Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
Posted on 10/01/2009 4:51:42 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
. . . Today to offer his people a solid peace after a great victory is perhaps an aim which still tempts Hitler. But if in order to reach it he had to sacrifice, even to the smallest degree, what seems to him the legitimate fruits of his victory, he would then a thousand times prefer battle.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
News of the Week In Review
Map Showing European Situation – 10
Summary of Week’s Stories – 11-15
Small Neutrals Ready to Repel Invasion – 16-18
European War is Already Influencing 1940 Election – 20-21
Both Sides Are Evading Real Neutrality Issue – 22-23
U-Boat Score is Cut By Convoy of Ships – 24-25
It’s Not All Swing in Harlem (NYT Magazine) – 26-28
*A stern warning to Britain on the arming of commercial vessels to defend themselves against submarine attack was issued in Berlin today. It was stated that it was necessary that Germany view such armed merchant ships in a category similar to warships and thus subject them to torpedoing without taking the conventional provisions to assure the safety of the crew.
The nerve of those Brits! How are they going to win hearts and minds in neutral nations with this hostile attitude toward U-Boats?
Note the photo of little Teddy on page 5.
Interesting cartoon about our own Maginot Line. The Japanese went around it just like the Germans did the real thing.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/oct39/f01oct39.htm
Sunday, October 1, 1939
German troops enter Warsaw
In Poland... German troops enter Warsaw and begin disarming the Polish garrison (estimated to number 100,000 officers and men). Polish garrison, commanded by Admiral Unrug, on the Hela Peninsula surrenders after a gallant fight. As well as land attacks they have endured a considerable naval bombardment.
In France... Polish cryptologists arrive with a cargo of two Enigma machines.
In London... The first news of the German pocket-battleships, Graf Spee and Deutschland, reaches the British Admiralty.
In Britain... Winston Churchill makes his first radio broadcast of the war, saying the Soviet Union has “pursued a policy of cold self-interest” in Poland. He adds that “we could have wished that the Russian armies should be standing on their present line as the friends and allies of Poland instead of invaders. But that the Russian armies should stand on this line was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia against the Nazi menace.”
In China... The Japanese 11th Corps begins withdrawing from northern Hunan province, ending an abortive attempt to capture Changsha and the Tungting Lake area. The fighting is known as the first battle of Changsha and it is a major victory for the Chinese Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek.
In Tokyo... Several senior officers of the Kwantung army, the Japanese army stationed in nominally independent state of Manchukuo (formerly Manchuria), have been dismissed in the wake of the agreement signed in Moscow, settling the border war with the USSR.
http://www.earthstation1.com/wcwwii.html
October 1, 1939: (Archived 2/6/99) - First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill broadcasts to the Nation on the first month anniversary of the beginning of the war concerning the invasion of Poland, “the assertion of the power of Russia”, and the U-Boat menace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Enigma_doubles#cite_note-2
Precious gift
In 1939, two Enigma doubles were sent to Paris and London.[3] Until then, German military Enigma traffic had utterly defeated the British and French, and they had faced the disturbing prospect that German communications would remain “black” to them for the duration of the coming war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Unrug
Despite having thus lost control of the Navy, Unrug remained commander of land forces in an attempt to prevent German recovery of the Polish Corridor. However, on October 1, 1939, after both Warsaw and Modlin had capitulated, Admiral Unrug decided that further defense of the isolated Hel Peninsula was pointless, and the following day all units under his command capitulated.
Actually, the Germans were entirely correct in this warning.
A ship cannot simultaneously be armed and expect to be treated as if it were unarmed. This is especially true with subs which are so vulnerable when on the surface.
Teddy Kennedy was an ugly kid.
Nice theoretical defense of the North Sea, did the UK have the manpower and ships to actually do what that map shows?
Estonia just bent right over for the Soviets, but I suppose it wasn’t rape-rape.
It sounds like Churchill was really running the country doesn’t it? Chamberlains heart was not in this war.
I think the Somali pirates have shown us that civilian ships should be armed.
I think it was pretty cool that the Enigma machines were delivered by the Polish. Ironic maybe?
Oh no! Not again!
I suppose that is true. It is just a little much that they should wax indignant when their intended victims take steps to defend themselves.
It appears to be a newspaper projection based on the WWI experience on a plan to prevent German warships breaking through to the Atlantic.
To block the Channel there were destroyer flotillas at Dover and Harwich, and for the Western end, six more flotillas at Portsmouth and the Western Approaches.
The Dover Calais minefield should be no problem. The North Sea one more difficult. There were four high speed Cruiser Minelayers being built designed to get out, lay the field, and return home dring darkness, but they wouldn;t be availablie until 1941 - until then there were minelaying destroyers in the Harwich and Roysth flotillas.
The Home Fleet at Scapa Flow would cover the Northern Route. (In 1939 the Shetland-Norway blockade would have been out of range of German air cover)
Scapa Flow will be in the news in a couple of weeks, minus 70 years.
Interesting.
These threads are always fascinating for me.
How about some sports news?
Yesterday, in their season opener, the USC Trojans, down 7-0 against Oregon at the Coliseum, rallied for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and came away with a 7-7 tie.
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