http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/nov39/11nov39.htm
Germany will respect the neutrals
Saturday, November 11, 1939 www.onwar.com
In Berlin... The Reich foreign ministry repeats earlier assurances that the neutrality of Holland and Belgium will be respected.
On the Western Front... There is limited activity by German patrols and artillery. The BEF holds Armistice Day services amid the great battlefields of the First World War.
In Britain... Queen Elizabeth broadcasts a message to the women of the Empire, from Buckingham Palace. She says women “have real and vital work to do” and assures women that they are “keeping the Home Front, which will have dangers of its own, stable and strong.”
Naval Events-Saturday, 11 November
On Northern Patrol were two cruisers were between the Orkneys and the Faroes, three cruisers and one AMC between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. Light cruiser GLASGOW was en route to patrol in the Denmark Strait while light cruiser DIOMEDE was escorting Swedish steamer DROTTNINGHOLM (11, 055grt), which had been intercepted in the Faroes-Iceland patrol, towards Kirkwall.
(In the Admiralty War Diary, the steamer is identified as above. In the Rosyth War Diary, she is identified as Danish steamer MARTIN GOLDSCHMIDT, 2095grt).
DIOMEDE requested a trawler to take over, and armed boarding vessels NORTHERN ISLE and NORTHERN FOAM were dispatched. DIOMEDE lost track of the steamer before they arrived, but armed merchant cruiser CALIFORNIA located her late on the 11th. The trawlers could not make the rendezvous due to bad weather.
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Armed merchant cruisers AURANIA and CHITRAL arrived in the Clyde after Northern Patrol duties.
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Destroyer MAORI departed Scapa Flow to rendezvous with submarines TRIUMPH and TRIDENT 10 miles due north of the Butt of Lewis for escort. They arrived at Rosyth on the 12th.
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Destroyer ZULU searched for a submarine reported NW of Holbourn Head.
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Convoy FN.35 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and sloops PELICAN and HASTINGS. Destroyers JUNO and JUPITER were at sea as a fighting force for this convoy and for FS.35. Seven steamers became detached from FN.35 and Polish destroyers GROM and BURZA escorted them into the Humber. GROM afterwards returned to Harwich. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 13th, WOOLSTON and PELICAN at Rosyth mid-day, and HASTINGS which had lost touch, two hours later.
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Convoy FS.35 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers WALLACE, WHITLEY and sloops STORK and STORK which attacked a submarine contact 9.9 miles off St Abbs Head. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 13th.
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Trawler SOUTHWARD HO (204grt) reported a submarine five miles SE of the Tyne. Anti-submarine trawlers OLVINA (425grt) and CAPE COMORIN (504grt) carried out a search and during the night of the 11th/12th, CAPE COMORIN ran aground near the Tyne. She was refloated and repaired.
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Destroyers KEITH and BOADICEA were on East Coast patrol. BOADICEA was detached to Harwich to refuel and KEITH was relieved by Polish destroyers BURZA and GROM on the 11th.
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Destroyers IMOGEN, ICARUS and IMPULSIVE departed Scapa Flow on anti-submarine patrol and returned the next day.
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The Humber Force, consisting of 2nd Cruiser Squadron, the 7th Destroyer Flotilla, and destroyers MASHONA, BEDOUIN, TARTAR, GURKHA of the 4th Flotilla, were placed under direct Admiralty control to counter a possible sea invasion of Holland thought to be due.
Light cruisers GLASGOW, SOUTHAMPTON, AURORA, BELFAST, with MASHONA, TARTAR and GURKHA departed Rosyth on the 11th to join the Humber Force at Immingham. BEDOUIN was delayed three hours and arrived later.
On the 12th, MASHONA, BEDOUIN and TARTAR were relieved by destroyers AFRIDI, MAORI and ZULU, with MASHONA departing Rosyth on the 14th, escorting submarine H.34 and tanker WAR PINDARI to Scapa Flow and Loch Ewe, respectively. BEDOUIN proceeded to Scapa Flow, while TARTAR escorted steamer MARYLYN (4555grt), departing Aberdeen on the 14th for Scapa Flow.
