Posted on 11/05/2009 5:05:27 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Thanks for posting this.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/nov39/05nov39.htm
Zossen conspiracy collapses
Sunday, November 5, 1939 www.onwar.com
In Berlin... After plotting with Halder and Beck to arrest Hitler, unless he relents on the plan for a western offensive, the Commander in Chief of the German Army, von Brauchitsch, meets Hitler to discuss the plans for an attack in the west. He argues very strongly that it should not take place as scheduled on November 12th because of weaknesses in the army. Hitler loses his temper during the meeting but is unconvinced by the arguments. Brauchitsch loses his nerve and returns to OKH (Army High Command) headquarters at Zossen, where the conspiracy collapses. Meanwhile, Colonel Hans Oster of the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) — one of the Zossen conspirators — warns Colonel Sas, the Dutch military attache in Berlin, of the impending invasion of the Low Countries. Sas informs the Belgian military attache.
In Oslo... The German government lodges a protest against the release of the interned City of Flint and the German prize crew. The protest is rejected.
In Paris... Churchill, British First Lord of the Admiralty, visits the French Marine Headquarters.
In Moscow... Finnish-Soviet negotiations continue. The Finnish delegation reports to Helsinki and asks for further instructions.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/nov39/f09nov39.htm
“”In Holland... Two British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) officers, Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best, are kidnapped by the Gestapo while attempting to contact members of the German resistance to the Nazis. The two British agents have been meeting with a “Major Schaemmle” who claims to represent German Army officers plotting to overthrow Hitler. (He is actually Walther Schellenberg, a Gestapo officer.) Their meetings have been at Venlo, 5 miles (8 km) from the German border. Today, they are to meet at a cafe a few yards from the border. Upon arriving, their car is hit by machinegun fire, they are overpowered by German security forces and forcibly taken across the border. Himmler ordered the kidnapping immediately after the Munich bombing incident. One of the officers is carrying a list of British agents with him and from this and other indiscretions as well as from their interrogation, the German authorities are able to arrest many British agents in former Czechoslovakia and other occupied territory. The Venlo Incident is a serious setback for British Intelligence. Both officers remain imprisoned until April 1945.””
The Zossen Conspiracy was something I just now learned. It never occurred to me that there were anti-Hitler plots that early in the war.
I guess when you’re a dictator, there’s always someone out to get even.
There were Wehrmacht anti-Nazi plotters active 1936-1940. Unfortunately, Hitler was always winning huge victories making him more ever popular with the public and lower ranking military. It wasn’t until the tide of war turned in 1943 that the plotters got active again.
Schellenberg was also the officer in charge of trying to snatch the Duke and Duchess of Windsor from Portugal.
He may have been involved in Himmler’s late war attempts top negotiate with the West. He was certainly aware of them.
Venlo ‘made’ Schellenberg.
Hmm. The Munich bombing will be a headline in a few days. Is this a premature posting?
Off topic:
It sure is nice to read English where I don’t have to read it, and re-read it, to understand it.
Today’s Journalism is making many of us question our own knowledge. And that covers a lot of subjects.
Comparing journalism from the different eras is always a live topic. I find it interesting to discover some of the idiosyncracies of the day, neither right or wrong - just different. Like "bars" for "rejects" (over and over).
NAVAL EVENTS-5 October 1939
On Northern Patrol, two cruisers were between the Orkneys and the Faroes, two cruisers and an AMC between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. Armed merchant cruisers TRANSYLVANIA departed the Clyde for Northern Patrol duties and AURANIA departed her patrol station for the Clyde to overhaul her guns.
Armed boarding vessels NORTHERN ISLE, NORTHERN PRINCESS and NORTHERN FOAM relieved armed boarding vessels NORTHERN CHIEF and KINGSTON BERYL on patrol in the vicinity of Muckle Flugga.
