Posted on 09/03/2009 5:28:55 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
A key to map symbols is on my profile.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/eastern-europe/eastern-europe-index-1939.htm
An RAF Blenheim bomber of 139 Squadron conducts the RAF's first operational sortie of the war when it flew over to Germany to check shipping in the Schillig Roads. With a frozen radio, it was unable to transmit any information back to base and by the time it landed it was too late to mount an attack that day. Later that night, Whitley bombers conduct an number of leaflet dropping sorties over Germany.
http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/european-air-war/european-air-war-index-1939.htm
The Kriegsmarine begins its campaign against British merchant shipping with 17 U-boats putting to sea out of a total of about 57 operational boats, far fewer than the 300 Dönitz had felt he needed to succeed against Britain.
http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-at-sea/atlantic/battle-of-the-atlantic-index-1939.htm
The Poles felt they had been delivered...little did they know.
Interesting article on killing the poisonous London zoo reptiles and spiders. Gives one an idea of Great Britain’s state of mind at the time.
It will be interesting to see how things seem to “return to normal” during the “Phoney War” which lasts until May of 1940.
It was finally agreed, according to the British minute, though Bonnet does not mention this, that the British would deliver their ultimatum at 8 a.m. and the French theirs at noon. Bonnet’s parting shot to the British was similar to Daladier’s a few minutes before. “If the British bombers,” he said, “could be ready at once to reply to bombing attacks the position might be different.”
Chamberlain and Halifax in their telephone conversations with the French had not exaggerated the precarious position of the Tory government in the seething House of Commons. At 2 a.m. that night, Ambassador Corbin rang up Bonnet to warn him that the Chamberlain government risked being overthrown unless it could assure the Commons when it met at 10 a.m that the British ultimatum, with a time limit of a few hours, had already been delivered in Berlin. Corbin added that the British government had finally decided to deliver the ultimatum in Berlin at 9 a.m. with hostilities, so far as Britain was concerned, commencing at 11 a.m.
Corbin also asked if Paris could not “shorten the delay.” Bonnet recounts that he telephoned the Ministry of War to ask it and was answered:
Ask London if it can put the British Bomber Force at our disposition tomorrow morning. In that case the French General Staff can accept a reduction of the delay.
The message, says Bonnet, was relayed by Corbin to the British Foreign Office but the British General Staff Could not make a decision immediately. “Once again,” the Foreign Minister recounts, “we are halted by the insufficiency of our means of action.” One wonders why Daladier and Bonnet insisted on British bombers. Fighters, not bombers, would have been the “means” of halting a German air attack. And the French had enough fighters to turn back any bombers the Germans could spare from Poland.
William Shirer, “The Collapse of the Third Republic” p. 501-502.
This is a passage from the longer chapter about how the British were finally serious about going to war and stopping Hitler, and how the French had to be reluctantly dragged into it. The French military under Gamelin represented to the civilian government that the minute France went to war with Germany, fleets of German bombers would appear over every French city and slaughter civilians. Later in the chapter there is a plaintive plea from French Foreign Minister Bonnet to objecting to calling the diplomatic note to Berlin an “ultimatum” because it sounded to strong. Sheesh.....
Just a note for those who might be confused, the date is in European format, so the date was September 3, 1939, and not March 9, 1939.
I have a book on the Times front page covers during the war. It’s interesting to read stories during the phony war period. Every artillery exchange gets pumped up to be another Verdun.
French!
Thanks!
Thank you, BTW. These threads are awesome and I know you take a lot of time to put them together.
The Kriegsmarine had begun operations against Britain in August when GRAF SPEE and DEUTSCHLAND put out to sea.
Yes they are! I look forward to these every morning.
Absolutely. The German navy wasn't going to be caught with some of their ships in bad locations at the outbreak of war like they were in 1914.
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