This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

22 October 1939 Sunday

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German pocket-battleship "Admiral Graf Spee", still cruising around in the mid-Atlantic, stops the British steamer "Trevanion" (cargo of ore concentrates) and machineguns her bridge and upper deck when she radios a distress message. "Trevanion's" crew is taken on board before she is scuttled. German Naval Command is aware of British warships massing in the mid-Atlantic to hunt "Graf Spee" and orders her into the Indian Ocean. This will keep "Graf Spee" out of contact with British warships and add to British confusion about the number and location of German raiders.

American freighters "Endicott" and "West Gambo" were detained by France; portions of their cargo were deemed contraband and confiscated.

GERMANY: Joseph Goebbels publicly accused Winston Churchill of ordering the passenger liner "Athenia" attacked so that he could blame Germany and persuade the United States to join the Allies.

Hitler wants preemptive action in France before the French and British have time to improve and man their defenses. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for Halder's "Fall Gelb", he knows that time is on the Allies side and he demands that the attack is launched by Nov 12.

POLAND: Western Byelorussia, Western Ukraine, and the Soviet-occupied areas of Poland held elections.

Polish currency was replaced with Soviet rubles, Polish Industries moved into Russia, and the Soviet Union began phasing out Polish education, language, and religion.

UNITED KINGDOM: He 111 of 1(F)./122 was chased by aircraft of RAF No.603 Sqdn after overflying a convoy off St. Abb's Head. The aircraft was attacked as it headed out to sea. This He 111 crashed into the sea 7 miles off St. Abb's Head, Berwickshire. The remainder of the crew, including their commander – Oblt. G-A. Awater, - were picked up by HMS "Ghurka".

SS 'Whitemantle' a (1,692t) cargo ship, carrying coal from the Tyne to London was sunk by a mine near the Withernsea Light. Fourteen of her crew lost their lives.

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22 October

DKM War diary
https://archive.org/stream/wardiarygermanna21939germ#page/137/mode/1up
DKM Operatiuons do not receive word of the GRAF SPEES success until the following day. They continue to enjoy an Intell bonanza, from various sources, but BDienst is of particular note, the following is just an example


UBOATS

Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary
" U 26 sailed for Gibraltar. After minelaying (Operations Order No. 6) it is intended to send her to the western Mediterranean together with U 25 and U 53. As she is first to carry out a mining operation she may only be issued with absolutely essential confidential books and cypher material. (Standing War Order No. 17). The consequent disadvantages and difficulties when working together with other boats have to be accepted, as the risk of the confidential books and cypher material falling into enemy hands if the boat is lost in shallow water is too great. This point has to be taken into account in all operations in shallow water".

arrivals

Wilhelmshaven:

departures

Kiel: U-21, U-59
Wilhelmshaven: U-26

At Sea 22 October

U-16, U-21, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-48, U-53, U-59.

11 boats at sea.

Northern Waters

Captured US MV CITY OF FLINT, (captured by DKM DEUTSCHLAND on the 9-10-39), arrived at Murmansk.

Home Flt

Home Flt (Adm Forbes) arrived at Loch Ewe at 0800 and then detached or moved elements as follows: .

BBs NELSON, RODNEY, BC HOOD, and DDs INTREPID, IVANHOE, ICARUS, KELLY and KINGSTON sortied to cover the movement of convoy NV.1 of twelve British iron ore ships from Narvik. CLs EDINBURGH dep Rosyth on the 23rd and joined the escort off Muckle Flugga at noon on the 24th, and CL AURORA dep Loch Ewe, also on the 23rd, and joined off the Norwegian coast on the 26th. DDs SOMALI, ASHANTI, TARTAR and FAME also joined from Scapa.En route to the Firth of Forth, DD FAME and two merchant ships were detached to join an Atlantic convoy.

Some days later at 0630 on the 30th, DDs SOMALI and TARTAR depth charged a submarine contact near Kinnaird Head. TARTAR then linked up with DD ASHANTI which by now was shepherding the convoy away from the area. DD FAME arrived in the contact area, taking over the attacks on the submarine and suppressed the contact for some hours, whilst the convoy cleared the area. The contact remained stationary even whilst subjected to further DC attacks which continued until 0915. NV.1 arrived safely on the 31st.

DD IMPULSIVE left Plymouth on the 23rd, reached Scapa on the 25th, and left next day to join Forbes at sea, KINGSTON detached from the force to Scapa with defects, and FIREDRAKE joined on the 29th.

North Sea .

British east coast

MV Collier WHITEMANTLE ( UK 1692 GRT): The ship with a full load of coal struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 5 to 6 nautical miles off the Withernsea Lighthouse with the loss of 14 crew
WHITEMANTLE CARGO SHIP 1920-1939


Northern Patrol - .

CLs DUNEDIN, DELHI and CALYPSO joined the Northern Patrol, CALYPSO proceeding to the Iceland-Faroes Channel. This brought the numbers of ships on patrol to two cruisers between the Shetlands and the Faroes, four cruisers between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. Operational tempo in the command was increasing as German blockade runners made runs for home

UK-France convoys .

BC.12 of MVs ANGLIAN COAST, BALTRADER, BARON NAIRN, CISCAR, CITY OF KEELUNG (CC), CLAN MONROE, DEVON COAST, FABIAN, KERMA, MARGALAU, PACIFIC COAST, PIZARRO, RONAN, TREVERBYN and YEWMOUNT dep the Bristol Channel escort DDs EXPRESS and WESSEX, and arrived safely in the Loire on the 24th

AXS.2 of one steamer carrying munitions for the BEF dep Fowey, escort DD WAKEFUL, and reached Brest on the 24th.

English Channel

DD JAVELIN was badly damaged in collision with MV MOIDART (1262grt) off Whitby. DD AFRIDI, escorting convoy FN.24 nearby, was sent to assist, and two tugs and two ASW trawlers left the Tyne at 0400. JAVELIN was towed by destroyer JUPITER to Middlesbrough and repaired until 1 January.

U.16 laid mines in the Straits of Dover, on which one aux MSW was to subsequently stumble into and sink

Fr BC DUNKERQUE, CLs GEORGES LEYGUES, GLOIRE, MONTCALM and Contre Torpilleur DDs MOGADOR, VOLTA, L'INDOMPTABLE, LE MALIN and LA TRIOMPHANT cleared Brest to provide cover for the incoming KJ.4.


