[Homer_J_Simpson]

Invasion Slows Up – 2-4
The International Situation – 4
Soviet Denies War Led to Censorship – 4-5
North Held Ready to Defy Germany – 5-6
Mexico Will Guarantee New Capital and Interest – 6
Nazi Aim Revealed – 7-8
New Year Proclamations by Hitler – 9
London New Year to be Restrained – 10
Pope Points to Aim to Aid ‘Proletariat’ – 10
Goering Threatens Terror For British – 11
Incidents in European Conflict – 11
Two Nights of New Year Revelry Begun by City in a Lavish Mood – 12-13
Fund Drive Extended by Welfare Group – 13

News of the Week in Review
Additional authors that didn’t fit in the header: Herbert L. Matthews, Francis Brown

Five Questions Facing Europe in 1940 (Map) – 15
Summary of the News – 16-18
Twenty Questions On the News of the Year – 19
Political Outlook Still Dominated by One Man – 20-21
Era of Social Security Begins for the Worker – 22-23
Answers to Twenty Questions – 24
Lynchings Reduced to 3 for the Whole Country in ’39 – 25-26
Trade Pacts Link Us to 36 Nations – 26
Pope Works Constantly for Peace – 27
The News and Trends of the Year in Review – 29-34
Cartoonists Views in 1939 – 34-36

[abb]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/dec39/f31dec39.htm

Finns driving Soviets back across border
Sunday, December 31, 1939 www.onwar.com

In the Winter War... Finnish offensives against the Soviet 8th and 9th Armies continue. The Finns claim to have pushed the Red Army back across the frontier on the Soumussalmi-Kemijarvi front. Soviet aircraft bomb Viipuri and other towns.

In Geneva... Britain and France inform the League of Nations that they will give all possible assistance to Finland.

In Germany... Hitler makes a New Year proclamation: “We shall only talk of peace when we have won the war. The Jewish-capitalistic world will not survive the twentieth century.” He looks forward to the creation of a new Europe under German leadership, a Europe liberated from “British tyranny.” Meanwhile, in an Order of the Day to the armed forces, Hitler notes that, in the effort to create a new order in Europe, “the hardest struggle for the existence or non-existence of the German people lies before us.”

In Britain... Police New Year revelers, in London, shining torches in the blackout.

In Turkey... Floods and further earthquakes push the death toll up to 30,000.

[abb]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/31.htm

December 31st, 1939

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: ‘Security Patrols’ - Hornum, Borkum, Norderney, Heligoland. 10 Sqn. Four aircraft. Moderate opposition.

London: Police arrest New Year revellers shining torches in the blackout onto Eros to see in 1940.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Walnut commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Berlin: In his New Year message to the German people, Hitler said: “We shall only talk of peace when we have won the war. The Jewish-capitalist world will not survive the 20th century.” He looked forward to the creation of a new Europe under German leadership, a Europe liberated from “British tyranny”.

In a separate Order of the Day to the armed forces Hitler said that in the effort to create a new order in Europe, “the hardest struggle for the existence or non-existence of the German people lies before us.”

Göring told his Luftwaffe crews that they would unleash against Britain, “such an onslaught as has never been known in the history of the world.”

TURKEY: Floods and further earthquakes push the death toll up to 30,000.

FINLAND: The Finns claim to have pushed the Red Army back across the frontier on the Suomussalmi-Kemijarvi front.

The battle which has been raging outside Suomussalmi for the past week has ended in the destruction of two Russian Divisions, 27,000 Russians have died against only 900 Finns in the classic battle of ambush and destroy. The Russians are now fighting back in their own territory.

General Wallenius, the commander of the Finnish Northern Army, has revealed that his men are now operating on Soviet territory. “We don’t let them rest,” he said, “we don’t let them sleep. This is a war of numbers against brains. We train our men to fight individually and they can do it, whereas the Russian can never rid himself of his natural gregarious instincts.”

Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo, who planned and led the destruction of the Russian divisions, has been promoted to general and sent south with the objective of inflicting a similar fate on another Russian division trapped by the “White Death” Finns in the forest at Kuhmo. The Russians have also been driven back over the frontier further south after their defeat at Tolvarjarvi where they lost 2000 dead and 600 prisoners. “There were,” said a Finn, “more Russians than we had bullets.”

U.S.A: The Dow-Jones Industrial Average finished the year at 150.24 -2.92% down on the year.

BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC:

At 1947, SS Luna was torpedoed by U-32 and sank slowly by the stern. (Dave Shirlaw)

December Summary:

Losses. 7 ships of 38,000 tons.

1 pocket battleship.

Merchant Shipping War

Losses. 66 ships of 152,000 tons.

Trawlers are the main victims of the first successful attacks by German aircraft off the East Coast. By the end of March they have accounted for 30 vessels of 37,000 tons. Losses from mines are 33 ships of 83,000 tons in December.

Year-end balance: Great Britain has lost 422,232 tons of shipping (2% of fleet), Germany has lost 224,322 tons of shipping (5% of fleet). Britain’s blockade has resulted in the confiscation of 1 million tons of goods bound for Germany.

Year in Review:

Movies: The Four Feathers directed by Alexander Korda, based on A.E.W. Mason’s novel.

Stanley and Livingstone with Spencer Tracy and Cedric Hardwicke, made by Henry King.

[Psalm 73]

Thanks for the post - I was always a little miffed that Finland was considered a belligerant nation because they were trying to repel the Soviets and were (minimally) allied (by necessity) with the Germans.
A bad rap for sure.

[abb]

SS LUNA

Luna. Built in Bergen 1911. Delivered in June-1911 from Laxevaags Maskin- & Jernskibsbyggeri, Bergen (111) as cargo vessel Luna to Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab, Bergen. Steel hull, 213.9’ x 32.1’ x 12.7’, 959 gt, 1400 tdwt, Triple Expansion (Laxevaags) 115nhp, 9 knots. Sunk by submarine while on a voyage from London to Trondheim with general cargo, including rubber hose, zinc plates and hessian cloth. Torpedoed on December 31st 1939, by U-32 (Büchel) Position given is 58 48N 02 20E. The survivors were picked up by Colombia of Haugesund.

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11076