WWII History

1939 U47 (Kapitanleutnant Prien) sinks HMS Royal Oak at anchor in Scapa Flow, killing 883. U47 then escapes undetected and returns home to Germany. The press in Germany declare Prien a hero. Polish submarine Orzel arrives in Britain having escaped internment in Estonia. 1940 Luftwaffe bomb falls on Balham Tube station in London, killing 66. […]

1939 In skirmishes along Maginot Line, French destroy 3 bridges over Rhine. 1940 14-year old Princess Elizabeth made her first public speech, a radio address to the children of the British Commonwealth. Her ten-year-old sister Princess Margaret joined in at the end. 1941 German forces of Army Group Centre capture Kalinin, just 100 miles to

1939 Hans Frank appointed Nazi Gauleiter (governor) of Poland. Jews evacuate Vienna. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rejects Hitler’s “peace offer.” 1940 President Roosevelt in a fireside chat suggests the drafting of 18 and 19 year old men. Night raids on London continue. Hitler postpones invasion of Britain until the spring 1941. U-101 torpedoes and

1939 British Expeditionary Force on continent reaches strength of 158,000 in five weeks. The Soviet Union and Finland begin negotiations concerning the establishment of Soviet air bases on Finnish soil. The Soviet Union also requires Finland to cede territory around lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, plus the Petsamo area in northern Finland. In

1938 The Hungarian army, with the sanction of its German allies, retakes territory in Czechoslovakia that was stripped from the Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI. 1939 The Soviet Union signs and agreement with Lithuania that allows the Soviets to establish military bases in the country. Hitler forms Winter Relief, forced charitable contributions from German civilians. Chinese

1939 Chamberlain announces committee of ministers to co-ordinate the economy. Hitler issues orders for the invasion of France and the Low Countries. This first plan called for the German Army to wheel through Belgium as they had done during World War One, although this time they were to invade Holland as well. Only the start

1939 RAF reconnaissance planes shoots down a German flying boat over the North Sea. The American cargo ship “City of Flint” and its crew are captured by a German warship, despite the fact that the United States and Germany are not at war. The American sailors are eventually freed when the Germans are forced to

1939 Heinrich Himmler made Commissioner for Consolidation of the German Race—to eliminate “inferior” people from the German Reich. 1940 German troops enter Romania, at the request of Fascist Gen. Ion Antonescu, to ‘help restrain the Army’. Beaverbrook announces gifts received for aircraft purchases now total £6,098,826. Finland rejects a British demand to cease fighting the

1939 After a 2 day battle against Soviet tanks and planes and then a 5-day fight against the Germans. The last remaining Polish troops (17,000 men) surrender to German forces at Kock and Lublin. Hitler in a speech to the Reichstag announces the victorious conclusion of the Polish campaign and calls upon Britain and France