J Class DD

Whilst providing escort for FN.25 (which had cleared Southend) DD GURKHA attacked a submarine 13 miles 68° from Orfordness on the 22nd. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 24th. Meanwhile, FS.25 departed Methil, escort DDs MAORI, WHITEHEAD and sloop WESTON and arrived at Southend on the 24th.

Atlantic

CA YORK, CL ENTERPRISE dep Halifax to support convoy HX.5 which had left on the 17th, and carried out searches for DKM CS DEUTSCHLAND.

Med/Biscay

CA NORFOLK dep Alex and arrived at Malta on the 23rd.

Gibraltar

DDs GRAFTON and GALLANTm GREYHOUND and GLOWWORM, rendezvoused at Gib and then proceeded in company to Plymouth aarriving on the 22nd. Assigned to duty at Harwich, they were due to be joined by ORP DDs GROM, BURZA and BLYSKAWICA.

Central and South Atlantic –

MV TREVANNION (Aus 5299 grt): Often referred to as a british ship, it was in fact owned and crewed for the most part by Australians. The The Australian MV TREVANION was sunk by the DKM GRAF SPEE, in the South Atlantic, about midway between St. Helena and the west coast of Africa. TREVANION was the first Australian ship sunk in WWII. The ship was enroute to the UK from from Port Pirie, South Australia, with a cargo of zinc concentrates.

During the next six days GRAF SPEE steered to the sw away from the trade routes and on 28th October met the ALTMARK near Tristan da Cunha, roughly midway between the Cape of Good Hope and the east coast of South America. After fuelling from ALTMARK, the crew of the TREVANION were transferred to ALTMARK (Officers were kept aboard the GRAF SPEE) , and GRAF SPEE set course to the Indian Ocean, as per DKM HQ instructions. On the 22nd October Union-Castle liner LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE reported that she had intercepted a signal from an unidentified steamer stating that she was being shelled in a position '16 deg. South, 4 deg. 3 min. East at 1400 G.M.T.'
This was the last transmission from TREVANION.

master of the ship Captain J. H. EDWARD, a well educated man from the exclusive Sydney suburb of St Ives was interrogated intensively by the officers of the GRAF SPEE.

Cpt Edwards' he told in an interview after being liberated how when questioned by German officers he replied with characteristic Australian forth-rightness: "Find out !"

View of the Travanion as she is being sunk

HG.4 of 41 ships left Gib, escort DDrs GRENVILLE, GIPSY and MSW LEDA, and Fr DDs BOURRASQUE and FOUDROYANT from the 22nd until their arrival at Brest on the 29th. DDs WISHART and VIDETTE provided local escort, detached on the 23rd and patrolled off Cadiz. The convoy after Brest arrived at Liverpool on the 29th, with GRENVILLE, GIPSY and LEDA arriving on the 30th.

Cairibbean

HMA CL PERTH departed Bermuda.

Ger MV EMMY FRIEDRICH (4372grt) dep Tampico, Mexico, during the night of the 19th/20th to act as a supply ship for DKM CS ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE. Allied warships began a search for her in the Gulf of Mexico almost immediately, and were joined by USS CV RANGER (CV.4) acting as part of the as part of the Neutrality Patrol, in the Caribbean. CL ORION, dep Kingston on the 21st and RCN DD SAGUENAY sighted EMMY FRIEDRICH on the 22nd in the Yucatan Channel and she turned away, back into the Gulf of Mexico. The contact report from ORION enabled CL CARADOC, to intercept her early on the 23rd. EMMY FRIEDRICH was scuttled and CARADOC picked up her crew of 33 and took them to Bermuda, arriving on the 27th. ORION returned to Kingston on the 26th.


German EMMY Friedrich and CV RANGER CV4

23 OCTOBER
Axis New Ships
IJN Gunboat HASHIDATE

Hashidate was witheld from full fleet entry until 4 June 1940, due to defects. She served mostly as an ASW escort She had one sister, the UJI.

Allied New Ships
RN AMC Ranchi


Neutral New ships
USN SS Seadtagon (SS194)


DKM War diary




UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary
....."On the subject of U-boat losses: of the Atlantic and North Sea boats, U 27, U 39 and U 12 are definitely lost, U 42 and U 45 probably, U 40 possibly. The following is known about the boats: U 27 reported on 19.9 that she was leaving her operations area. There is no information on U 39 since she sailed. One major part of both crews are prisoners of war. This means that the boats were probably surprised on the surface and attacked with gunfire and possibly also by a/c. It is possible that they were so damaged as to be unable to dive, so that the crews had to abandon the boats in the face of the enemy and sink them. The large number of survivors cannot be explained in any other way. If they had been destroyed underwater the losses would have been much greater. U 12 passed the line Dover-Calais and was operating west of this; this is proved by a number of sightings and attack reports, which on the whole have proved very accurate apart from the first weeks of war, during which they were not very reliable. A radio intelligence report suggests that the boat may have been rammed"...... .

Actual fates of the Boats questioned by the Uboat chief:

U.12 Sunk 8 Oct 1939 in the English Channel near Dover, position not known, by a mine. 27 dead

U.27 Sunk 20 Sept 1939 in the North Atlantic west of Hebrides, in position 58.35N, 09.02W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Fortune and HMS Forester. 38 survivors (no casualties).

U.39 Sunk 14 Sept 1939 in the North Atlantic west of Hebrides, in position 58.32N, 11.49W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Faulknor, HMS Foxhound and HMS Firedrake. 44 survivors (no casualties).

U.42: Sunk 13 Oct 1939 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland in position 49.12N, 16.00W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Imogenand HMS Ilex. 26 dead and 20 survivors.

U.45: Sunk 14 Oct 1939 south-west of Ireland, in position 50.58N, 12.57W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Inglefield, HMS Ivanhoe andHMS Intrepid. 38 dead (all hands lost).

U.40: Sunk 13 Oct 1939 in the English Channel east of Dover, in position 51.07,5N, 01.48E, by a mine in the British barrage C3. 45 dead and 3 survivors.

departures

Kiel: U-56, U-58
Wilhelmshaven: U-24

At Sea 23 OCTOBER

1939
U-16 , U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-48, U-53, U-56, U-58, U-59.

14 boats at sea.

Baltic


Norwegian Coast

Ger MV CURITYBA (4969grt) sighted Nor DD DRAUG off Bergen where she arrived on the 24th. Setting out again, she arrived via Drogden, at Hamburg on the 30th.

