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The year is 1940, the month is January....
The war is now 4 months old.
The war as of now...
1939
August 14 - September 1
Germany
On the 14th August, 1939 Karl Donitz, commander of the U-Bootwaffe, received a message stating that all senior U-Bootwaffe staff officers and U-Boot commanders were to report for a "reunion" on the 19th August at Donitz's headquarters on the submarine tender Hecht in Kiel. This message was a war alert from the OKM, the staff of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, chief of the Kriegsmarine and the
word "reunion" was a coded order to deploy the U-Bootwaffe for war.
As part of the Kriegsmarine war plan the two combat-ready "pocket" battleships, Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland, each with one supply ship, slipped secretly to sea and took up waiting positions in the North and South Atlantic. The combat-ready ocean-going U-boats were to occupy waiting positions off the Atlantic coasts of Great Britain and France and off the Straight of Gibraltar and seventeen ducks were to take up waiting positions in the North Sea. Thus, the "pocket" battleships and U-Boats in the Atlantic were to operate against the maritime forces of Great Britain and France should those nations declare war; the U-Boats in the North Sea, were to offensively and defensively.
The deployment of the U- boats "was dictated by their fuel capacity - or range. Six medium-range Type VII's of the Salzwedal Flotilla were to patrol individually in a semicircle off the Atlantic side of the British Isles. Six new Type VIIB's of the Wegener Flotilla, with twice the fuel capacity, were to patrol individually on a similar arc, but farther out - or westward - and southward to the Bay of Biscay. Five big long-range IX's of the Hundius Flotilla were to patrol a southern area off the Iberian Peninsular and the Straight of Gibraltar."
"To minimise the possibility of detection, the eighteen Atlantic-bound u-boats did not use the convenient English channel. They went the much longer way, around the north end of the British Isles, remaining submerged in daytime, avoiding all contact with shipping. It was a slow, tedious, fuel-consuming journey during which all boats maintained absolute radio silence. None was detected."
Clay Blair; "Hitler's U-Boat War; The Hunters, 1939 - 1942"
After months of diplomatic wrangling and "appeasement" bargaining, war erupted when Germany invaded Poland. Germany's Blitzrieg offensive, which plunged Europe into conflict, heralded a new and dramatic style of modern warfare. Although there was no Allied advance into Germany in Western Europe, fighting flared up on the Eastern Front between the Soviet Union and neighboring Finland.
September 1
Eastern Front, Poland
A German force of 53 divisions, supported by 1600 aircraft, crosses the German and Slovak borders into Poland an a pincer movement. Plan White, directed by General Walther von Brauchitsch, aims to totally paralyze Poland's 24 divisions by swift encirclement, thus cutting their lines of support and communication. While Poland mobilizes it's full strengh, its forces in action, lacking both air and armored support, are largely placed on the country's borders. They are quickly overrun, and reinforcements often arrive too late to halt the German attacks.
September 2
The Allies
Ultimatums are delivered by Britain and France to Germany demanding its immediate withdrawal from Poland.
September 3
The Allies
Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany after their ultimatums regarding the invasion of Poland expire. Australia and New Zealand also declare war. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain forms a war cabinet, which includes prominent antiappeasers First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill and Secretary for Dominions Anthony Eden.
In the Atlantic
The liner Athenia is sunk by the U-30 after being mistaken for a British auxiliary cruiser, claiming 112 lives.
September 4
Germany
Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command launches its first attacks against Nazi warships in the Heligoland Bight off northwest Germany, but the government will not authorize raids on targets within Germany.
September 5
South Africa
Prime Minister Jan Christiaan Smuts declares war on Nazi Germany following the formation of a new cabinet after political disagreements over joining the conflict.
United States
The authorities offically proclaim their neutrality.
September 6
Poland
The Polish government and high command leave Warsaw and order thier forces to withdraw to the line of the Narew, Vistula, and San Rivers. Nazi troops make a dramatic advance that reaches beyond Lodz. They also seize Cracow in the south.
September 7
Germany
France begins minor skirmishes across the border with Germany near Saabrucken.
In the Atlantic
Britain's first convoys sail across the Atlantic. The system is already operating on the Britain's east coast to protect merchant ships from U-boat attacks.
September 8
Germany
The German Tenth Army led by General Walter von Reichenau reaches the outskirts of Warsaw, the capital. General Wilhelm List's Fourteenth Army reaches the San River around Przemysl, while General Heinz Guderian's tank corps reaches the Bug River to the east of Warsaw.
September 9
Poland
A Polish counterattack is launched by 10 divisions, which gather around Kutno under General Tadeuz Kutrzeba. The attack over the Bzura River against Germany's Eighth Army is the most effective Polish offensive of the campaign, but only achieves short-term success.
September 10
Canada
The government declares war on Germany
France
Major elements of the British Expeditionary Force, led by General Lord Gort, begin to land in France. Some 160,000 men and 24,000 vehicles arrive throughout the course of September.
September 13
France
Prime Minister Edouard Daladier forms a war cabinet and takes additional responsibility for foreign affairs.
