1931 (THURSDAY)
UNITED STATES: Secretary of State Henry Stimson sends a note to Japan urging a peaceful solution of the Manchurian issue in spirit of the League of Nations Council resolutions.
1935 (TUESDAY)
UNITED STATES: Parker Brothers releases the now-famous board game Monopoly, the best-selling game in history.
1937 (FRIDAY)
GERMANY: The Hossbach Memorandum: Chancellor Adolf Hitler outlines secret plans and contingencies in the event of a future war, telling his generals that he intends to destroy Austria and Czechoslovakia. Some historians contend that this document's historical significance has been greatly exaggerated. Others, such as William Shirer, emphatically state that it was on this date that Hitler first imparted his decision to go to war to the Commanders-in-Chief of the three armed services.
POLAND: The German-Polish minorities declaration is made. This declaration states ". . . the treatment of these minorities is a matter of great importance, for the further development of friendly relations between Germany and Poland, and that in both countries the well-being of the minority is better protected when it is certain that the same principles will be observed in the other country."
1938 (SATURDAY)
EGYPT: Three RAF Vickers Wellesley Mk. I single-engine, two-seat, general-purpose bombers take off from Ismailia to attempt a non-stop flight to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. One aircraft lands at Kupang, Dutch (West) Timor Island, Netherlands East Indies, but the other two land at Darwin in just over 48 hours. This sets a new world distance record of 7,162 miles (11 526 kilometers).
November 5th, 1939 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:-London: Nearly a million British men have been called up to join the services, and the wives and families they have left behind are experiencing financial hardship in many cases. The pay of a private soldier, naval rating or aircraftman is 2/- a day, of which married men allot half to their families. The wife of a private therefore receives 7/- a week stopped from her husband's pay, and a government allowance of 17/-, plus 5/- for the first child and 3/- for the second. The money is paid weekly at the post office. Average wages on the eve of the war were (GBP)3/9/- for men, (GBP)1/12/6 for women. Many service wives with young children have to find part-time work or home work such as sewing to make ends meet. Meanwhile the cost of living is rising by over 10 percent.
There is a wedding boom, many couples marrying before the man is called up. The number has increased by 100,000 over 1938, reaching 459,000. But despite the call-up there are still 1,270,000 unemployed. Family life for many revolves around visiting their evacuated children. For those who can afford to travel, cheap tickets at single fare are allowed once a month on Sundays. There are widespread complaints that billeting allowances are inadequate. The 8/6 a week has been increased to 10/6 for boys over 15, but the hosts say that they often have to feed boys of 11 and upwards out of their own pockets. The government has brought in compulsory contributions from parents of 6/- a week. In the absence of air raids, many evacuees are heading home.
U.S. freighter SS Black Condor is detained by British authorities at Weymouth, Dorset, England; freighter SS Scanmail is detained by the British at Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Part of her cargo is seized; and freighter SS Black Eagle, detained by the British since 26 October, is released.
FRANCE: Paris: Churchill visits the French Marine Headquarters.
BELGIUM: Brussels: King Leopold of the Belgians and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands have been alarmed by confidential messages warning them that Hitler plans to invade their countries in a matter of days. The messages came, via the Dutch military attach
é in Berlin, Colonel Jacobus Sas, from a Colonel Hans Oster of German military intelligence. The two sovereigns are holding urgent talks at the Hague to decide what to do to save their countries from catastrophe.GERMANY: Hitler sets 12 November as the date for the attack on the Low Countries and France.
Colonel Hans Oster, Chief of Staff in the Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) under Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, warns Colonel Jacobus Sas, the Dutch military attaché in Berlin, that Hitler plans to invade the Netherlands and Belgium within the next few days. In fact the attack did not take place until the 10 May, 1940. Both Oster and Canaris are arrested after the July 1944 Plot against Chancellor Adolf Hitler and hanged on 9 April 1945, at the Flossenburg concentration camp.
EGYPT: U.S. steamship SS President Polk is detained by the British at Port Said, Egypt, and certain items of her cargo confiscated for inquiry. .
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Ark Royal captures the German merchant SS Uhenfels, which was attempting to reach Germany. The ship is later taken into British service as a cargo ship and renamed Empire Ability.