Northern Patrol - .

CL SHEFFIELD dep Loch Ewe for Northern Patrol and arrived back on the 26th.

British Northern Waters
Home Flt

CVL FURIOUS and BC REPULSE with DDs BEDOUIN, PUNJABI, FORESTER, FIREDRAKE left Loch Ewe for the Clyde, arriving on the 25th.

CLA CURLEW and DDs FURY, FOXHOUND, FEARLESS and MASHONA dep Loch Ewe for Scapa. The DDs were then assigned for convoy escort.

CL AURORA sailed from Loch Ewe and DDs SOMALI, ASHANTI, TARTAR and FAME from Scapa to escort an iron ore convoy from Narvik.



Aurora was one of four ships in the Arethusa Class. They resembled the Leander class, with one less turret
CL EDINBURGH dep Rosyth to rendezvous with Commodore D in CL AURORA 20 miles north of Muckle Flugga.

A Roc fighter of 803 Squadron from Hatston, failed to return from patrol off Wick. Petty Officer L R Tregillis and Naval Airman R E Eason were lost.

North sea.
ALBANIA (Sd 1200GRT): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the Humber Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of two crew. Survivors were rescued by MV CHANNEL FISHER

(NO IMAGE FOUND)

KONSTANTINOS HADJIPATERAS (Gk 5962 grt) Fully laden with Scrap iron, the ship struck a mine laid on 16 October by U-19 and sank near Inner Dowsing Light vessel. The survivors were picked up by the Gorleston lifeboat Louise Stephens.


UK-France convoys .

SA.14 of two steamers cleared Southampton, escort DDs VANSITTART and VENOMOUS, and arrived at Brest on the 24th.

Channel.

DD GALLANT attacked a submarine contact 90° off the Lizard, and was later joined in the search by DDs KANDAHAR, ACASTA, ARDENT, which made attacks 20 miles south of Portland. ACASTA was missed by a torpedo. The search continued into the next day for DDs ACASTA and ARDENT.

UK-outbound convoys

OA.24G dep Southend escort DDs ESCORT and ELECTRA, while OB.24G dep Liverpool escort DDs VANOC and WARWICK. They merged on the 26th as OG.4.


Southwestern Approaches
Med/Biscay

Gibraltar

U.37 conducted a reconnaissance of the Straits of Gibraltar during the night of the 23rd/24th.

Central and South Atlantic –

SL.6 dep Freetown escort DDs HYPERION and HUNTER, which left the convoy early on the 26th to take twelve ships into Dakar where they arrived early dawn on the 27th. Before then, on the 26th, French CL DUGUAY TROUIN cleared Dakar to join SL.6 on the 27th, not arriving back until 2 November, while DD GRIFFIN dep Gib on the 30th and joined on 8 November in Home Waters, escorting the convoy to the UK. In the Western Approaches, the convoy split into SL.6, escort DDs ELECTRA and ESCORT, and SL.6B, escort DDs WALPOLE and VANOC, the latter transferring to SL.6 on 8 November. Dispersed ships of the main convoy arrived at Liverpool starting on the 10th.

CA SHROPSHIRE dep Capetown on escort duty, and arrived back the next day

North Atlantic

CA BERWICK dep Bermuda, and arrived back on the 26th for docking where she underwent repairs until 3 November.

23 October 1939 Monday

ATLANTIC OCEAN: British light cruiser HMS "Orion" and Canadian destroyer HMCS "Saguenay" intercepted German tanker "Emmy Friedrich"; "Emmy Friedrich's" crew scuttled the ship to avoid capture.

SS 'Albania' (1,200t) a Swedish ship, sank in the North Sea, near the Tyne, after being mined. She was built in 1903.

Two British ships 'Sea Venture' and 'Whitemantle', were reported sunk. The first was torpedoed off the north coast of Scotland; the second lost after an explosion due either to a mine or a submarine.

ASIA: The Japanese G4M "Betty" bomber made its maiden flight. Destined to be the main Japanese land based bomber for the entire war, it was, like other Japanese planes, state of the art at the beginning of the war and grossly overmatched by later American models later. Made by Mitsubishi, its performance was about on par with the American B-25 as far as speed and climb, and it had better range.

NORTHERN EUROPE: The Finnish delegates Paasikivi and Tanner arrive in Moscow by train and go to the Kremlin to negotiate with Molotov and Stalin. The Finns are prepared to give up 6 islands in the Gulf of Finland and they offer to move the border near Leningrad 13 km North, giving some protection to USSR's second city. Stalin continues to demand a border move of 70 km, as well as a 'lease' on the entire Hanko peninsula to station 5000 troops and a naval base. He adds ominously that there will be no haggling but the Finns are not authorized to make these concessions and the meeting breaks up acrimoniously, with each side accusing the other of provoking war. Paasikivi and Tanner return to the Kremlin at 11 p.m. to hear Stalin's final offer to reduce the Hanko garrison to 4000 but conceding this is still beyond their remit. They agree to take the Soviet terms (which, in reality, are not much different from those presented Oct 12) back to Helsinki for discussion by the Finnish government. While the Finns engage in more diplomacy, USSR prepares for war.

North of Murmansk, a German prize crew steers the US ship "City of Flint" into Kola Bay. The steamer was seized as contraband by a German cruiser.

The British Home Fleet escorts an iron ore convoy from Narvik, Norway (arriving on October 31st).

WESTERN FRONT: Patrolling units engage in combat in the region west of the Saar.

In Paris Sir Eric Phipps, the retiring British Ambassador, leaves.

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Keep it coming guys. Great stuff.

24 OCTOBER

DKM War diary
Select extracts...


UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary
"U 37 reports: 2 ships sunk today off Gibraltar, one Q ship hit. Depth charged for 9 hours. Fuel running out. Starting return passage. Presumably the boat went up close to Gibraltar. Her observations of this area are important for U 26 and U 25 and 53. She has been ordered to report her experiences as soon as circumstances permit".

departures

Kiel: U-61

At Sea 24 OCTOBER

U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-48, U-53, U-56, U-58, U-59, U-61.
14 boats at sea.

Baltic

Fn MV RHEA (1424grt) was seized in the Baltic by German warships and taken to Kiel.

(NO IMAGE FOUND)

Ge trawler SATURN (194grt) was sunk in a collision near Kiel.

(NO IMAGE FOUND)


Northern Patrol - .

