Friday 19 January 1940

Finnish soldiers scatter as Soviet bombers approach. January 19, 1940.

Winter War: The weather stays chilly on 19 January 1940, with 45°C (81°F) of frost recorded north of Lake Ladoga. Even as far south as Italy, there is 20° of frost, all of Europe is covered by a massive cold front.

Winter War Army Operations: Fierce fighting at Salla, where the Soviets are suffering in the weather more than the Finns, who are better prepared and closer to their supplies. The Soviet 122nd Division there stops a Finnish attack.

The Soviet 18th Division remains surrounded north of Lake Ladoga. It has suffered an estimated 18,000 killed and captured.

Attacks on Taipale gain no ground. The artillery bombardment of Summa continues.

Winter War Air Operations: The Swedish volunteer pilots bomb Soviet positions.

Winter War Peace Talks: Germany declines to mediate in the USSR/Finnish Winter War.

Battle of the Atlantic: British destroyer HMS Grenville (Capt. George E. Creasy) strikes a mine and sinks about 23 miles east of the mouth of the River Thames. Nearby destroyers rescue 118 men, while 77-81 perish (estimates vary). It is a brave move by the destroyers, who also are exposed to the mines.
U-9 (Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth) continues its successful patrol. It torpedoes and sinks 1,188-ton Swedish freighter Patria north of Ymuiden, Holland. Four survive and 19 perish. The U-boat has been chasing the freighter and dispatches it with one torpedo.

U-55 (Kapitänleutnant Werner Heidel) torpedoes and sinks 1,694-ton Norwegian freighter Telnes northwest of the Orkneys. All 18 crew perish.

U-59 (Kapitänleutnant Harald Jürst) torpedoes and sinks 1,296-ton French freighter Quiberon off Great Yarmouth, England with one torpedo.

U-44 has the Greek freighter Ekatontarchos Dracoulis in its sights in the Bay of Biscay around midnight. A torpedo, though, detonates prematurely.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sunfish fires four torpedoes at U-14 off Heligoland, Germany. All four miss.

Convoy OA 75G departs from Southend.

Convoy OB 75 departs from Liverpool.

Western Front: The British 50th Motor Division begins embarking for France to join the BEF.

US Government: Senator Borah of Idaho, an influential Isolationist but quite progressive, passes away at age 74 after 32 years in the Senate.

Denmark: The government states that it will fight to preserve its independence.

A.B. Bromfield, the last man to leave the ship, clings to a porthole in the bows of the sinking HMS Grenville. It was a vessel of 1,485 tons and had a complement of 175 officers and men. Eight men died in the explosion, 73 more in the water, there was no time to lower the boats.

January 1940

January 1, 1940: Finns Carve up the Soviets
January 2, 1940: Finnish Counterattacks Continue
January 3, 1940: Soviets Trapped
January 4, 1940: Soviet Breakout Attempts Fail
January 5, 1940: Dicing Up the Soviets
January 6, 1940: Soviet 44th Division Runs
January 7, 1940: Shakeup in Soviet High Command
January 8, 1940: Ratte Road Battle Ends
January 9, 1940: British Submarines in Peril
January 10, 1940: Mechelen Incident
January 11, 1940: Finns Surround More Soviets
January 12, 1940: New Soviet Attacks at Taipale
January 13, 1940: Fall Gelb Postponed
January 14, 1940: Japan's Government Falls
January 15, 1940: Soviets Prepare More Carefully
January 16, 1940: German Atrocities Uncovered
January 17, 1940: Bletchley Park in Action
January 18, 1940: New Hope for Allied Shipping
January 19, 1940: Finnish Attacks at Salla
January 20, 1940: Churchill Urges Cooperation
January 21, 1940: Asam Maru Incident
January 22, 1940: Dissension Within British Government
January 23, 1940: Dissension in South Africa
January 24, 1940: NKVD Blocking Detachments
January 25, 1940: Auschwitz Site Selected
January 26, 1940: Millionaire Bunker Destroyed
January 27, 1940: U-20 Sinks Four Ships
January 28, 1940: Softening Up the Finns
January 29, 1940: Moscow Willing to Talk
January 30, 1940: Hitler Throws Down the Gauntlet
January 31, 1940: Timoshenko Is Ready

2019