Posted on 11/09/2009 6:51:05 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
He wanted it to be warm, but not too warm, because in his judgment no Italian feels any great joy over the fact that Hitler escaped death – least of all the Duce.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
as far as the papers are concerned, brits and french appear totally clueless about the coming german invasion and outcome.
i wonder if any of the military staffs had gamed out what would happen if germany attacked thru the ardenne with massed armor.
thanks for posting.
NAVAL EVENTS-Thursday, 9 November
Battleships NELSON, RODNEY, anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO, and destroyers FAULKNOR, FAME, FORTUNE, FOXHOUND, FORESIGHT, FEARLESS, KINGSTON and IMPERIAL arrived at Rosyth at 0700 for refuelling. KINGSTON had developed a leak in her reserve fuel tank and required repair.
_____
On Northern Patrol were two cruisers between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four cruisers and one AMC between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait.
_____
Light cruiser SHEFFIELD departed Rosyth on patrol, and arrived at Loch Ewe on the 21st.
_____
Convoy FN.34 departed Southend, escorted by sloops GRIMSBY, WESTON, FLAMINGO, which had arrived from Rosyth for this duty. Kites were flown from the sloops at 1000 feet to hinder air attack. The convoy arrived at Rosyth on the 11th.
_____
Convoy FS.34 departed Rosyth, escorted by destroyers VALOROUS, WOOLSTON and sloop HASTINGS, and arrived at Southend on the 11th.
_____
Steamer ASHANTIAN (4917grt) reported sighting a submarine, and destroyer ECLIPSE was detailed to search.
_____
Destroyer KANDAHAR departed Scapa Flow to join destroyer KELLY submarine hunting in Yell Sound. They were later joined by destroyer ICARUS and also searched in Colla Firth.
_____
A U-boat was reported 250 miles SW of Fastnet, and destroyers BROKE and ECLIPSE were sent to search.
_____
Submarine H.43 and trawler COMET (formerly TAMURA, 301grt) departed Devonport and exercised off the west coast of Ireland to see if submarines and trawlers could effectively work together. The patrol ended on the 21st.
_____
U.33 laid mines off North Foreland in Bristol Channel, but no shipping was sunk or damaged.
_____
U.34 seized Norwegian steamer SNAR (3176grt) as a prize off southern Norway.
_____
Steamer CARMARTHEN COAST (961grt) was sunk three miles east of Seaham Harbour on a mine laid by U.24 on 27 October; two crewmen were lost.
_____
Norwegian steamers GEISHA (5113grt) and SUSANNA (810grt) were seized by German warships in the Baltic for contraband violations.
_____
Light cruiser GALATEA departed Alexandria on patrol and arrived back on the 19th.
_____
Destroyer GRIFFIN of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla had departed Malta on 20 October and arrived at Gibraltar on the 22nd. She left on the 25th with sister ship GRENADE to escort convoy SL.5, but returned to Gibraltar.
She left again with convoy SL.6 on the 30th and arrived at Plymouth on the 9th November. This completed the transfer of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, now based at Harwich with the three Polish destroyers. Convoy SL.6A was escorted by destroyers ELECTRA and ESCORT into the Downs.
_____
French destroyers TARTU and VAUQUELIN arrived at Gibraltar to escort convoy HG.7.
_____
German steamer LEANDER (989grt) departed Vigo to return to Germany. At 0400, 100 miles west of Vigo, she was captured by destroyer ISIS, joined convoy HG.6 which ISIS was escorting, arrived at Falmouth on the 13th, and was renamed EMPIRE CRUSADER for British service.
_____
German steamers LAHN (8498grt) and TACOMA (8268grt) departed Talcuhuana, Chile, and arrived at Montevideo on the 23rd.
Thursday, 9th November 1939 Day 68
An RAF plane which crashed in Cambridge Road, Middlesbrough, at 16.55 yesterday, with total loss of personnel and machine, caused fires in three houses. One fireman is reported injured; no other civilian casualties. The aircraft mentioned by Home Security was Hudson N7290 from No 220 Squadron.
The two crew were: Pilot Officer Augustus Ryan (pilot), Sergeant Rex Mitchell (second pilot), ACI Albert Wade (crew), with Pilot Officer Douglas Robertson on board as a passenger.
War Day 68. All times BST. Blackout ends: 07.54, begins: 17.45
November 9 1939:
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.
In Germany... The press and radio accuse Britain of organizing the attempted assassination of Hitler in Munich on November 8th.
In Helsinki... The government restates its position that Finland “cannot grant to a foreign military power military bases on her territory and within the confines of her frontiers.”
