DALADIER OUT, REYNAUD SEEKS CABINET; NAZIS BOMB CONVOY, RESULT DISPUTED (3/21/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 3/21/40 | P.J. Philip, Raymond Daniell

[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]

Unity is Paris Aim – 2
Reynaud Sees U.S. as Model for Europe; Holds Free Trade, as Among States, Vital – 3
The International Situation – 3
Planes Scattered – 4
Raid on Sylt Acts as Tonic to British – 4-6
British Ambassador Says, ‘We’re Socking Them Now’ – 6
Stanley Denies War Is ‘Phoney’; Bids Us Let Belligerents Run It – 7
Hitler Names Todt Munitions Chief – 7-8
Gandhi Gets Power to Direct Campaign - 8

[GadareneDemoniac]

Reading these old articles makes one realize how far all newspapers, especially the NY Times, have fallen.

[GreenLanternCorps]

That little article “Canal Zone Soldier Guilty of Murder” is an interesting side note. People have been committing random murder for a long time.

[CougarGA7]

I’m not getting the impression that Reynaud is going to change anything tactically about how the British and French are conducting the war. The British are a bit huffy at us because some of us are calling it a phony war, and they do make a good point that the war at sea has been rather intense. But seriously, how long are they going to hide behind the Maginot Line. You win wars by occupying land, not sea, and I don’t see them very interested in occupying German territory. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the Germans didn’t launch some type of offensive here once spring has really set in.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/mar40/f21mar40.htm

New French government forms

Thursday, March 21, 1940 www.onwar.com

In Paris... Paul Reynaud forms the new government of France.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/21.htm

March 21st, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM: London: Two days ago, two emigré German scientists, Otto Fritsch and Rudolf Peierls, presented a paper to Sir Henry Tizard, the government scientific adviser, arguing that it would be possible to build a super bomb through nuclear chain reaction. This would need just a few pounds of uranium isotope. The government is taking the matter seriously.

Portslade, Sussex: Mr. Gerald Winter (1900-71) a farm worker, rescued an RAF airman from a burning plane which had crashed on a hill. He also tried to pull out the pilot and navigator, but failed owing to the heat. For this he was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal.

Corvettes HMS Gloxinia and Violet laid down.
AA cruiser HMS Royalist laid down.

Light cruiser HMS Trinidad launched.

Rescue tug HMS Hendon commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

FRANCE: Paris: Paul Reynaud, has succeeded Edouard Daladier as Prime Minister. He is expected to fight the war with more vigour.

The fall of Daladier happened when he went to the Chamber for a vote of confidence. He got it by 245 votes, but with 294 deputies abstaining. The abstainers did not want him to go, but were infuriated by his insistence on retaining the portfolios of national defence and foreign affairs as well as being Prime Minister. He chose to take the abstentions as votes of no confidence.

Reynaud is a tiny man with hunched shoulders, a deeply lined face and a nasal, tinny voice. He is though, one of the most respected speakers in the Chamber. Before becoming a minister he was a leading Paris lawyer. He is also an expert on finance, and was Minister of Finance until last night. He has taken a keen interest in defence, and is one of the backers of those officers, like Colonel Charles de Gaulle, who urge that France must rely less on the defensive Maginot Line and more on attack.

The government orders a consignment of “heavy water” from Norway for atomic research. (Jack McKillop)

Submarine FS Beveziers assigned to escort of Convoy HX-29.

Corvette FS La Malouine launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Peenemunde: Static firing tests of the basic motor intended for the A4 rocket (V2) begin today.

U-66 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

DENMARK: Copenhagen: The 4,947 ton German steamer Heddernheim was torpedoed off the Danish coast by the British submarine HMS Ursula. Though the steamer is not large, her sinking represents the first coup in a major step-up in British efforts to cripple Germany’s vital iron-ore supplies.

Germany’s armaments depend on imported iron ore. No less than nine million tons come from Sweden, much of it brought through Narvik, a Norwegian port which is ice-free all year round. The Royal Navy is now moving in destroyers and submarines to make the route dangerous if not impossible.

SYRIA: British and Turkish delegations hold a secret meeting.

CANADA: Ammunition lighter HMC NAD 01 completed Halifax , Nova Scotia. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: New York: The Queen Mary sails for a secret destination.

Corvette USS Ready launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-19 sank SS Bothal and Viking. (Dave Shirlaw)

ANTARCTICA: The USN miscellaneous auxiliary USS Bear (AG-29) and Interior Department motorship MS North Star (U.S. Antarctic Service) depart Bay of Whales for the U.S. Staying behind are the men who will spend the long winter night at East and West Bases in the Antarctic.

[magslinger]

But they were tried more quickly 70 years ago. The CZ soldier commit his murder in January and was tried by March 20. Hasan the assassin commit his 13 murders last November and hasn’t been tried yet.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the Germans didn’t launch some type of offensive here once spring has really set in.

A couple of weeks ago I would have bet on one side or the other doing something in Norway. Now that the Winter War is over I guess that is not necessary for the Germans or justifiable for the Allies, so Operation Viking Hammer, or whatever, is unlikely. That leaves Germany with east or west. Or maybe southeast. Hitler seems to take the line of least resistance, so maybe it will be the Balkans.

[CougarGA7]

The Balkans are a possibilities. Romania has been acting real strange lately. I wonder if they know something we don’t.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 203 March 21, 1940

The French the Chamber of Deputies elects Paul Reynaud as Prime Minister and he forms a new government.

At 1 AM, U-38 sinks neutral Danish MV Algier (from New York to Copenhagen, carrying 302 tons of copper, 228 tons of tin, 130 bottles of mercury and 11 Studebaker motor cars) 15 miles north of Shetland Islands (4 crew and 1 passenger lost). 18 survivors in a lifeboat are picked up by British trawler Manx King and landed at Scalloway. At 3.26 AM, Danish SS Christiansborg (carrying 4107 tons of maize from USA) is also torpedoed by U-38 but does not sink (1 dead). 24 survivors are rescued from stricken Christiansborg by British armed boarding vessel HMS Discovery II and taken to Kirkwall.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/301.html