September 16-27
Poland
Warsaw's defenders are encircled, but refuse to surrender until the 27th. Elements of Germany's Fourteenth Army west of Lvov are still locked in battle, while other units advance to join General Heinz Guderian's units in action along the Bug River.
September 17
In the Atlantic
The British aircraft carrier Courageous is sunk by U-29 during an antisubmarine patrol off southwest Ireland. The aircraft carrier Ark Royal has managed to escape a similar attack just the days beforehand. The naval authorities act quickly and withdraw Britain's aircraft carriers from such duties to preserve these valuable vessels for other maritime roles.
September 17-30
Poland
The Polish government and high command flee to Romania, only to be interned. A government-in-exile is formed and many fighters escape to join the Allies. Poland is split into two zones of occupation divided by the Bug River. Germany has lossed 10,572 troops and the Soviet Union has 734 men killed in the compaign. Around 50,000 Poles are killed and 750,000 captured.
September 21
Romania
A local fascist group, the "Iron Guard," assassinates Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu.
September 27
Germany
Adolf Hitler's senior commanders are told of his plans for a western offensive at the earlist opportunity. This announcement is met with hostility by the military, who resent Hitler assuming direct control over strategic planning and also feel unprepared for this undertaking. His plan for invading the Low Countries, formulated as Plan Yellow on October 19, is constantly aborted due to bad weather. The plan is also modified and its objectives widened before the actual offensive in 1940.
September 29
Soviet Union
After occupying Poland, the Soviet Union concentrates on extending its control over the Baltic Sea region to safeguard against any German threat. During the next few weeks it gains bases and signs "mutual assistance" agreements with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Finland, however, will not agree to the Soviet Union's territorial demands and mobilizes its armed forces in October as political dialogue fails to resolve the crisis.
October 14
In the North Sea
The British battleship Royal Oak is sunk, with 786 lives lost, after U-47 passes through antisubmarine defenses at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, where the Home Fleet is anchored. Defenses are improved at the base after this dramatic attack.
November 4
The United States
Changes to the Neutrality Act permit belligerent states to purchase arms from private suppliers on a “cash-and-carry” basis, whereby they have to pay for any weapons and then transport them using their own vessels. Given Britain's command of the Atlantic sea-lanes, this act is clearly intended to benefit the Allied nations.
November 26
Finland
Criticism of Finland in the Soviet press and faked border incident further sours Soviet – Finnish relations. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, subsequently withdraws from the nonaggression pact with Finland and breaks off relations. Finland, lacking allies, believing talks will avert a conflict.
November 30
Finland
A Soviet force of over 600,000 men, backed by air and naval power, attacks Finland in support of Otto Kuusinen's newly-proclaimed Finnish People's Government, which is sponsored by the Soviet Union. As aircraft bomb the capital, Helsinki, Field Marshal Karl von Mannerheim leads the nation's defense with a mainly reservist force, interior in both numbers and arms. The Mannerheim Line, a 1914-18 system of fortifications that runs through rugged terrain and forest, obstructs the main Soviet thrust through the Karelian Isthmus.
Other Soviet forces attack eastern and northern Finland, and also launch failed amphibious assaults on the southern coast. As the campaign progresses, highly-motivated Finnish troops exploit their familiarity with the terrain and use their ability to ski through snow-covered areas to launch hit-and-run raids on Red Army units bogged down by the weather.
December 2
Finland
The League of Nations is asked by Finland to intervene in its conflict with the Soviet Union. The League eventually agrees, but the Soviet Union opposes its involvement and is expelled from the organization on December 14.
December 7
Finland
The Soviet 163rd Division approaches Suomussali village in eastern Finland. Halted by freezing conditions, its troops are targeted by the Finnish 9th Division, which servers its supply lines. The Soviet 44th Division, sent as a relief force, is blocked by the Finnish attacks and both Red Army units attempt a breakout. By the end of the year these divisions have been forced to capitulate, after having 27,500 men killed by enemy action or the freezing temperatures. The Finns achieve similar successes in the other engagements during the “Winter War”
December 13
In the Atlantic
The British heavy cruiser Exeter, with the light cruisers Ajax and Achilles, engage the German pocket battleship Graf Spee at the mouth of the Plate River, off Uruguay. The British vessels sustain severe damage as they maneuver to prevent Graf Spee delivering concentrated fire on a single vessel. Graf Spee, its self damaged, withdraws to neutral Uruguay for repairs. Ajax and Achilles are later joined by the heavy cruiser Cumberland, to await Graf Spee's emergence from Montevideo port. The Graf Spee, however, is scuttled by its crew on the 17th to prevent the British from getting a hold of the battleship.
December 16
Finland
After advancing to the Mannerheim Line, the Soviet Seventh Army begins a major offensive. To compensate for their lack of armor and artillery, innovative sabotage techniques and improvised explosive devices (“Molotov Cocktails”, named after the Soviet foreign minister) are used by Finnish ski-troops to destroy enemy tanks. The fighting will continue until February 11, 1940.
December 23
Canada
The first Canadian troops, some 7500 men, arrive in Britain.
1940 |