On Northern Patrol were CL CALYPSO and one other cruiser between the Faroes and the Orkneys, two cruisers between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. CLs COLOMBO and DRAGON had dep Sullom Voe on the 20th, DIOMEDE on the 21st, and DUNEDIN, DELHI, CALYPSO on the 22nd. DIOMEDE, DRAGON, CALEDON, COLOMBO, CARDIFF called there to refuel and left on the 25th. The AMCs in the patrol lines were CHITRAL, SCOTSTOUN and TRANSYLVANIA.

British Northern Waters

Home Flt

ML ADVENTURE dep Sheerness for the Humber to lay mines in the North Sea in Operation AD, arriving on the 25th at Grimsby. From there, she laid mines, escort two DDs and MSW SPHINX, off Flamborough Head in operations completed on the 29th. CL SOUTHAMPTON dep Sullom Voe for patrol SE of Norway, arrived at Scapa on 6 November, then left for Rosyth, arriving on the 7th.

North sea.

DD GURKHA, as escort for FN.25, attacked a submarine contact 13 miles bearing 068° from Orfordness. FN.26 dep Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 26th. FS.26 departed Methil,and reached Southend on the 26th

SS PORPOISE arrived at Chatham for refitting completed on 18 January.

Channel.

U.16 (Kptlt. Horst Wellner) a Type IIB Boat had dep Wilhelmshaven on the 17th, and after completing a minelay op near Dover, was detected by the St Margaret's Bay indicator loop station. Attacked by PCs PUFFIN and ASW trawler CAYTON WYKE (373grt), she was damaged and as she evaded further attacks, struck a mine and was even more badly damaged forward of the conning tower, running aground on the Goodwin Sands . The body of an officer was picked up off Folkestone by minesweeping trawler ST MELANTE (358grt), and on the same day U.16 was discovered with only the conning tower above water and the crew all dead. The 28 bodies of the crew were removed and taken to Dover for burial. All classified gear had ben removed prior to the mission, so there was no material of intell value in the Boat



Med/Biscay

Gibraltar
DDs GRENADE and GRIFFIN dep Gib to escort convoy SL.5, but GRIFFIN was ordered back to stand by for SL.6. She arrived there on the 26th and dep with SL.6 on the 30th.

U.37 enjoyed great success off Gib. After sending an intell report she proceeded to sink three vessels, details as follows:

U-37 torpedoed and sank MV MENIN RIDGE (UK 2474 grt) carrying Iron ore from Algeria to England via Gib, the ship was hit on the port side below the bridge by one torp while steaming at 9 knots. U.37 had spotted the ship eight hours earlier but the UB skipoper had postponed his attack because he feared the ship was armed. Due to the heavy cargo, the ship broke up and sank immediately after being hit and only five crewmen managed to get clear and await rescue by by clinging to wreckage. The master and 19 crew members were lost. The U-boat remained submerged after the attack because a ship was seen to approach the sinking position. about 98 miles west of Gibraltar and shortly afterwards spotted the unescorted and unarmed LEDBURY
Photo Source Uboat net

Menin Ridge under her former name Pentirion
MV LEDBURY (UK 3528 grt) Fully laden with a cargo bauxite en route to England from Toulon. After the U.37 sank the MENIN RIDGE, LEDBURY proceeded to carry out rescue operation of the crewmen in the water. The U-boat then fired two torpedoes at her but missed because the ship was constantly changing courses during a careful approach at 7 knots. However, her lookouts failed to notice the attack, so the ship continued to search and rescue crewmen. They had picked up the five survivors in their lifeboat and returned to the ship after half an hour, but before they could be taken aboard U-37 surfaced off the starboard quarter a short distance away and fired a shot across the bow of LEDBURY . The master gallantly signalled the lifeboat to cast off, turned towards the U-boat and sent a distress signal that was received by Gibraltar and other stations. The use of the radio forced Hartmann to immediately open fire with the deck gun on the steamer. The steering gear was smashed by the first round, two others struck the bridge and set it on fire and two more hit the engine room, but the most of the 34 rounds fired during the attack were aimed at the waterline on the starboard side and caused the ship to sink after about 15 minutes. The ships confidential papers were destroyed was almost trapped when a shell wrecked his cabin when he tried to get the ship's papers from there. He then abandoned ship in the port lifeboat together with 25 crew members and the survivor who had been picked up earlier. Despite the continuous shelling there was only a sibngle light injury. Subsequently the Germans questioned the occupants of the starboard lifeboat and when the chief officer told them that the master was in the other boat, he was asked by Hartmann to deliver the following message: "Tell the Captain I am sorry to shell him but he used his wireless and that is forbidden. It is the fault of Winston Churchill and the money grabbers in London. We don't want war".
Photo source Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart


The presence of U-37 was now known to the local commands due to the distress signal and Hartmann decided to leave the area to the southwest. Doing so he first spotted a tanker heading for Gibraltar, but the ship suddenly reversed course, presumably after receiving a U-boat warning.

At 10.30 hours, the Germans sighted the TAFNA (1462 GRT) which had observed the shelling from a distance of 10 miles and unsuccessfully tried to avoid the U-boat, but was eventually torpedoed and sunk at 11.19 hours. The torpedo explosion was heard by the survivors of the two sunken ships before they were rescued by the American SS CROWN CITY which had received the distress signal and was led to the boats by a French aircraft. The ship hurriedly picked them up and left the empty lifeboats adrift in order to get to the torpedoed ship as soon as possible, but she then just proceeded to Gibraltar to land the survivors after two DDs were observed in the area.
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&...LaESpEiZb7f6pWCucw8_Ibog&ust=1414238974438940


Subsequently , the submerged UBoat was depth charged by several aircraft after attacking TAFNA about 100 miles WSW of Gib. U-37 went to 105m (345ft) and avoided damage from the DCs. Hartmann wisely decided to run silent at a depth of 80m (263ft) and ordered most of the crew to lie down and rest, because shortly afterwards DDs KEPPEL, VIDETTE and Watchman arrived from Gib and began an intense ASW operationan. Later, DD KEPPEL dropped a full pattern of five depth charges set for 250ft (76m) after obtaining a good ASDIC contact and observed an air bubble and possibly oil rising to the surface afterwards, but failed to regain contact. The UBoat had switched off the hydrophones and were caught off guard by the accurate detonations, which were felt as severe blows in the boat, which then dived to 95m (312ft). As dusk arrived DD WATCHMAN dropped a single DC set for 150ft (46m) from the port thrower on an Asdic contact but lost contact after dropping the remaining four DCs of the pattern in a follow up attack. Hartmann heard these detonate at some distance, but knew that they could not stay submerged all night as the crew had already begun to use the rebreather cartridges, so ordered the boat to be prepared for scuttling before surfacing with all guns manned at 21.45 hrs. However, the DDs were no longer nearby and the boat was able to leave the area undetected, somewhat damaged.

