Sunday, April 24, 2016

October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer

Thursday 12 October 1939

October 12 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Soviets Estonia
Soviet troops entering Estonia, 12 October 1939.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-37 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Werner Hartmann torpedoes Greek merchant ship Aris west of Ireland on 12 October 1939. The Aris is an independent carrying ballast.

U-48 under Kplt Herbert Schultze torpedoes 14,115-ton French oil tanker Emile Miguet after stopping it with gunfire and disembarking the crew. It is part of convoy KJ-2.

U-48 also sinks 5202-ton British coaler Heronspool from convoy OB-17. Everyone survived. The Heronspool had fallen behind the convoy and thus in effect was an independent.

British authorities at Weymouth size more US mail destined for Holland, Belgium and Germany, this time from the Black Tern and the Dutch ship Zaandam.

Convoy SL 4F leaves from Freetown for Liverpool.

Western Front: The BEF under General Alan Brooke, 2nd Corps, now has fully occupied the line between the towns of Maulde and Halluin.

Finland: Finnish talks with Molotov begin in Moscow. Molotov demands territory north of Leningrad and some islands in the Gulf of Finland. He also wants control of the port of Hanko and some adjustments above the Arctic Circle. Many of these same points will be revisited in September 1944.

The American Ambassador to Moscow, Steinhardt, conveys President Roosevelt's wish to Molotov that the Soviets allow a full airing out of the Finnish position on boundaries.

British Government: PM Chamberlain and the House of Commons reject Hitler's latest peace offer of 6 October 1939. Chamberlain states that acceding to German desires for peace on the basis of the status quo would be to forgive Germany for its aggression. He adds that "the present German government" cannot be trusted.

A bill to restrain war profiteering is introduced.

German Government: Hitler ends his peace initiative for the time being. He also seeks to ramp up munitions production.

General Government of Poland: Hans Frank, who chairs the Academy of German Law, is appointed Governor-General (Gauleiter) of Poland. He will operate out of Wawel Castle in Kraków.

Frank will report to Heinrich Himmler. He has authority over rump Poland, the part not outright annexed to the Reich such as Danzig and the Polish corridor (and obviously not the part under Soviet control). This includes Warsaw, Lublin, Radom, and Krakow.

US Government: A House of Representatives Committee invites Leon Trotsky to testify about Josef Stalin. He accepts.

Estonia: Soviet forces begin arriving in Tallinn by rail, bound primarily for Saaremaa and Hiiumaa island, and around Haapsalu and Paldiski.

Palestine: All Jewish Immigration is halted.

Holocaust: Adolf Eichmann begins deporting Jews from occupied territories in Austria and Czechoslovakia (both now incorporated into the Reich) to occupied Poland.

Hans Frank, newly appointed Governor-General of Poland, must prepare to receive these deported people.

Future History: American avant-garde artist Carolee Schneemann is born.

October 12 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com M2A4 light tank
A US Army M2A4 light tank being demonstrated in Maryland on 12 October 1939.

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum

2019

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