1936 (WEDNESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Members of the League of Nations Non-Intervention Committee meet in London to discuss means to prevent foreign intervention in the Spanish Civil War. Despite the efforts of the international community, the Germans, Italians, and Soviets will send troops and equipment to assist both sides in the war.
1937 (THURSDAY)
UNITED STATES: The XPBS-1, a four-engined monoplan by Sikorsky Aircraft, made its first flight. Only one PBS, constructed as a long-range patrol plane, is built and it is later used as a transport. In February 1942, this aircraft was flown across the Pacific to the Netherlands East Indies to deliver spare parts for the PBY Catalinas of the USN’s Patrol Wing Ten (PatWing 10). The aircraft then returned to California where it sank in San Francisco Bay, California, in 1942.
September 9th, 1939 (SATURDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The tops of pillar boxes have been painted with chemical paint that will change colour in the presence of gas. Shoulder bags for the cardboard boxes in which gas masks are supplied are very popular, although it is suspected about a third of them do not contain gas masks but packed lunches. Sandbags, piled round the doors and windows of shops and public buildings to deflect blast, are increasing in price. The government supplied 400 million to local authorities at 3d each, but private purchasers are being charged from 6d to 9d because speculators have bought up large stocks. Blackout material is scarce, as are brown paper and black paint. Drawing pins and number 8 size torch batteries have disappeared. London Zoo has destroyed all of its poisonous and some of its non-poisonous reptiles in case they escape during bomb attack. The BBC's regional broadcasting has been merged into one "Home Service" of hourly news bulletins, announcements and gramophone records. The BBC's television service to 20000 viewers has been suspended.British
submarine HMS Ursula fired the first British submarine torpedoes of the war when
attacking German U-35. The
U-boat escaped.
Destroyer HMS Nepal laid down.
Corvette HMS Narcissus laid down.
BELGIUM: Belgian fighter planes attack two British bombers over Belgian territory. One Belgian plane is shot down, both British planes are forced to land. The British government apologizes for the incident.
NETHERLANDS: In Utrecht Province, a small basin is flooded, as a defensive precaution.
FRANCE: The last of 13 RAF squadrons flies to France to strengthen the British Expeditionary Force.
GERMANY: The second air raid alarm of the war sounds in Berlin. Göring broadcasts telling the German people that this might be a long war, and threatening terrible revenge if the French and British bomb Germany. Meanwhile Whitley bombers of the RAF have been dropping leaflets over Bremen, the Ruhr and Hamburg. The leaflets point out Hitler's responsibility for the war and it is hoped that their appeal to reason will make the German people "insist on peace". Quite apart from their effect on German morale the raids are providing useful training for the day when the bomb loads will be lethal. The crews are also under orders to report any enemy activity.
Field Marshal Hermann Göring, Commander of the Luftwaffe, gives a speech at a German munitions factory: "We will have our Nazism and the Russians their bolshevism, but we are both people who want peace and we are not going to be so silly as to smash each other's heads for Britain.”
French forces complete the capture of a German salient from Saarbruecken to Saarlautern, taking the villages of Karlsbrunn, Lauterbach, Ludweiler, Grossrosseln, and Saint Nikolaus.
Berlin: Field Marshall Göring boasts: "The Polish Army will never emerge again from the German embrace."
OKW issues Führer Directive #3 for the Conduct of the War.
(i) Operations against Poland to continue until the enemy can no longer form a continuous front. Surplus military forces should be made available for transfer to the west.
(ii) Due to the half-hearted enemy opening of hostilities in the west, some operational restrictions remain in force unless personal approval is obtained. The German land frontier must not be crossed.
Flights across the west frontier allowed only to meet heavy enemy air attacks. No air attacks on the English homeland. Air support of naval activity is permitted. Naval restrictions outlined in Directive #2 remain in force. No offensive action at sea is to be undertaken against France.
The OKW issues Führer Directive #4 for the Conduct of the War.
(i) The final form of the government of the former Polish territory is yet to be decided. After Warsaw and Modlin are controlled, the Demarcation Line is to be secured by light forces. Air and Army forces necessary for the rapid destruction of remaining Polish resistance in the German zone are to be retained in the East. Preparations for general attacks to reduce Warsaw and Modlin before 3rd October should be undertaken although the attacks should await a personal order before proceeding.
