[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

[beebuster2000]

i wonder if there are still minks in pelham bay NYC?

[PzLdr]

The article on the five who run the German war effort is a hoot. Looks like it was written using a phone book. And inaccurate as hell. Ludwig Beck had been the Chief of Staff of the German Army prior to the Sudeten crisis, and was opposed to Hitler’s plans for expansion. He either resigned or retired well before Case White. He was also well out of synch with current military thought in Germany, arguing tanks wouldn’t work because there was no place to run telephone lines to on them.

Beck was an organizer of one of the earliest Army conspiracies to overthrow Hitler [starting with the Rhineland occupation, and going forward as far as the Sudeten crisis], and was a participant in Valkyrie. He was allowed by Gen. Fromm to commit suicide in the Bendlerstrasse when the coup failed.

Of great interest are the military planners excluded from the article: Rundstedt, Student [airborne ops], Doenitz [U-boats], Kesselring and Sperrle, and a junior General serving as Rundstedt’s C/S: Erich von Manstein und Lewinski.

[CougarGA7]

Day 39 of the Winter War, January 7, 1940

The booty taken on the Raate road includes 43 tanks, 71 field and anti-aircraft guns, 29 anti-tank guns, a number of armoured cars and tractors, 260 lorries, 1,170 horses, and an assortment of infantry weaponry, ammunition, and medical and communications material.
Photo: SA-KUVA

Finns capture major prize on the Raate road

• Northern Finland: the fighting on the Raate road peters out during the course of the morning. The great battle is over.

• The booty taken on the Raate road includes 43 tanks, 71 field and anti-aircraft guns, 29 anti-tank guns, a number of armoured cars and tractors, 260 lorries, 1,170 horses, and an assortment of infantry weaponry, ammunition, and medical and communications material.

• Almost 17,500 men of the enemy 44th Division perish at Raate, a loss of approximately 70% of the Division's strength. 1,200 enemy soldiers are taken prisoner.

• Finnish losses are also severe: 900 dead and 1,200 wounded, which is approximately 15% of the 9th Division's combat strength.

• Immediately after the battle Finland takes foreign journalists to view the combat zone.

• Commander of the Army, 1st Class Semyon Timoshenko, is appointed overall commander of the Soviet northwest front on the Karelian Isthmus.

• The Supreme Military Soviet decides to focus the main strike on the Viipuri sector.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/jan40/f07jan40.htm

The Winter War... General Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko takes command of all the Soviet forces engaged in the war with Finland. His troops on the Karelian Isthmus are now organized in two armies, Seventh and Thirteenth. The Finns are in the process of a reorganization also. In the fighting north of Lake Ladoga the Finnish pressure on the Soviet 18th and 168th Divisions continues. Finnish claims estimate 50,000 Soviet troops have perished in the last five weeks.

In the North Sea... German ships depth charge the Royal Navy submarine Seahorse in the Heligoland Bight.