Central and South Atlantic –

CV ARK ROYAL and BC RENOWN arrived at Freetown for refuelling, thereafter commencing raider hunting ops from the 28th l.

North Atlantic

HMA CL PERTH dep Kingston, to intercept a German warship deemed present from intercepted signal traffic. She altered course to intercept, but no contact was made. Halifax was reached on the 28th.

HXF.6 dep Halifax at 0800, escort RCN DDs FRASER and ST LAURENT, with BB REVENGE as distant cover. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 2 November.

24 October 1939 Wednesday

NORTHERN EUROPE: A Soviet-German trade agreement is signed. The USSR agrees to supply 1 million tonnes of grain and fodder to Germany.

Paasikivi and Tanner, the Finnish delegation to negotiate the border dispute with USSR, leave Moscow by train for Leningrad and then Helsinki. The talks are public knowledge but the topic of acquisition of bases and territory by USSR is top secret. The New York Times speculates that either the Finns are negotiating a loan to make up for trade revenues with Britain lost as a result of German sinking of neutral vessels, or that Tanner as head of the Finnish Socialist party is reporting to Moscow on the attitude of Finnish workers. This secrecy will not be maintained for long.

In Danzig the Nazi Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop, delivers a speech in which he accuses the British government of systematically preparing, over a period of years, to make war on Germany.

The Greek Steamer 'Konstantinos Hadjipateras' was sunk by a U-boat in the North sea.

MEDITERRANEAN: German submarine U-37 sank British steamships "Menin Ridge" by torpedoes and "Ledbury" by gunfire off Gibraltar.

POLAND: Nowy Sącz is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County. During the invasion of Poland starting World War II, Nowy Sącz was occupied by Nazi Germany. At the outbreak of the war over a third of the population of the Polish town of Nowy Sącz (or Neu-Sandez in German) were Jewish. It had been an important Hasidic centre for centuries. Their persecution began with petty bureaucratic measures. Among them, issued on October 24, 1939:

"Neu-Sandez Municipal Administration. Neu-Sandez, 24 October 1939. Notice. It is hereby ordered that all shops whose owners are Jews must be kept open on Saturdays too. Those acting otherwise will be severely punished. The Chief Burgomaster as Town Commissioner: Dr Hein"

Click to expand...

UNITED KINGDOM: In London the Polish Consul-General announces that Poles in Britain will be mobilized for service in the Polish Army in France.

WESTERN FRONT: Raids and ambushes were reported from various parts of the Western Front, and fairly sharp engagement towards the south-eastern border of the Forest of Warndt, where a German attack on a French outpost was driven back.

In Paris the Polish gold reserves arrive. The value of the gold is estimated at over £15,000,000. 82,000 kg of Polish gold has traveled from the Romania port of Constanţa on Sept. 16 to Istanbul in Turkey on Sept. 19, and then on to Beirut, Lebanon where it was loaded on French warships bound for France.

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The Polish submarine ORP Sęp interned in Sweden, 1939..






A postage stamp issued by the Polish Government in London, 1941 to commemorate the Polish Navy in the Great Britain.




And a set of postage stamps with ORP Piorun, ORP Orzeł and ORP Garland issued after the war..

25 October 1939 Wednesday

ASIA: Mitsubishi delivered the second Zero fighter prototype to the Japanese Navy for testing.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: French cruiser "Dupleix", destroyer "Le Fantasque", and destroyer "Le Terrible "attacked and captured German freighter "Santa Fé" west of French West Africa.

U-16 is sunk by HMS "Cayton Wyke", a requisitioned trawler converted for minesweeping, and patrol vessel HMS "Puffin".

Five British ships were reported sunk by enemy action: 'Ledbury', 'Menin Ridge', and 'Tafna' all in the North Atlantic. 'Stonegate' attacked and sunk by German battleship 'Deutschland' and 'Clan Chisholm' sunk off the Spanish coast.

GERMANY: Hptm. Riegel's I./JG 27 transfer from their base at Münster-Handorf to new accommodations at Hopsten.

German General Gerd von Rundstedt is appointed Commander in the West.

MEDITERRANEAN: Three U-boats are dispatched to the Mediterranean; only U-26 arrives and has no success.

NORTH AMERICA: In Mexico City, Leon Trotsky is reported to have said that;

"Stalin is afraid of Hitler, and is right to be so."

Click to expand...

NORTHERN EUROPE: Paasikivi and Tanner change trains in Leningrad. Ominously, they see significant concentrations of Red Army troops around Leningrad. North of the city, on the Soviet portion of the Karelian Isthmus, construction of additional road and rail connections is underway. While it might seem careless for the Soviets to allow their preparations to be observed, the obvious route of Soviet attack into Finland is across the Karelian Isthmus (a 30 mile wide strip between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Lagoda) and the Finns are already fortifying the Mannerheim Line to defend against this. Unknown to the Finns, the Red Army is also planning to attack along the entire 800 mile border running North from Lake Lagoda to the Barents Sea.

UNITED KINGDOM: The Handley Page Halifax bomber makes its maiden flight.

The Air Ministry announced that reconnaissance carried out by the RAF during the preceding 24 hours included night flights over Berlin, Magdeburg and Hamburg.

WESTERN FRONT: French troops reportedly repulse a German detachment in the region close to the Moselle. As a whole, conditions on are reported to be quiet.



.

25 OCTOBER

DKM War diary
Selected extracts...


UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

"U 48 entered Kiel. She sank:
French tanker "Emile Miquet" 14,115 t
English S.S. "Herouspool"
English S.S. "Sueaton"
Unidentified ship from a convoy believed it to be "City of Mandalay"3,667t
Therefore certainly more than "29,897" t
and probably "36,911" t

A very successful patrol, especially as it only lasted 3 weeks. U 48 used all her torpedoes, but reports 5 failures, which caused her to lose several ships which would otherwise have certainly been sunk. It is unnecessary to go into the causes and results of these failures again. The Torpedo Inspectorate is being kept informed, and the importance stressed: B.d.U. is in close contact with the Inspectorate.

