October 29th, 1940 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Battle of Britain: The weather in the English Channel is overcast and there is haze in northern France and the Dover Straits. During the day between 400 and 500 Luftwaffe aircraft take part in six attacks. Two raids are directed against Portsmouth area, the remainder having London as their objective. Some of the attackers succeed in reaching the London area, but the resultant damage and casualties are slight. Night activity commenced at about 1850 hours and is widespread over London and the Home Counties. The Midlands, East Anglia and Yorkshire are the other principal areas visited. RAF Fighter Command claims 27-8-10 aircraft; RAF loses seven aircraft with two pilots killed. Of these, two aircraft are destroyed and one pilot killed by bombs when taking off from RAF North Weald aerodrome.RAF Fighter Command: Portsmouth, Ramsgate and North Weald are bombed. Tactical foresight leads to the shooting down of 11 high-flying Me-109s in 6 minutes.
The Italians reappear briefly by day with 15 BR.20 bombers escorted by 39 CR.42 and 34 G.50bis fighters attacking Ramsgate. The CR42 biplanes causing more puzzlement than anxiety. Extra.
Losses: Luftwaffe (RA), 19; RAF, 7.
Wales: A new type of German mine, set off by the noise of a ship is discovered near Porthcawl. Two Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officers, Lieutenant Baker and Sub-Lieutenant Cummins, succeeded in recovering safely a German acoustic mine from the River Ogmore near Porthcawl, allowing its mechanism to be studied at HMS Vernon and counter-measures developed.
FRANCE: Just prior to the German invasion of the Netherlands, the National Bank of Belgium transferred part of its gold reserves to the Bank of France in Bordeaux for safe keeping. When France was attacked, Belgium asked the French bank to transfer the gold to London. The gold is transferred, but not to London, instead it is forwarded on to a French bank in Dakar. Today, the French bank promises to return the gold to Belgium but Pierre Laval, Foreign Minister in the Vichy government, sends it on to Berlin. There it is melted down, supplied with false seals and documentation and transferred to the National Bank of Switzerland by the Germans. The value of this gold is 378.6 million Swiss francs or US$84.3 million (US$1.1 billion in 2004 dollars). Around 218 million francs worth of this treasure is resold by the Swiss to fund its banking operations. In 1945, France restores the gold that is entrusted to her in 1940 but Switzerland claims that only 160 million francs worth is held in its Banks.
GERMANY: Douglas DC-3-220, msn 1973, registered D-AAIH by the German airline Lufthansa, crashes at Tempelhof Airdrome, Berlin, during a storm killing 15 passengers and two of the three crew. This aircraft is originally purchased and operated by the Czech airline CLS but is leased to Lufthansa in August 1939.
GREECE: The British occupy Crete, a key position in the Mediterranean within bomber range of the Romanian oilfields.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British Navy attacks the Greek island of Astypalaia (Stampalia in Italian) in the Aegean Sea.
CHINA: Nanning: Japan's strategy for seizing control of southern China suffered a major setback today as its troops were forced to withdraw south into Indochina after losing Nanning, the capital of Kwangsi, China's southern border province. The loss of Nanning, a key city on the Hanoi-Peking line, counterbalances Japan's recent gain in being allowed to station troops in French Indochina. During seven months of bitter fighting for Nanning both sides suffered heavy losses.
Douglas DC-2-118B, msn 1369, registered NC14297 by the U.S. airline Pan American Airways but operated by Pan Am's associated company China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), is shot down by Japanese aircraft near Kunming. Nine of the 14 aboard are killed.
UNITED STATES: The U.S. government conducts the first peacetime draft lottery in American history as the first troops are selected for U.S. military service. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson drew the first number, 158.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: This weeks toll of shipping losses is 88,000 tons, the worst week since the war began and eight times greater than the average weekly loss in the spring.
U-31 sank SS Matina.