fire from Hipper's guns, Glowworm is making a smokescreen to try & get close enough to fire torpedoes.



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All the British torpedoes have missed- 2 by mere yards. Hipper is chasing her through the smokescreen, to finish her off.

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Lt. Ramsay, onboard Glowworm: "Ship's an inferno. The mast has fallen across the siren wires, & sirens are screeching unheeded in the blaze"

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With a grinding crunch, the listing Glowworm smashes against Admiral Hipper. The British ship crumples against the cruiser's armour plating.



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Lt. Ramsay: "Captain orders: 'abandon ship'. There are very few unwounded; all we can do is put lifebelts on the wounded & hope they float"

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Glowworm's boiler has exploded, killing most of the crew, incl the captain. Lt. Ramsay & 30 other survivors being rescued by damaged Hipper.

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Britain & France have announced they have laid minefields in Norwegian coastal waters, to "protect her neutrality" & block German ships.

[Pumba]

April 9, 1940


New Gallup survey: 84% of Americans want the Allies to win the war (2% want German victory), but only 23% favour going to war to help them.

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"Parental apathy" as 80% of London parents fail to respond to govt offer to evacuate children- 212,000 still in city.

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Wehrmacht troops are secretly massing on the Danish border. German troop ships approach Norway. The invasion begins tomorrow.

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German embassy in Oslo, Norway, has sent a welcoming party to the waterfront- to congratulate & guide German invasion fleet on its arrival.

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4.20AM Danish & Norwegian Foreign Ministers, woken just 20 mins ago, being told by German ambassadors to accept "protection of the Reich".

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Germany declares this a "protective occupation", to prevent "Anglo-French invasion". "Any resistance will only cause useless bloodshed".

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4.21AM German cruiser Blucher leading invasion fleet into Oslo harbour. Norwegian troops still don't know if ships are British or German.

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Norwegian commander, Col. Eriksen, giving order to shell invaders now: "Either I will be decorated, or I will be court-martialed. Fire!"

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19th-century Norwegian cannons "Moses" & "Aaron" firing on Blucher at point-blank range; German cruiser on fire & heavily damaged.

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An aide has just woken King Haakon of Norway: "Majesty, we are at war!" The King replies: "Against whom?"

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German troops now landing at Norwegian ports of Bergen, Kristiansand, Trondheim & Narvik- ships attacking Oslo delayed by Norwegian fire.

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5AM: German troops are pouring across the frontier into Denmark, by tank, ship, parachute & bicycle. Danish army massively outnumbered.

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5.158M: Copenhagen garrison has been captured without firing a shot. Only resistance to Germans in capital so far: 1 policeman with a pistol

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Danish King Christian, his ministers & General Pryor meeting in Copenhagen; they can hear scattered shots as Danes try to hold off invaders



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6AM King Christian asks Gen. Pryor: "Have our soldiers fought long enough?" Pryor: "They have not." King nevertheless orders cease-fire.

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German bombers now roaring over Copenhagen, dropping propaganda leaflets. Threat is clear: surrender, or be bombed.

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6.25AM Denmark has fallen to the Wehrmacht. 16 Danish soldiers are dead, & 203 Germans. Invasion took a little less than 6 hours.

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Norwegian commander, General Laake, orders reservists called up- by post, not radio. They will not be ready to fight for 2 days time.

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The Norwegian royal family, the Storting (Parliament) & Norway's gold reserves are being evacuated from Oslo to avoid capture by Germany.

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8AM: German paratroopers now landing over Oslo- all of Norway's ports are now occupied by the Wehrmacht.

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German cruiser Blucher, ravaged by Norwegian shore batteries, has capsized in Oslo harbour. 600-1000 Germans dead.



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Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian Nazi sympathiser, has burst into a radio station in captured capital of Oslo.

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Quisling claims government has abandoned power; declares himself Head of Government. Listen to him (with translation):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5nuooEl1QQ&t=0m37s

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Most Norwegians, dazed by sudden occupation, can only watch German troops march ashore.



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Niels Bamberger, Danish schoolboy: "We can see loads & loads of bombing planes overhead, Germans on motorcycles, horses dragging cannons..."

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Niels: "There are big tanks all over the place. They took over in a couple of hours. We couldn't resist. Denmark is a very small country"

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German troops occupying Oslo; disbelieving Police Commissioner thought it was a joke: "It's April 9, not April 1!"



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German General Himer, capturer of Copenhagen, now meeting Danish King Christian: "He appears inwardly shattered. His whole body trembles"

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King Christian: "General, may I tell you something? As 1 soldier to another? You Germans have done the incredible again- magnificent work!"

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UK Cabinet in emergency meeting to discuss German invasions of Norway & Denmark- which they learned of from early edition of New York Times

[Pumba]

April 10, 1940


A German raiding party has set off from Oslo; they plan, under cover of darkness, to capture the Norwegian King Haakon & his Parliament.

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German raid driven off by Norwegian Royal Guards & local rifle club volunteers, intent on defending their government.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midtskogen

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British Navy, sneaking up a fjord to Norwegian port of Narvik before dawn, has caught invading German fleet by surprise



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2 German destroyers sunk at Narvik, but British are outnumbered 5 warships to 10. 2 UK ships sunk, they're retreating back down the fjord.

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Theodor Broch, Mayor of Narvik, has been working all night to evacuate civilians. He's just returned home to his wife, & his daughter, Siri.

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Siri (3) is confused by chaos & noise as German troops occupy Narvik: "Is it Christmas, father?" Broch: "No, it's war." Siri: "Is war nice?"

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British assault on German forces in Norway continues: 16 RAF Skua divebombers attacking warship Konigsberg, at Bergen.



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Capt. Partridge, RAF pilot: "Only opposition: 1 AA gun. Tracer bullets drift up towards us like lazy golden raindrops going the wrong way."

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"Very brave German crew fired through whole attack". Konigsberg has broken in half; 1st major ship sunk by aircraft.

ww2today.com/first-major-ship-sunk-by-dive-bombers



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Rumours of approaching British bombers have caused mass panic in Oslo; people fleeing for the countryside. Watch video:

www.nrk.no/skole/klippdetalj?topic=nrk:klipp/360935

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Issued today in Germany: a new stamp celebrating Adolf Hitler's upcoming 51st birthday. (Name of child unknown).