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Convoy FN.32 departed Southend, escorted by destroyers WHITLEY, WALLACE and sloop STORK. Destroyers WOOLSTON, VALOROUS and sloop HASTINGS departed Harwich and relieved the original escort which proceeded to Rosyth. The convoy arrived on the 7th.
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Convoy FS.32 departed Methil, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN and sloops BITTERN and FLEETWOOD. Six merchant ships left at 1200, despite fog, and the rest departed later. Destroyers JUNO and JUPITER were at sea to act as a fighting force from daylight on the 6th. Destroyer JAGUAR remained at Methil Roads until ordered to proceed at 1540 and overtook the convoy. JUNO and JUPITER were detached at dark on the 6th to proceed to Rosyth. There they joined minelaying cruiser ADVENTURE and escorted her to the Humber. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 7th. There was no convoy FS.33.
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Danish steamer TEKLA (1469grt) reported sighting a U-boat four miles SE of Flamborough Head. Destroyer JUNO was sent to search.
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After a D/F bearing on a suspected submarine 150 miles SW of Ushant, destroyers ACASTA, ESCAPADE, VERSATILE and GRENVILLE conducted searches in the area.
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Destroyer ANTHONY, which had departed the Clyde on the 4th, was escorting base ship MANCHESTER CITY to Rosyth, where they arrived early on the 6th. Later that day, ANTHONY left for Plymouth.
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Destroyer VANSITTART was sent to the Tongue Light Vessel to investigate a report of a fast motor boat, but the order was later cancelled and she returned to normal patrol.
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Submarine L.26, on Dogger Bank patrol, reported sighting a suspicious merchant ship. The submarine was ordered by Rear Admiral Submarines to follow the ship.
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U.33 laid mines off North Foreland, on which two ships were sunk and one damaged.
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Force K, consisting of aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL, battlecruiser RENOWN, light cruiser NEPTUNE, and destroyers HARDY, HASTY, HEREWARD, HERO and HOSTILE departed Freetown on 28 October. HERO was detached on escort duties shortly after the first of the month.
300 miles WSW of Freetown on the 5th, ARK ROYAL aircraft sighted German steamer UHENFELS (7603grt) which had departed Lourenco Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, on her third attempt to escape back to Germany and after evading sloop EGRET patrolling off the port.
HEREWARD was detached from the screen to investigate and UHENFELS attempted to scuttle herself. However, she was captured, Force K and prize arrived at Freetown on the 6th, and UHENFELS was taken for British service and renamed EMPIRE ABILITY. She arrived in the Thames for duty on 5 April 1940.
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Australian light cruiser PERTH departed Bermuda and arrived at Kingston on the 9th.
Sunday, 5th November 1939
Enemy aircraft reported off the Humber.
War Day 64. All times BST.
Blackout ends: 07.45, begins: 17.53
Hitler was a tyrant from the day he was appointed chancellor in 1933, and he had been a murderous agitator for 12 years before that.
War Diary and War Standing Orders of Commander in Chief, Submarines, Admiral Donitz
5.11.1939
U 53 was ordered to continue her passage south, as U 26 must be by now far enough ahead to carry out her minelaying operation.
The “City of Flint”, once taken in prize by the “Deutschland”, has been detained in Bergen. The prize crew is said to have been interned there and the prize ship herself released. As the Naval War Staff attaches great importance to her recapture, U 34, U 37 and U 46 on their return passage, have been ordered to take such action as their fuel stocks permit.
For further details see F.O. U/B West’s War Log.
Yeah, I saw a thing about Leslie Howard, a “casualty of the blackout”, was “injured severely about the head and chest.”
Also, because of the blackout on Guy Fawkes night, all fireworks were ordered kept indoors, which was one of those things that makes you go hmmm...
“Mayer-Ast” Mayer was credited with 30 victories. He recorded eight victories during the Spanish Civil War. He will be killed a year from now test flying a new version of the Me-109.
Skyrockets in the living room? Mom's not going to like this . . .
Elvis Costello has a song I like about "Indoor Fireworks." He was thinking metaphorically, though.
