Sunday, April 24, 2016

October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived

Saturday 7 October 1939

October 7 1939 Admiral Graf Spee Ashlea worldwartwo.filminspector.com
The Ashlea, left, as seen from the Admiral Graf Spee. The captured Newton Beach is shown to the right. 

Western Front: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) completes its crossing to France on 6 October 1939. It has suffered no losses on the crossing during the month-long operation. The crossing involved:
  • 161,000 troops;
  • 24,000 vehicles, including tanks;
  • 140,000 tons of supplies.
Some BEF forces already are manning sections of the front.

Artillery duels take place between the Moselle and Saar rivers, along with minor skirmishes.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Admiral Graf Spee stops and boards the 4,222-ton British freighter Ashlea in the South Atlantic. After transferring its crew to its captured British freighter Beech, the Graf Spee sinks the Ashlea.

The 6,873-ton Dutch freighter Binnendijk, carrying oil and other cargo, hits a mine laid by a U-boat and sinks in the English Channel. All 42 crew survive.

The Kriegsmarine sorties toward Norway to try to lure British ships into an ambush.

The British detain US freighter Black Heron at Weymouth.

Convoys OA 16G and 17 depart from Southend.

Convoys SL 4 departs from Freetown to Liverpool.

German Government: Hitler issues an order appointing Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler as the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood. This new position is intended to:
  • Arrange the return to the Reich of the Volksdeutche and Auslandsdeutsche (Reichsdeutsche who live abroad)
  • Prevent "harmful influence" of Germans by populations alien to the German Volkstum;
  • Create newly populated areas settled by Germans, mostly by the returning Auslandsdeutsche.
This order is a key step in Himmler's gradual accumulation of more titles and executive positions in Germany than any other Hitler crony. In practical terms, the position will involve eliminating "inferior races" before they "contaminate" the Reich.

Hitler also issues a decree ordering Poles to be evicted from western Poland or face death.

Lithuania: The Lithuanian Foreign Minister returns to Moscow for more talks with Molotov.

Spain: Official establishment of the Spanish Air Force.

US Government: The US government grants official recognition to the Polish government-in-exile, currently located at Angers, France.

American Homefront: Game three of the World Series is won by the NY Yankees, 7-3, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

Highlanders Toronto worldwartwo.filminspector.com
On 7 October 1939, the 48th Highlanders march from their home at the Armouries on University Avenue to in Toronto to the new army training camp on the Exhibition. Thousands line the street to watch. The Highlanders are accompanied by their full brass and pipe bands, and their mascot, Kinross, a Scottish staghound.

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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