U 46 sighted a convoy from her position 60 miles northwest of Lisbon. U 25, which was assumed to be off the southwest corner of Ireland, was ordered to take action. Provided contact is maintained, it might be possible for her to reach the convoy, as for the time being the enemy's course is restricted by the coast line. This is an experiment to discover if it is any good to have a few boats working together over a large area. Contact was lost after 4 hours".

arrivals

Kiel: U-48

departures

Kiel: U-13, U-57

At Sea 25 OCTOBER

U-13, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-53, U-56, U-57, U-58, U-59, U-61.

15 boats at sea.

Northern Patrol - .

Ge Blockade runner MV RHEINGOLD (5055grt), had departed Bahia on 27 September, was captured in the Iceland-Faroes Channel by CL DELHI, west of the Orkneys. RHEINGOLD arrived at Kirkwall with the prize crew, on the 27th and later renamed EMPIRE MARINER for British service. DELHI arrived at Sullom Voe on the 28th.


CLs COLOMBO, CARDIFF, CALEDON dep Sullom Voe, with CARDIFF and CALEDON returning on the 31st.

Two cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four cruisers between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. CL SOUTHAMPTON (now with radar) was sailing to relieve sister ship SHEFFIELD in the Denmark Strait.

North sea.

UK East Coast

DD VIVIEN completed conversion to DDA (Anti Aircraft DD, with 4x4" QF, 4 x 20mm, retaining 30-45 DC 1665 t disp, oil fuel reduced to 325 tons.6 other "V" class were simialarly converted ) , and following working up, was attached to Convoy C in the Rosyth Command.


V Class after conversion to short range AA role
CLA CALCUTTA dep Grimsby for Harwich, and arrived on the 26th. DD MASHONA was docked at Newcastle for repairs from 25 October to 10 November. DD PUNJABI brought Panamanian tkr PHOEBUS (8863grt) into the Clyde, but after examination, she was allowed to continue. DD FURY was damaged by heavy weather, and repaired in the Clyde, completing on 17 November.

UK-France traffic

OB.25 dep Liverpool escort DDs WHIRLWIND and WALPOLE until the 28th. BC.11 of steamers ADJUTANT, BALTARA, BARON CARNEGIE, BATNA, BLACKHEATH, BOTHNIA, BRIARWOOD, COXWOLD, ERATO, FRAMLINGTON COURT, HARMATTAN, JADE, LLARNARTH, LOCHEE, LOTTIE R, LURIGETHAN, MARSLEW, NIGERIAN (Commodore) and PEMBROKE COAST dep the Loire escort DD EXPRESS, and arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the 28th.

Channel.

OA.25 of 19 ships dep Southend escort DD ANTELOPE and VISCOUNT from the 25th to 28th.

DD WIVERN provided escort for SL.4A into Dover with ASW trawlers ARCTIC RANGER and KINGSTON CORNELIAN, before leaving Southend on the 27th in company with DD WITCH as escort to convoy OA.26. When a submarine was reported, WIVERN was detached to search for what was later determined to be TRIDENT (see below).

UK West Coast

OA.26 dep Portsmouth consisting of SS TRIDENT for Oban (a small port on the western coast of Scotland), steamer BONIFACE (4928 tons), and base ships MANCHESTER CITY and MASHOBRA, escort DDSs SALADIN, VANSITTART, VENOMOUS and SCIMITAR as far west as the Eddystone Light. DD VANESSA relieved the Portsmouth DDs at 1650 and was joined by sister ship VIVACIOUS after a short delay. On the 27th, TRIDENT and VIVACIOUS detached to Oban.

Med/Biscay

U.25, U.26, and U.53 were assigned for operations in the Med between 25 October and 15 November – Only U.26 was able to enter the Med for a patrol lasting from 8 to 18 November. A planned minelay off Gibraltar was prevented by gales, and she carried out attacks off Oran. On the 13th, she claimed to have finally sunk a steamer, but this is not confirmed. However French steamer LOIRE (4285grt) departed Oran for Dunkirk on 12 November and was not heard from again, so a probable victim of U.26, which arrived back at Wilhelmshaven on 5 December. Of the other two submarines, U.53 left her patrol area off Gib on 13 November to refuel, and U.25 after patrolling off Gibraltar, reached Wilhelmshaven on 27 November in a damaged condition.

Alexandria

BB RAMILLIES, CL PENELOPE and DDs DAINTY, DIANA, DEFENDER cleared anchorage on a 15-inch gun shoot. The exercise was repeated on the 27th with the same ships less DAINTY.

Central and South Atlantic –

Fr BC STRASBOURG, CAs ALGÉRIE, DUPLEIX, DDs LE TERRIBLE and LE FANTASQUE and CVL HERMES dep Dakar to carry out a sweep to the southwest. They arrived back on the 29th.

Ge steamer SANTA FE (4627grt), had departed Rio de Janiero on the 13th, was captured 5N, 34W by French Contre Torp[illeur DDs LE FANTASQUE and LE TERRIBLE, supported by Force M CA DUPLEIX. BC STRASBOURG, with CVL HERMES undertaking searches. CAs ALGÉRIE, DUPLEIX together with LE FANTASQUE and LE TERRIBLE put to sea from Dakar to search for SANTA FE from the 23rd to 29th. She was renamed SAINT ANDRE in French service, but returned to German service after the fall of France resuming her former name.

In 1943 the ship transferred to the Black Sea. recomissioned again as the Santa-Fe. In 1943 this transport was dispatched to the Black Sea. November 23, 1943 convoy Wotan sailed from Constantsa, Romania for the port of Sevastopol in Crimea. The SANTE FE was escorted by DD MARASTI, the Q-ship LOLA, in company with the ML ADMIRAL MURGESCU and DKM MSWs R-165, R-197 and R-209. She had 12 StuG III assault guns, 2 Jagdpanzer tank destroyers and 1278 tons of different war material ( shells, air bombs, petrol in casks ) in her cargo. Early in the morning an explosion sounded near the fore hold. The transport caught fire. This was followed by a second explosion inside theship, which broke her into 2 pieces and sank within some minutes. 28 crew members were killed while 16 missing.

There are no known photos of the ship whilst afloat, but there are several I could locate of the wreck
BLACK SEA WRECK CLUB



Ge steamer TOGO (5042grt) dep Duala (West Coast of Africa), and evading patrols by Fr SSs AJAX and CENTAURE in the vicinity, reached Hamburg on 23 November.