In South Africa... An alleged Nazi plot by armed black shirts to sabotage vital industries in Johannesburg and Pretoria is revealed.
War Diary and War Standing Orders of Commander in Chief, Submarines- Admiral Donitz
9.11
U 49 sailed for her operations area in accordance with Operations Order No. 11. U 36’s operational readiness postponed for another 8 days.
November 9, 1939: 500 Jewish families exported from Lublin.
9 November, 1939-
German fighter aircraft knock down 3 Artillery observation balloons, one near Colmar, and 2 near Weissenburg.
There is some controversy among competing fighter squadrons over if balloons should be counted as air-to-air kills for pilots.
Date: 8th November 1939 Unit: 1 Staffel/Fernaufklaerungsgruppe 123 Type: Dornier Do 17P Werke Nr. ? Code: 4U + Location: Lubey, 12 km SW of Sizun, France 
Pilot: Oberfeldwebel Georg Stuehler 1.(F)/123 Nr.22 Killed (Born 06.04.1913 in Wuerzburg.) Observer : Oberleutnant Hans Kutter 1.(F)/123 Nr.6 Killed (Born 07.02.1916 in Hirschberg.) Radio/Op: Obergefreiter Heinrich Schneidmueller 1.(F)/123 Nr.327 Killed (Born 01.11.1913 in Hagen-Haspe / Westf.) 
Georg Stuhler's Death Announcement- REASON FOR LOSS: This aircraft was attacked and shot down by F/O Edgar James (Cobber) Kain in a Hurricane of No.73 Squadron. During the combat Kain's Hurricane was also hit in error by French anti-aircraft gunners during the pursuit. This was Kain's first victory that started his phenomenal career of leading R.A.F. ace of the French campaign. 
Dornier Do-17P
Don’t think so. They were fixated on Belgium and the Netherlands [think Schlieffen], but then, in fairness, so were the Germans early on.
But by the Spring of 1940, the Brits and French, FOR POLITICAL REASONS, decided they had to cover both a piece of Belgium and Holland when the fighting started. To do that, they pulled Giraud’s Seventh Army. Which was the reserve. Which was stationed behind Sedan and Corap’s Ninth Army. Opposite the Ardennes.
Schellenberg wasn’t Gestapo. He was SD. The operation wasn’t Gestapo. It was SD. One of Heydrich’s ideas.
“Flying Pencil”.
From the Personal Diary of Joseph Goebbels (Machine Translation)
He enjoys the protection of the Almighty
9. November 1939
Evening in Burgerbraukeller. The old fellow! Many are missing, many have appeared in khaki skirt. The Fuhrer is welcomed with unimaginable joy.
He holds in his speech a sharp reckoning with England. Strongest attacks against the British big politics. We never surrender. Prepared for 5 years of war. And England will get to know our weapons.
Great excitement raging in the hall. This speech will be a world sensation.
Cut back immediately after the speech by the Fuhrer in Berlin. Ate in our car and talked. We discuss all sorts of problems.
Above all, the lack of foresight and initiative in the Steel Ministry. The Fuhrer is also very angry. But he can right now do nothing about it.
The confrontation with the clergy, he wants to save up for after the war. And that is also quite rightly so!
The general situation is that the Fuhrer is very optimistic. England must be brought to its knees.
In Nuremberg, bad news comes, I must present to the leaders a telegram after the took place shortly after our leaving the Bürgerbräus then an explosion. 8 dead and 60 injured. Tumbled down the entire vault. That is outrageous.
The Fuhrer keeps the news first for a hoax. But I ask for in Berlin, everything is right. They had tried twice to stop the train, but without success. The extent of the damage is enormous.
An attempt, no doubt conceived in London, and probably carried out by Bavarian Legitimists. The leader of a communique dictated that I had the same issue in Nuremberg.
We consider extensively probable perpetrator, consequences and possible action. We hold the people being back yet, until we at least know what direction the attack comes from.
The leader and we are all miraculously escaped death. If the rally every year, as had been previously carried out according to plan, then we all lived no more.
The leader has begun in contrast to the past half an hour earlier and closed early enough. He enjoys the protection of the Almighty. He will not die until his mission is
In the closing days of World War II, Goebbels had his complete original diary converted to a new technology called Nicrofich.
About 43,000 pages were photocopied and reduced to about 10 x 15 centimeter large glass plates.
In 1992 Elke Fröhlich discovered that glass plates in the former Special Archive in Moscow.
On behalf of the Institute of Contemporary History (ICH), she published the Goebbels diaries from 1992 to 2005 in two parts with a total of 29 volumes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.