108 DIE AS NAZI PLANE BOMBS A BRITISH LINER IN CHANNEL; REDS CIRCLE NORTH OF VIBORG (3/4/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 3/4/40 | Raymond Daniell, George Axelsson, K.J. Eskelund

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[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]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Evolution of Plan Yellow, October 1939-January 1940
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941 – The Imperial Powers, 1 September 1939

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm

[Homer_J_Simpson]

301 Aboard Vessel – 2
The International Situation – 3
Merchant Ships Sunk in War – 3
Soviet Calls Reports of Defeats ‘Absurd’ – 3
Yugoslavia Sustains Deputy’s Immunity – 3
City’s Fall Denied – 4-5
Turkish-Nazi Pact Report Held ‘Nonsense’ in Berlin – 5
Welles Quits Reich After Goering Visit - 6

[abb]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/mar40/f04mar40.htm

Soviet offensive held by Finn defenses
Monday, March 4, 1940 www.onwar.com

The Winter War... Finnish forces defeat Soviet forces attacking from the east and west of Viipuri. The Soviet forces attacking from the west are attempting to cross the ice on Viipuri Bay.

[abb]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/04.htm

March 4th, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber and Coastal Commands: German Submarine sunk in Schillig Roads.

An extension to the football season is granted for a “War Cup” to take place. Bonuses are also introduced for players - £1 for a win and ten shillings for a draw.

NORTH SEA: The minesweeper HMS Sphinx sinks a day after being bombed by German aircraft. (Jack McKillop)

GERMANY: U-351 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

FINLAND: Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov threatens to make peace with the puppet Kuusinen government if the Finnish government delays its decision to start negotiations.

After fierce fighting, Red Army captures the last Finnish-held islands in the Bay of Viipuri, and manages to establish a foothold on the western shore of the Bay. (Mikko Härmeinen)

YUGOSLAVIA: In Belgrade, the Balkan Entente indicate they will remain neutral in the war between Britain, France and Germany. (Jack McKillop)

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Exeter, detained at Gibraltar by British authorities since 1 March, is released, but not before 155 sacks of mail for Germany are removed, as are 95 sacks for Italy and 59 for Switzerland. Some 140 sacks previously removed from other neutral ships, however, are brought on board and the ship is permitted to sail. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Orillia laid down Collingwood, Ontario.

Minesweeper (ex-fishing vessel) HMCS Joan W II commissioned. 62ft overall, halibut boat, built Jul 1937, by W.R. Menchions, owned by James and Joan Fiddler (they also owned ‘Joan W I’) chartered for $360.00 per month, returned to owner 1945. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 1208 and 1209, U-29 fired one torpedo each at two ships in a group of three dispersed from Convoy HX-19 and observed a hit on the Pacific Reliance and a small detonation near the second (the xB-Dienst reported the sinking of the San Florentino, but the vessel was in fact not hit). The torpedoed vessel first stopped and the crew prepared to launch the lifeboats, but then returned to the ship and proceeded. The U-boat hit her with a stern torpedo at 1239, which was a dud. However the ship broke in two amidships and sank slowly north of Lands End. The Pacific Reliance had been the ship of the convoy commodore RP Galer CBE RNR RD. The master, the commodore, four naval staff members and 47 crewmembers were picked up by the British SS Macville and landed at Newlyn, Cornwall. The second ship sunk was the SS Thurston. (Dave Shirlaw)

[abb]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 186 March 4, 1940
At midnight 30 miles North of Land’s End England, French steamer S.N.A.1 sinks after colliding with British SS Thurston, which rescues her crew of 30. However, U-29 sinks Thurston (cargo 4500 tons of manganese) at 5.23 AM (64 lives lost). 3 of Thurston’s crew are rescued by British SS Moyle. Only 1 French sailor survives both sinkings, rescued by a trawler after 11 hours on an overturned lifeboat. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/283.html

U-29 also sinks British MV Pacific Reliance (carrying aircraft parts from USA) at 12.39 PM. All 53 crew are picked up by British merchant Macville and landed at Newlyn, Cornwall. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/284.html

Finland. There is continued fighting around Viipuri, particularly on the Vuoksi River near Äyräpää church. At noon Soviet troops and tanks reinforce the beachhead on the western shore of Viipuri Bay but Finnish artillery and planes take a heavy toll of Red Army soldiers advancing on the ice.

[CougarGA7]

Day 96 of the Winter War, March 4, 1940

Artillery shelling and patrol activities nevertheless continue.
Photo: SA-KUVA

Kollaa still holding out!

• Ladoga Karelia: Kollaa is still holding out! The 69th Infantry Regiment is holding its ground in the face of the massive Red Army offensive in Kollaa.

• Artillery shelling and patrol activities nevertheless continue.

• On the Isthmus, a Soviet assault launched at 6 o'clock in the morning leads by nightfall to the capture of a bridgehead near Äyräpää church.

• Around noon Russian troops supported by tanks once again come ashore at Vilajoki and Häränpäänniemi on Viipurinlahti bay.

• What little air power Finland has is concentrated to resist the enemy offensive across Viipurinlahti bay.

• Detachment Alfthan unsuccessfully attempts to take Lavajärvi village.

• The enemy threatens Kotka and Virolahti.

• A new combat detachment, Detachment Aarnio, is being formed to fight along the section of the front between Mustalampi and Lavajärvi with the task of cutting the enemy's supply lines.

• President Kyösti Kallio congratulates Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim on the destruction of a Russian tank brigade.

• Soviet military command in Leningrad denies bombing Finnish towns and villages and accuses the Finns of provocation.

• A crash between a goods train carrying children and an express train at Iittala, near Hämeenlinna, claims 31 lives; 11 of the dead are children.

• Abroad: today is Finnish day at the Holmenkollen games in Oslo.

• In a speech at Holmenkollen, the Finnish speedskater Clas Thunberg says: "My people hope that here in Norway you will realise that Finland's cause is also your cause. The Finns dying at the front are giving their lives to protect all of us in the Nordic countries."

• Thunberg's speech is followed by a rendering of the Finnish national anthem.

[CougarGA7]

I don't have the exact date in March for this one but here is the BBC's German language feed issuing a warning to Hitler and his fire starter (or arsonist) regime.

BBCD - Thomas Mann Deutsche

[rdl6989]

Bttt.