Wednesday, April 27, 2016

October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm

Monday 27 October 1939

October 27 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com Belgian military
Belgian forces on maneuvers in 1939.
Western Front: Wehrmacht troops are taking up positions all along the front on 27 October 1939, including in the north where they are facing Holland and Belgium.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-34 (Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Rollmann) torpedoes and sinks 5,317-ton British freighter Bronte. All 42 crew survive. It is a victory against Convoy OB-25.

Soviet authorities in Murmansk return the US City of Flint to its German prize crew. The authorities have decided to treat the situation as a legal, as opposed to political, matter, and announce that the ship must be released in the same condition in which it arrived - i.e., as a German prize ship with its prisoners. However, the Soviets retain the Captain of the City of Flint, Joseph Gainard, because he is an inactive US Naval Reserve officer. The Germans sail west back to Norway, but it remains unclear if they can evade British patrols which caused them to seek safe haven in Murmansk in the first place.

American consul William Chapman continues his discussions about British detainment of US vessels, this time speaking with the British Colonial Secretary. The stakes are rising because one of the ships detained was carrying diplomatic pouches. After meeting with Chapman, the British decide to release the ship containing the pouches, the Exporter, along with freighters Oakman and Meanticut.

Convoy OA 26 departs from Southend, and OB 26 departs from Liverpool.

Battle of the Pacific: Four Soviet submarines arrive by rail in Vladivostok, the USSR's main Pacific naval base.

Belgium: King Leopold, in a radio broadcast, states that his country will defend its neutrality.

German Propaganda: German state media complains about anti-German bias in Belgian media.

United States Government: The Senate passes a bill revising the neutrality laws to permit the sale of arms.

Malaya: Contributes  £80,000 to the Red Cross and St John fund. The fund now tops £500,000 in total.

Vatican: Pope Pius XII publishes the encyclical Summi Pontificatus. It condemns authoritative government practices and expresses compassion for displaced Poles.

Poland: Marshal Rydz-Smigly, interned in Romania, resigns as Commander-in-chief of the Polish armed forces.

German military: Hitler dismisses concerns expressed by Heer C-in-C Brauchitsch and others that the Wehrmacht is not ready to attack in the West, particularly given the worsening weather.

China: Japanese attacks against Lanchow continue.

October 27 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com executions Poland Father Sosnowski
A Polish priest, Father Piotr Sosnowski, before his execution by German Security Police, near the city of Tuchola, October 27, 1939.
Holocaust: Executions in Poland continue. This stage is known as the Intelligenzaktion, a second phase of the Unternehmen Tannenberg directed by Heydrich's Sonderreferat from Berlin.

Future History: John Cleese is born in Weston-super-Mare, England. He goes on to become famous in the 1970s with Monty Python.

October 27 1939 worldwartwo.filminspector.com John Cleese
John Cleese is born on 27 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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