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Patrol sloops KINGFISHER and WIDGEON departed Belfast and arrived in the Clyde later the same day.
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Light cruiser EMERALD departed Portsmouth with another shipment of gold for Canada, called at Plymouth on the 12th, and arrived at Halifax on the 21st.
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Destroyer WIVERN arrived at Chatham after boiler cleaning at Plymouth.
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Aircraft carrier ARGUS and destroyer STURDY departed Devonport for Toulon where the carrier could conduct training exercises for new pilots. Destroyer GALLANT departed Portsmouth on the 13th and joined the ships.
STURDY was to carry on and join the local defence destroyer flotilla on the China Station, but was retained in the Mediterranean as attendant destroyer for ARGUS. The three ships arrived at Gibraltar on the 17th with GALLANT leaving on the 17th and reaching Plymouth on the 21st.
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Convoys OA.32G, which had departed the Thames on the 8th, and OB.32G, which had departed Liverpool, merged on the 11th as OG.6 with 43 ships. They were escorted by destroyers MACKAY, VIMY, WHIRLWIND, WREN and WAKEFUL from the 8th to 11th, and French destroyers TIGRE and PANTHÈRE from the 11th to 16th, when the convoy arrived at Gibraltar. Anti-submarine trawlers SPANIARD (455grt), TURCOMAN (455grt) and KELT (455grt) were with the convoy from the 11th to 16th.
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Heavy cruisers SUSSEX and SHROPSHIRE departed Simonstown and Capetown respectively, to sweep towards St Helena. While departing, SUSSEX was in a minor collision with tanker ATHELPRINCE (8782grt) at Simonstown. The cruisers arrived back on the 23rd.
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Battleship RAMILLIES and destroyer DELIGHT departed Port Said to relieve battleship MALAYA and destroyer DARING off Aden.
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Light cruiser PENELOPE departed Alexandria on patrol, and arrived at Malta on the 25th.
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The 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla left Malta on the 11th with base ship VULCAN (trawler, 623grt) for Bizerte and Ajaccio, en route to Portsmouth. The Flotilla consisted of the same units it had at the beginning of the war. Destroyer DAINTY followed the flotilla to escort.
MTB.3 and MTB.4 broke down and returned to Malta, were freighted in depot ship WOOLWICH, which departed Malta on the 21st, and later arrived at Portsmouth. DAINTY and seven MTBs reached Bizerte on the 15th and MTB.14, MTB.15, MTB.16, MTB.18 were sent on to Ajaccio.
On the 16th in heavy weather off Sardinia, MTB.6 broke down and was taken in tow by DAINTY. However, she was lost when the ring of the towing spar fractured and DAINTY rammed her. MTB.1 and MTB.19 remained with DAINTY and arrived at Ajaccio before noon on the 19th, after which DAINTY returned to Malta.
Liner FRANCONIA, carrying MTB.2, MTB.5, MTB.17, departed Malta on the 16th escorted by destroyer DUCHESS. The liner was damaged by heavy seas and forced to heave to, but was able to reach Marseilles on the 19th. On the 24th, the flotilla departed Marseilles, travelled up the Rhone River, and was then towed through the canals to the Seine. In the Seine, once again under their own power, they sailed through Paris and out to sea finally arriving at Portsmouth on 6 December. After refitting, the Flotilla was based at Felixstowe and became operational in January 1940.
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Light cruiser NEPTUNE departed Freetown on patrol, met depot ship MAIDSTONE, and returned on the 16th to join aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL.
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French submarine SIDI FERRUCH arrived at Port of Spain after patrol in the Caribbean
A group of interned German steamers escapes from the Port of Vigo in Spain, and attempt to return to Germany.
CORDOBA (4611grt) passed through the Denmark Strait on the 22nd, sighted an armed merchant cruiser but was not seen and arrived at Narvik on the 28th.
LAHNECK (1663grt) successfully passed through the Denmark Strait and arrived at Hamburg on 16 December.
LIVADIA (3094grt) passed through the Iceland-Faroes passage on the 16th, arrived in Honningsvaag on the 27th, and reached Hamburg on 9 December.
