Posted on 09/16/2009 4:52:43 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
A key to the map symbols is on my profile.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Hey, isn’t that attaché Commander Victor Henry?
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
Bump. And a thanks.
Nobody should EVER trust the Russians.
Ah the Saar offensive rages on :)
Sooner or later, Hitler and Stalin were going to have to go at each other.
Hitler’s Ukrainian spies knew EXACTLY what Stalin was up to, and he knew the Soviets were building up.
And while Hitler’s Generals kept pleading for “One more Year” to prepare, (The next generation tanks would be online, as well as new aircraft), Hitler feared that if Stalin went after Romania, before he went after Stalin, Germany would have no clear supply of Oil.
And that is exactly what the Soviets were planning to do, though not until the following year, at the earliest.
F.d.U./B.d.U.’S War Log
16 - 30 September 1939
In order to get further information on English trade routes, the amount of merchant shipping traffic and the convoy system, a collection of questions for investigation has been sent to the intelligence service.
With Supreme Command of the Navy, Naval War Staff (1st Division)’s Most Secret 6559 control of U-boats under F.O. U/B Baltic passes to F.O. U/B West. For details see War Log of F.O. U/B West.
U 30 requested leave to call at Reykjavik to land a seriously wounded man; she reports slight damage to her bows, 2 tubes out of action. She has 2 captured Air Force officers on board. Permission was given in radio message 0145. She will probably put into Reykjavik during the night 16/17. The Consul is to be informed by Naval War Staff as late as possible, so that her movements will not be known too soon.
U 26 made contact with the convoy reported by U 31 at 1900/15. According to dead reckoning it was making 6-8 knots.
According to a radio intelligence report one boat appears to have attacked.
NAVAL EVENTS- Saturday, 16 September
Halifax, Nova Scotia-UK (HX) convoys - the first of the convoys, HX 1, departed Halifax at 1400 with Canadian destroyers ST LAURENT and SAGUENAY as local escorts. On the 17th, 353 miles east of Halifax, the convoy was turned over to heavy cruisers YORK and BERWICK. The cruisers arrived back at Halifax on the 20th, while the convoy reached Liverpool on the 30th.
British northern waters - aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL and destroyers FAULKNOR, FIREDRAKE, FEARLESS, FURY, FORESTER, FORTUNE arrived at Loch Ewe to refuel. Destroyer FOXHOUND, also with ARK ROYAL’s screen, arrived at Scapa Flow for her refuelling.
Light cruiser DRAGON arrived at Scapa Flow.
Destroyer MATABELE departed Scapa Flow and arrived at Loch Ewe on the 17th.
Destroyer ESKIMO arrived at Loch Ewe.
Destroyer FORESIGHT departed Scapa Flow to assist destroyer SABRE hunting a submarine reported by aircraft. FORESIGHT oiled at Rosyth on the 17th and arrived back at Scapa Flow on the 18th.
Scottish west coast - British trawler WELLVALE (271grt) was lost to unknown cause.
British east coast – convoy FS.6 departed Methil and arrived at Southend on the 18th.
Destroyer WANDERER attacked a submarine contact 10 miles E by S of Flamborough Head. Sloop HASTINGS also attacked a contact, but this time 38 miles E by S of Flamborough Head.
Destroyer VALOROUS attacked submarine contacts 10 miles east of Lowestoft and also 32 miles SW of Spurn Point.
Steamer CITY OF PARIS (10,902grt) in convoy FN.6 was damaged 3 miles ENE of Aldeburgh by a mine laid.
British submarine H.34, carrying out experiments off Harwich, was bombed by a friendly aircraft. No damage was done.
Convoy FN.6 departed Southend and arrived at Methil on the 18th.
Humber Force - light cruisers GLASGOW and SOUTHAMPTON departed the Humber and arrived at Rosyth on the 17th. SOUTHAMPTON boiler-cleaned from 17th to 19th, GLASGOW from 19th to 21st.
Dover Straits - steamer BRAMDEN (1594grt), inbound from Dunkirk, was sunk on a British defensive minefield, with three crew lost.
Southwestern approaches - aircraft carrier COURAGEOUS departed Plymouth for anti-submarine hunting in the Western Approaches, west of Land’s End.