North Atlantic

HX.6 departed Halifax escorted by RCN DDrs FRASER and ST LAURENT. They detached on the 27th and the convoy continued with BB RESOLUTION as ocean escort. On 6 November, DDs WHIRLWIND and WARWICK rendezvoused HX.6 from OB.29, and DDs GRENVILLE, GRENADE, GIPSY and GLOWWORM from Plymouth. Next day, RESOLUTION, GRENVILLE and GRENADE detached to Devonport, and the convoy reached Liverpool on the 10th.

Indian Ocean

CA DORSETSHIRE cleared Colombo on patrol duties, and arrived back on the 28th.

Far East

DDs THANET and THRACIAN laid mines off Hong Kong in the West Lamma and North Lantau Channels, and again on the 26th and 27th. THANET carried out a lay southwest of Papai Island on the 31st.


DDs THANET and THRACIAN were among the oldest DDs in the RN and were classified as Reserve Destroyers

26 October 1939 Thursday

EASTERN EUROPE: Jozef Tiso was declared the President of Slovakia.

The Soviet government denies the British claim to have a right to stop Soviet merchant ships bound for Germany. But Soviet authorities order the release of the American steamer "City of Flint".

GERMANY: Several more Luftwaffe units are moved to bolster the Western front. Major von Berg's I./JG 51 leave their airfields at Speyer and transfer to the airbase at Mannheim-Sandhofen. The Bf 109Es of 3./JG 51 remain at their base at Eutingen. Joining I./JG 51 at Mannheim-Sandhofen are the planes and crews of the Stab./JG 52 led by Kommodore Major Hubert Merhart von Bernegg who leave the airbase at Böblingen. Hptm. Hans-Günther von Kornatzki's II./JG 52 also leave Böblingen and transfer to Mannheim-Stadt airfield and re-equip with Bf 109Es.

An Austrian 'Freedom' radio stations began sending out anti-Nazi broadcasts.

It was, officially confirmed in Berlin that Hitler intended to bring back all German minorities from all countries.

POLAND: Hans Frank, a dedicated Nazi, is given rank of SS Obergruppenführer and appointed Governor-General of the General Government for the occupied Polish territories "Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete" (or simply General Government). A decree imposes compulsory labour on all Jews aged 16 -60. General Government is a German police state "colony", with no Polish representation, and Hitler plans for complete Germanification within 15-20 years. This area (approximately 95,000 square km with a population of 12 million) lies between Western Poland, annexed into Germany, and Eastern Poland, now occupied by USSR. Frank is responsible for segregating Jews into city ghettos and exporting Polish civilians to Germany as forced labour. He will eventually be found guilty of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials and hung on October 16, 1946.

UNITED KINGDOM: A Do 17P of 4(F)./122 suffered an engine failure while on a sortie to the English East Coast. The aircraft force-landed in Holland. Uffz WendtFw. R. Diesterweg and Fw. J. Hundenborn were all interned by the Dutch. The aircraft was taken to Soesterberg for examination by the RNAF.

Chamberlain responds to claims made by the Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop that Britain sought and plotted for war with Germany. He says;

"…the whole world knows that this is not true."

Click to expand...

The Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps is formed.

The wreck of a U-boat, containing more than 50 dead, is washed up on the Goodwin Sands.

At 20.45 a runaway barrage balloon fell on some houses in Bradford. Damage was done to some roofs and telegraph wires.

Air Ministry announced that it was now known that at least seven out of twelve German aircraft failed to return to their base after last Saturday's attack on a British convoy in the North Sea.

The Naval, Military and Air situation up to 12 noon on October 26, 1939, as reported to the War Cabinet, inter alia, the following:

German Army.

Morale.
The following notes have been made from a French General Staff report on German morale obtained by questioning prisoners of war. The statements of these prisoners, all of whom came from the Maine -Wiesbaden district, may to some extent have been made in order to get better treatment, and should therefore not be taken as the general attitude of the German soldier on the Western front: -

Food.
Insufficient in quantity, of poor quality, monotonous; little meat. Brought up in a mobile cooker every 24 hours at about noon, or, in the case of advanced elements, at night by fatigue parties. The food arrives cold and unappetizing.

Clothing
Each man has spare underclothing and boots, a great coat and a bivouac tent. No blankets. Men have to sleep in the pill boxes on the ground, using their greatcoats and bivouac tents as covering. Prisoners complained of intense cold at night.

Officers and N.C.O.s
Very strict with men. Unpopular.

Propaganda.
Soldiers do not read newspapers. What is the use? They all repeat the same thing and nobody believes them!

State of morale.
In Germany many things are unobtainable, chocolate, for example. Everybody is afraid of his neighbour; concentration camps are the lot of those who complain. That is why the country appears to follow its rulers.

Click to expand...

WESTERN FRONT: Wintry conditions prevail with much rain and snow. Minor encounters between patrols and artillery fire from both sides is reported.

.

26 October

Known Reinforcements

Allied New Ships
ML M1 "M" Class, and DD KASHMIR JKN Class

The JKNs were "budget price" fleet destroyer, and represented a move away from the "super destroyer concept
DKM War diary
Selected extracts...





UBOATS

Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

As U 46 did not regain contact, but reported that she was leaving her operations area because of lack of fuel, it was no longer possible for U 25 to operate against the convoy. Meanwhile this boat had come a long way south. She was allocated a new operations area northwest of Cape Finisterre.

The following boats are expected to be ready for operations next:

U 33 on 29.10, U 38 on 8.11, U.43 1.11, U.28 8.11, U.41 2.11, U.29 11.11, U.49 4.11, U.47 13.11, U.35 13.11

I consider the following mining operations to be of next importance:

1) inside the Bristol Channel, north of the Foreland
2) off Swansea
3) off Milford Haven.

Information available suggests that they would be very successful. But as they mean entering an area which is probably strongly patrolled, they must be carried out as soon as possible, before anti-S/M defenses reach their full extent.

U-boats of the 2nd U-Flotilla must be considered for this, because of their range; i.e. U 33, U 28, and U 29. Boats at operational readiness will therefore have to be divided into a mining and an operational group.

I intend to assemble the latter, up to 4 boats, in the area southwest of Ireland. They are then to take up an attacking disposition south and west of Portugal with the purpose of intercepting traffic north-bound from Gibraltar. Later a disposition is planned northwest of Cape Finisterre at about the time when U 47 should have arrived (Operations Order No. 11)".

