Posted on 12/29/2009 5:22:13 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/dec39/f29dec39.htm
Finns destroy Soviet division
Friday, December 29, 1939 www.onwar.com
In the Winter War... Finnish offensives against the Soviet 8th and 9th Armies continue. A “suicide company” of 250 Finnish ski troops tear up the vital Leningrad-Murmansk railway line at 3 points. The third Finnish attempt to drive the Soviets back from the north bank of Lake Ladoga is successful; the survivors of the Soviet 163rd Division are driven back. The Finns capture 11 tanks, 25 guns and 150 trucks; Finnish sources claim that the northern army has virtually destroyed the Red Army division of 15,000 men, near Lake Kianta. Reports claim that Soviet troops near Salla are revolting. In the Karelian Isthmus, Soviet pressure is maintained; 9 divisions are now deployed.
In Germany... Police issue a warrant for the arrest of the tycoon Fritz Thyssen, who once funded but now opposes the Nazis. He is believed to be in Portugal.
In Turkey... The estimated death toll has risen to 20,000 as earth tremors continue. An emergency relief operation is under way.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/29.htm
December 29th, 1939
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: Daylight anti-shipping sweep over the North Sea. 77 Sqn. Two aircraft. 102 Sqn. Two aircraft. No enemy shipping sighted.
The Air Ministry issues a design requirement for a light bomber with a range of 1,500 miles while carrying a bomb load of 1,000 pounds. This requirement will give rise to the de-Havilland Mosquito. (Jack McKillop)
GERMANY: German Police issue a warrant for the arrest of the tycoon Fritz Thyssen, who once funded but now opposes the Nazis. He is believed to be in Portugal.
TURKEY: The estimated death toll, from the recent earthquake, rises to 25,000 as earth tremors continue.
CANADA: Submarine HMS Narwhal departed Halifax as escort for Convoy HX-14. (Dave Shirlaw)
USA: Brigadier General George V Strong, Chief of War Plans, reports to Chief of Staff that Army members on the Joint Army-Navy Board wished to withdraw all defence forces from the Asiatic periphery. (Marc Small)
The Consolidated XB-24 makes its maiden flight. (Ron Babuka)
I read this, and it contains some eye opening chapters about the Finnish War, and about the litle known secret, that Stalin prepared for and started the Second World War, as a step to World Revolution:
“The Chief Culprit: Stalin’s Grand Design to Start World War II”
I believe that part of Stalins reason for attacking the heavily fortified Finnish Line was to discover a successfull strategy for overcoming the Maginot Line, when circumstances allowed.
The history of the Social security Act supplies an outstanding example of the great advances possible under a cooperative democratic process.
It was seen that the old law was based on a false analogy with private insurance, which rests on the principle of individual equity; whereas social insurance, as one able commentator has put it, should be "designed primarily to serve society as a whole - not the particular individual."
Serious problems confront us, also, in connection with extending the coverage of the plan in the future and in financing it in later years when larger payments are necessary.
amazing how little changes. the speech by genl marshall was fascinating: need an educated democracy.
cant say we have made progress since he gave that speech thats for sure.
The Mannerheim Line was in NO sense anything like the Maginot Line. It was underfunded, built on ground largely frozen by permafrost, and used non-reinforced concrete and logs for the fortifications. It’s living quarters were primitive and cramped, and it lacked the support facilities the Maginot Line had. In addition, the Finns had neither the quantity or qulity of artillery, etc. that the Maginot Line had
The reason your secret is so "little known" is because it's total fantasy.
Sorry pal, but no one other than Adolf Hitler started the Second World War in Europe, and Stalin did nothing more than respond to Hitler's request for a Nonaggression Pact. At the same time, the Brits were also offering Stalin an anti-Hitler agreement, but Hitler made the better offer, so Stalin took it.
Hitler's treaty gave Stalin territorial rights in eastern Poland and the Baltics. It was an offer Stalin could not refuse.
Of course Stalin did not trust Hitler, but he figured that Germany would get bogged down in a long war with France which would exhaust the Germans and make them easy pickings for Soviet revolutionary forces.
Stalin figured wrong -- France collapsed immediately -- but Stalin held onto his delusions, even after everyone with eyes to see knew that Hitler was already preparing to invade the Soviet Union.
It shows us that some fantasies are so powerful, no reality can shake them. Perhaps that also describes your "secret" fantasy about Stalin starting WWII?
I was struck by that too. The bit about establishing the program and sense of entitlement and worrying about the details later sounds lamentably like the current health-care strategy.
Those shoes are so overpriced its ridiculous but the Raccoon coats are simply highway robbery.
Interesting news all around on the front page, not just the war.
So, now the Japanese are making waves again. I guess it was time to start paying attention to them.
Go Finns go!
52 squadrons sounds like a lot of planes. How many did we have in service at the time?
52 squadrons sounds like a lot of planes. How many did we have in service at the time?
Beats me. I note that we are beefing up the defenses of Puerto Rico, Panama, Alaska, and the continental U.S. Nothing for Hawaii, the Philippines, or other Pacific bases.
I bet someone here could find out.
Karelian Isthmus: Russian reconnaissance probes are successfully repulsed both at Summa and at Kelja in the Taipale sector. In the Suomussalmi sector in northern Finland, the fighting at Hulkonniemi ends in the destruction of the Soviet 163rd Division.
Photo: SA-KUVA
Growing threat in Raate sector
A real champion for the American air power was certainly General Henry (Hap) Arnold. He was appointed chief of the Army Air Corps in late September of 1938.
As of January of 1939 the Army Air Corps had a total of only 1,700 planes and 19,600 men in total. I do know that with a combination of Arnold’s fighting the War Department and some backing from FDR those numbers were increased so that by November of 1941 they were up to 10,100 planes and 292,000 personnel.
I could do a little more digging and find the actual numbers for December of 1939 for sure but at least you can extrapolate an approximate number and say that they were probably at around at most 4,000 aircraft by the end of 1939 but probably more like 3,000 if we consider the increase to be a ramping up.
Tep. They needed some ramping up. Not just planes but the skilled pilots and mechanics too.
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