LUDOLF OLDENDORFF (1953grt) passing the Iceland-Faroes passage on the 24th was sighted and stopped by light cruiser SHEFFIELD. However, she was able to convince SHEFFIELD she was Danish steamer EDITH and in the confusion following the sinking of the RAWALPINDI, was not questioned further and arrived at Haugesand on 6 December.
PALOS (997grt) passed through the Denmark Strait on the 23rd, and arrived at Hamburg on the 29th.
SEBU (1894grt) passed through the Denmark Strait on the 24th, and arrived at Hamburg on 18 December.
TANGER (1742grt) passed the Iceland-Faroes Passage on the 20th, and arrived at Hamburg on 9 December.
Finally, the last ship of the group, KONSUL HENDRICK FISSER (4458grt) was captured attempting to pass the Iceland-Faroes Passage on the 23rd.
War Diary and War Standing Orders of Commander in Chief, Submarines, Admiral Donitz
11 Novenber, 1939
“Analysis of information on the whereabouts of the British battle fleet shows that it is probably distributed over various places outside the North Sea. The possibilities if mining these places with TMB’s must therefore be considered.
The main difficulties will probably be navigational. It is hardly likely that all these places are under constant strong patrol, or that local defenses are very extensive. The first area to be considered is the Bay of Oban. The battleship Rodney was lying there some time ago.
Information received so far on the effects of the minefields laid by U-boats shows that not all the ships which ran into the fields were sunk. We must therefore try to lay the mines in shallow water and reduce their sensitivity so that they are only exploded by largish ships.”
WAR NOTES-November 11, 1939
* French Colonel Charles de Gaulle urges general headquarters that French tanks be formed into armored divisions rather than be dispersed as infantry supports. His ideas are rejected.
* In England, Dr. R.V. Jones submits The Hitler Waffe report, listing seven possible secret German weapons, with #5 being long-range guns and rockets.
* The Belgian Army cancels military leaves.
* Belgian police along the French border receive orders to clear roads to allow for French forces entering into Belgium.
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/ww2hist/ww21939oct.htm
Holocaust Project Timeline: November 11, 1939:
As punishment for reprisals to Polish aggression, three boys from Zielonka, Poland are taken to the nearby woods and shot.
The Lodz intelligentsia and clergy representatives, who did not accept subordination to the occupiers, as well as the Jewish Council of Elders appointed a few days earlier, were arrested. After Rumkowski's intervention, the Nazis released 10 councellors. The other 20 persons were shot or deported to concentration camps.November 11, 1939:
U.S. freighter Nishmaha is detained by British authorities at Gibraltar (see 17 November);
freighter Yaka is detained by the British and her cargo examined
Hitler salutes the caskets of 7 seven Party Members killed in the Biirgerbraukeller bombing of a few days ago. Notice that each is attended by a NAZI Party member. From the Bundesarchiv11/11/1939
-The district of Lodz in Poland, will be incorporated into the newly created Reichsgau posession.
- In an official ceremony, the seven dead of the bombing at the Munich Biirgerbraukeller of 8 November are buried in Munich
-Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler congratulates the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III on his 70th Birthday.
-In several parts of occupied Poland, posters commemorating the founding of the Polish Republic on 11 November 1918 appear.
Governor-General Hans Frank directs that “in every house, where a poster is found, the occupants will be shot”.
-In Berlin, The National German Teacher’s Conference meets. The issue is the planned reopening of all schools of the Empire in the spring trimester of 1940.
My French sucks.. Anybody care to translate?
Ernst was a professional enlisted soldier in the Wehrmacht, beginning the war 8th Regiment, 38th Infantry Division. He would participate in all major Campaigns, starting in Poland, the the Invasion of France, And the Soviet Union, fighting until the very end of the War. He would demobilize in the field, and return home, never having been a POW. An amazing feat, considering the death rate of enlisted soldiers that were in the Army on Sept, 1 1939 was over 90% by War's end. (Officer's was almost 60%) 
They donated over 1800 letters to the "Feldpost Projekt", which is like our "Letters Home" rememberance Programs. http://www.museumsstiftung.de/feldpost/brief.html?action=detail&what=letter&id=1283rabbit meat an important part of the italian diet.
who knew?