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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.