(ii) The westward flow of refugees across the Demarcation Line will be halted at once (with the exception of racial Germans and Ukrainian activists).
(iii) The further strategy of the war is under consideration. No measures shall be undertaken to restrict freedom of decision. The possibility of conducting an offensive in the west at any moment must be kept open. Sufficient forces to ensure a rapid occupation of Lithuania should be maintained in East Prussia.
(iv) Directives for the conduct of land warfare in the West remain in force. At sea, trade warfare according to International Prize Law is to be waged against both France and England, free from previous restrictions. Attacks on French naval and air forces, and mining of embarkation points on the French coast are now permitted. Attacks on ‘passenger steamers’ or large vessels which obviously carry numerous passengers as well as cargo, are still forbidden. Existing limitations for air warfare remain in force. Aircraft may cross the frontier for the purposes of local reconnaissance and to attack hostile aircraft and observation balloons.
(v) Only the following terms will be used when describing submarine warfare; trade warfare’ [Handelskrieg] to describe activity in accordance with Prize Law, and the siege of England’ [Belagerung Englands zur See] to describe unrestricted submarine warfare. English merchantmen which are clearly armed may be attacked by submarines without warning.
On Germany's western front Ritter von Leeb's Army Group C has been reinforced with a further 9 divisions. His total strength now is 43 and two-thirds divisions. (Eddy Bauer and Michael Alexander)
A directive is issued by the Reich Ministry of the Interior authorising the establishment of medically supervised brothels throughout Reich territory. (Russell Folsom)
POLAND: Some tanks of German 4th Panzer Division penetrate onto the streets of Warsaw but are driven out after a fierce 5 hour fight and units of 16th Panzer Corps are probing the south-east suburbs, but having lost 60 tanks are awaiting reinforcements. The Lord Mayor of Warsaw, Stefan Starzynski, appeals for volunteers; 150,000 men and women dig trenches and build street barricades, machine guns are put on the roofs of houses. Polish units of General Tadeusz Kutrzeb's Poznan Army counter attack on the river Bzura against the flank of the German 8th Army which is protecting the mechanised column attacking Warsaw. As the threat develops, von Runstedt., commander of Army Group South, calls for maximum air effort and massed dive bomber attacks are launched from forward air-strips at Tschenstochau and Kruszyna.
Ciepelow: Elements of the III/15.IR (mot.) of the Heer, commanded by Oberst Wessel, gun down 300 disarmed Polish infantrymen. This event is recorded photographically by a German eyewitness, who subsequently relates:
"It did not mater to him [Wessel] that these were soldiers. He claimed that he was dealing with partisans even though each of the 300 Polish prisoners was in uniform. They were forced to take off their tunics. Yes, now they looked more like partisans. Their suspenders (aka braces) were then cut, apparently to prevent them from running away. Next the prisoners were forced to march down the road single file... Five minutes later, I heard the crash of a dozen German machineguns. I ran towards them and a hundred yards back I saw the 300 Polish prisoners shot and lying in the ditch by the side of the road." (Rossino, pg.184-185.) (Russ Folsom)
CANADA: At 2220 hours local, the Canadian Parliament accepts the throne speech, and approves of immediate support to Great Britain and France in the war against Germany. All but one member vote in favor.
U.S.A.: In a fireside chat, President Roosevelt said that he hoped fervently that America would stay out of the war he said, "I have seen war and I hate war".
The audience at the Fox Theater in Riverside, California, gets a surprise
showing of the unreleased motion picture "Gone With The Wind"
which is shown as the second feature. David O. Selznick, the producer of the
film, sits in the back of the theater and observes the audience's reaction.
The film premieres in Atlanta, Georgia, on 15 December 1939.
Two US ships are seized by belligerents:
- The freighter SS Wacosta bound from Glasgow, Scotland to New York City, is stopped by a German U-boat and detained while the Germans search the ship and examine her papers. She is allowed to proceed after 3 hours.
- SS President Harding is detained by French officials who confiscate 135 tons of copper and 34 tons of petroleum products. The ship is then released.
GUATAMALA: President Jorge Ubico issues a decree proclaiming the neutrality of Guatemala.