October

1940 U.S. Army adopts airborne, or parachute, soldiers. Airborne troops were later used in World War II for landing troops in combat and infiltrating agents into enemy territory. Chamberlain resigns as Lord President of the Council through ill health, and cabinet is reshuffled with Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor, and Ernie Bevin, Minister of Labour […]

1938 Winston Churchill comments to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain about the Munich Agreement; “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor and you will have war.” 1939 The first Poles are imprisoned in Pawiak Prison in Warsaw. Some 100,000 people will undergo Nazi interrogations here, of whom 37,000 will be

1939 In Germany, Karl Dönitz promoted to rear admiral and commander of the submarines. British men between 20 and 22 are now liable for conscription. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a radio broadcast described the Soviet Union as ”a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. German troops enter the devastated city of