5.11.1939
U.S. freighter Black Condor is detained by British authorities at Weymouth, England;
freighter Scanmail is detained by the British at Kirkwall, Orkneys. Part of her cargo is seized;
Steamship President Polk is detained by the British at Port Said, Egypt, and certain items of her cargo confiscated for inquiry;
Freighter Black Eagle, detained by the British since 26 October, is released.
http://s0.ilike.com/play#Glenn+Miller:Johnson+Rag:942755:s28440469.10441410.17973504.0.2.61%2Cstd_5b726c3595b744e880fc8f1f7224f331
5/11/1939
The first movie to celebrate the Hitler Youth (HJ) “Marschtritt Deutschland” is released by Reich propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. In March of 1938 Reich’s Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach ordered the making of a movie of the Adolf-Hitler-Marsch.
It’s about German Youths on the “marsch”, when Hitler Youth marched from all parts of the Reich to Nuremberg to present their flags to Hitler.
I’d have to look it up to be exact but there were somewhere around 45 attempts to assassinate Hitler during his 12 years in power. Some came pretty close while other attempts fell apart much like the Zossen Conspiracy did. In the end the only one that was successful was Hitler himself. My wife often teases me when I start talking about some interesting item I’ve come across in my studies by saying “Who tried to kill Hitler this time?”
The History Channel and the History Channel International love to air these shows about Hitlers’ Bodyguards, Hitler’s Armored Trains, Hitler’s Bunkers, etc.
It is obvious that a huge amount of manpower and equipment was expended keeping him alive. I suppose though, that stuff also served as a public show of Power to the masses and helped the image.
Politicians still today use similar props to impress the rabble - Air Force One, Armored Limos, Travel Entourage, etc.
I’ve seen most of those History Channel shows. It’s amazing how many times they re-air them. For a while there Friday’s was “Who Tried to Kill Hitler Night”. You’re right though that that degree of guard also served as a show of power.
November 5, 1939
The first issue of the Underground Magazine “Information Bulletin is printed by the “Sluzba Zwycietwu Polski”, or Polish Victory Service
November 5 1939-
The Resistance Army In Silesia is founded by Professor Rechowicz, Wilibald Pietrek, Wladyslaw Kurek (guillotined in Katowice prison) and Uncle Henry Jaksika - Jan Jaksik (murdered at Auschwitz).
It was a Polish Insurgent Organization, founded in Tarnowski, that will brutally put down by the Nazi’s in September 1940.
November 5, 1939 - Breakdown of talks with Indian leaders over the future political status of country announced by Viceroy Linlithgow.
The Viceroy, in a radio broadcast, declared that his “disappointment” at the leaders’ refusal to agree to his proposal to expand Governor-General’s Executive Council to include representatives of the Congress and the Muslim League was not ‘final’.
The Congress and the Muslim League are at odds over whether the Muslim LEague should be included in Nogotiations for a new Indian Constitution.
5 November 1939:
72 G3Ms (36 from the 13th Kokutai, 18 each from the Kisarazu and Kanoya Kokutais) attacked Chengdu in Sichuan Province in retaliation for a highly successful attack on the Hankou Huang-chia-tun Airfield on 14 October 1939. (DB-3 bombers flown by Soviet volunteers, who claimed over 50 Japanese Army and Navy aircraft destroyed during this attack.)
The G3Ms came over in two formations, each with 36 aircraft. Captain Okuda (nicknamed ‘King of the Bombers’), commander of the 13th Ku, led the first formation with all of the aircraft from 13th Kokutai.
The Chinese responded by sending two formations against the attackers. The first Japanese formation was heavily attacked by seven Dewoitine D.510s of the 17th PS, led by Captain Shen Tse-Liu and seven I-15bis from the 27th PS led by Captain Hsie Chuan-Ho. The 27th PS first made contact with the 13th Ku about 4,000m over Fenghuang Shan.