She was joined outside the breakwater at 0930 by destroyers INGLEFIELD, IVANHOE, IMPULSIVE. Destroyer INTREPID, which had not completed embarking depth charges departed Plymouth later in the day and joined them at 1500. IMPULSIVE attacked a submarine contact at 2035 and INGLEFIELD went to assist. At 2150, the search was abandoned as a “non-sub” contact.
Light cruisers CARADOC and CERES with destroyer KELLY departed Plymouth for anti-submarine patrol in the Western Approaches. The cruisers returned on the 18th.
U.33 sank steamer ARKLESIDE (1567grt) 150 miles SW of Land’s End.
Destroyer WHIRLWIND attacked a submarine contact 330 miles WSW of Land’s End.
U.31 sank steamer AVIEMORE (4060grt) at 0815, 350 miles west of Land’s End. She was sailing as an independent crossing ahead of convoy OB.4 and not a member of the convoy as frequently reported. Twenty three crew were lost and 11 survivors were by destroyer WARWICK. A ship in OB.4 was attacked by U.31 at 0040 but was not damaged. WARWICK was then missed at 0827 by a torpedo from U.31, but in the counter-attack, the submarine sustained light damage.
Destroyers KEMPENFELT and VESPER attacked a submarine contact ESE of Fastnet.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary BACCHUS (5150grt) was missed by a torpedo, 170 miles SW of Fastnet at 2242.
U.27 sank British trawler RUDYARD KIPLING (333grt) 100 miles west of Donegal. The entire crew were towed in their boats by the submarine to within five miles of the coast. Destroyers SOMALI and MATABELE and aircraft were ordered to the area to search for the submarine.
Mediterranean - Heavy cruiser SHROPSHIRE arrived at Malta for docking, departed on the 18th and reached Alexandria on the 20th.
Aircraft Losses-16-SEP-1939
Bristol Blenheim Mk.I
RAF 25 Sqn.
Registration: L6678
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Filton, Gloucestershire - United Kingdom
Phase: Approach
Nature: Military
Narrative:
Engine failed, stalled on approach & wing hit ground.
SS-Special Division troops of Einsatzkommando I/1 and I/3 arrive in Przemysl, 36 hours after 1st Mountain Division takes the town.
With the help of local Ukrainians and Ethnic Romanians, 600 Jews, mostly male, will be rounded up and shot in the next 48 hours. Half of them were refugees from western Poland.
This is believed to be the first Special Action that did not involve the elimination of Polish Intelligensia, and was diretly targeted at Jews.
I didn't know the Special Action units were organized before 1941.
This should give a pretty good picture of the amazing progess of the French army. The map for Sept. 12 is especially impressive, with the massed arrows.
Regarding G.H. Archambault, the Times man on the Saar: Never in the field of human conflict has so much been made of so little by one journalist.
"Reich Air Unit Credited with 74 Polish Planes"
Berlin, Sept 15 -- "The first German air ace in the war in Poland and the first soldier to be mentioned in a German Army communique by name was announced today.
"He is Captain Wilhelm Gentzen, whose pursuit squadron is reported to have destroyed in the last few days no fewer than seventy-four Polish planes, twenty-eight in the air battles and the others on the ground."
No current records to be found on a "Captain Wilhelm Gentzen." There is a "Hannes Gentzen" mentioned, but only regarding the western "Phoney War" of 1940:
"During the phoney war a number of French aircraft were shot down by Bf 110's. ZG 1 Gruppenkommander Hannes Gentzen became the highest scoring fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe on 2 April, when he shot down a Curtiss Hawk P-36 over Argonne."
You don't suppose the Goebbels' propaganda ministry would be less than truthful with a NY Times reporter, now do you?? :-)
“I didn’t know the Special Action units were organized before 1941.” ..........
There were 8 Special Division Einsatzkommando’s in Poland with the Invasion, including 2 for “Group Danzig”, alone.
Unlike 1941, these were Squad-sized units, with designated tasks laid out beforehand.
Later, they would be expanded to small Battalion-sized units for the Invasion of Russia, with detachments operating independently.
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