The Chinese Air Raid Warning Net had given ample warning and the Chinese fighters, equipped with oxygen and radio receivers in the lead aircraft, were able to climb and attack the Japanese from above. Diving down at 65 degrees from behind, the I-15bis concentrated on the leading flight of G3Ms. After the initial pass, the I-15bis followed up with firing passes from the rear at the same level or slightly below.
Then came the cannon armed D510. Captain Shen led his squadron in a level attack from the front. (Past experience had shown that when firing in a dive, the spring tension of the drum magazine in the Hispano HS-404 cannon was insufficient to feed the gun causing stoppages.)
This time, under ideal conditions, Shen was able to make one devastating head-on pass on Okuda’s G3M. Multiple hits by the deadly 20mm cannon set Okuda’s G3M on fire at the right wing root. The fire then spread to the fuselage fuel tanks. The G3M then nosed over in a dive, which resulted in both wings snapping away.
Shen and his squadron turned around to attack the Japanese formation form the rear. This was when the concentrated firepower of the G3Ms began to tell. Shen’s D510 No. 5921 was damaged and he made a forced landing in which he was injured. Another D510 (No. 5924 flown by Lieutenant Chen Kwei-min) was damaged in the fuel tank but managed to land safely. Three 27th PS I-15bis were slightly damaged. Another G3M was shot out of formation smoking heavily but was not seen to crash by the time the Chinese fighters retired.
The second Chinese formation was led by Group vice-commander Wang Han-Hsun and included nine I-15bis led by Captain Ma Kwok-Lim of the 29th PS and six I-16’s of the 26th PS. Included in Ma’s group were Lieutenant Teng Chung-Kai, now promoted to Squadron vice-commander. They met the Kisarazu and Kanoya formation over Taiping-shi Airfield.
Ma led the I-15bis in a vertical diving pass on the leading flight of the formation. After the initial pass, the I-15bis turned back to attack from below and behind. They were joined by two I-16’s from the 26th PS, which had become separated from their formation. After the first two passes, the volume of return fire from the Japanese formation was seen to appreciably slacken.
The lead ship from the Shotai to the right of the leading shotai was seen to catch fire and gradually descend below the formation. Teng in I-15bis No. 2903 was credited with hitting this aircraft and contributing to it falling out of formation.
In a final firing pass from behind and below, the concentrated return fire from the Japanese formation hit Teng’s aircraft and he crashed to his death. Wang Han-Hsun in I-15bis “V-2” was wounded and made a forced landing. All but one of the other I-15bis were damaged and three more had to make forced landings (I-15bis nos. 2910, 2904, 2907). Both of the 26th PS I-16s were also shot up badly, one, No. 2609 crashed at Jintang, killing its pilot Lieutenant Tuan Wan-Yu and the other, no. 2604 force landed at Pengshang.
During the attack the Japanese dropped over 100 bombs on Fenghuang Shan Airfield. The second Japanese formation of 36 aircraft dropped over 200 bombs on Wenjiang Air Field. They destroyed one aircraft and two trainers on the ground.
After the battle, the Chinese found three wrecks and the bodies of Okuda and one of his Buntaicho. The Japanese, however, admitted to a total of 4 losses.
5 November, 1939
Cordell Hull, Sec of State, sends a message to US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Laurence Steinhardt that the US is seeking Contact with American Citizens in Poland.
I can’t much more about this than the outline, but it sounds interesting.
Well, when you get to thinking about it, I can’t imagine any gunpowder being allocated for bottle rockets and firecrackers during that time period. Too much of that going on for real anyway.
Thanks again for all the information you add to these threads. The reality behind the headlines, so to speak.
Yes, the kidnapping of Stevens and Payne Best happened on November 9. I was commenting on the German anti-Nazi plotters and the British efforts to contact them. The Nazis were putting out false flag feelers to flush out the conspirators.
Got it.
Thanx for that....
Some of this is family history, and some of it gives me a chance to exercise some language skills I haven’t used in over a decade, especially the Polish and Bundesarchiv sources....
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