N arrivals or departures on this date

At Sea 26 October

U-13, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-53, U-56, U-57, U-58, U-59, U-61.

15 boats at sea

Baltic

Sd Steamer JUPITER (2152grt) was seized in the Baltic by German warships and taken to Kiel. Gk steamer MARIETTA NOMIKOU (5241grt) was seized in the Baltic by German warships and taken to Pillau.

North Sea .

CL BELFAST arrived at Clyde for Refitting completed on 8 November. CLA CALCUTTA departed Harwich and arrived at Grimsby on the 27th.

Northern Patrol - .

Two cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, three cruisers between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and AMC TRANSYLVANIA in the Denmark Strait. Meanwhile, CL SHEFFIELD was returning to Sullom Voe. From the 13th to 26th, Northern Patrol sighted 56 eastbound ships, sent 53 into Kirkwall for inspection and dealt with six German Blockade Runners.

British Northern Waters

Home Flt

BC REPULSE and CVL FURIOUS, escort DDs FORESTER, FEARLESS, FOXHOUND, FORESIGHT, FIREDRAKE cleared the Clyde to cover the Atlantic convoy routes, including Halifax convoys already at sea. Following these convoys' safe passage, they were stationed to the south and the east of Newfoundland to continue covering the route, the DDs arriving back in the Clyde on the 28th.

English Channel

FN.27 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 28th. There was no FN.28. FS.27 departed Methil, escort DDs JUNO, WALLACE, WHITLEY and sloop STORK, reaching Southend on the 28th.

.
Southwestern Approaches

OG.4, totalling 40 ships, was formed from OA.24G, escort DDs ESCORT and ELECTRA, and OB.24G which departed Liv escort DDs WARWICK and VANOC. The convoy safely arrived at Gib on 1 Nov, escort by that time Fr destroyers CHACAL and MISTRAL, which dep Brest on the 26th and joined on the 27th.

Med/Biscay

DD DUCHESS abandoned her Kithera patrol 24 hours early to take an injured man to Malta. Blue 6 of 15 ships dep Port Said and proceeded without escort.

China Station

MTB.11 was accidentally hit by a round from a 6-inch shore battery at Hong Kong, fired to warn her to keep clear of a newly mined area. She was towed into harbour between MTB.9 and MTB.10.

MTB 11 was commissioned in 1938, as one of the original 60' Class MTBs. she was later adapted to carry DCs as well as Torps

On the 26 October 1939 Hans Frank announced creating of the Generalne Gubernatorstwo (Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete ) consisted of a part of Poland. The rest of the Polish area was annexed to the Third Reich.






Sets of postage stamps issued for the Generalgouvernement in 1940.

Id imagine those stamps would be worth quite a bit no to collectors

Initially the GG stamps were "captured" the pre-war Polish ones. Later they issued their own. I don't remember how much these are worth but collectors try to find them for their collections.

27 October 1939 Friday
GERMANY: A secret meeting between Hitler, Kurt Student, the commander of VII Fliegerkorps and Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel. Discussion centers around why Hitler's new secret weapons, the paratroopers, were not used in Poland and how they would be utilized in the coming operation on the Western Front. Student outlines his proposal on the effective use of his troops including the plan for attacking the Eben Emanuel Fortress. These plans are given the code name "Gkdos Chefsache".

The crews of I./JG 51 under Major Ernst Freiherr von Berg are transferred to Mannheim-Sandhofen airfield along with the Stab of JG 52, led by Major Hubert Merhart von Bernegg. After only a few days at Hopsten, the crews of I./JG 27 transfer to Plantlünne. These air units are now based at airfields north of Cologne near the Belgium and Holland borders and are tasked with preventing any reconnaissance by Allied aircraft.

Hitler again commands his generals to prepare for the western offensive. Heinz Guderian was awarded the Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross.

NORTH AMERICA: The US Senate approves amendments to the Neutrality Act, repealing the arms embargo provision.

MEDITERRANEAN: The US Consul at Gibraltar met with British authorities to protest the detention of American merchant ships by the United Kingdom.

POLAND: Piotr Sosnowski, a deacon from Byslaw, Poland, was executed in what is thought to be the Tuchola Forest. On October 27, 1939, a group of Polish prisoners was transported to an execution spot two kilometers outside of town. When the trucks reached the forest, the prisoners were ordered to empty their pockets and dig a large grave. After the grave was completed, Deacon Sosnowski gave the men absolution before the commanding SS officer, Colonel Wilhelm Theodor Richardt, ordered his men to shoot the Poles as reprisal for the burning of two barns owned by ethnic Germans. Altogether, 45 Poles, including Sosnowski, were killed.

WESTERN FRONT: Vicomte Davignon, Belgian Ambassador in Berlin, reports to the Belgian Government that he had learnt from a reliable source that Adolf Hitler intended to invade Belgium soon. King Leopold III, in a broadcast to the USA, declares that Belgium is determined to defend its neutrality. The Treaty of London, signed on 19 April 1839 by the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia and the Netherlands, guaranteed the independence and neutrality of Belgium and committed the signatories to guard that neutrality in the event of invasion. Newspaper commentaries complain about anti-Nazi propaganda in Belgian newspapers and suggest this is a breach of Belgian neutrality.

There are reports of German troops massing in the Saar, along the Belgian, Dutch and Swiss frontiers and along the German North Sea coast.

.

27 October

Known Reinforcements

Allied New Ships
Lake Class ASW Trawler HMS THIRLMERE
Photo Uboat net

THIRLMERE was one of six vessels in the Lake class. Hasty conversions such as this was one way to try and make good the serious shortages in ASW escorts
DKM War diary
Selected extracts...




UBOATS

Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary
Donitz from his diary entry appears to have some concerns about own losses
"In order to lessen our losses and based on the reflections set out in the War Log on 23.10, I have decided to issue the following orders:

1) Boats may not board ships which have been stopped, for examination.
2) Ships are to be sunk by torpedo only, even when they are only attacked after examination (which can now only consist in looking through the papers) or after resistance has been quelled with gunfire".

Arrivals

Kiel: U-48

At Sea 27 October

U-13, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-53, U-56, U-57, U-58, U-59, U-61.

15 boats at sea.

Baltic


North Sea .

U.24 laid mines in Hartlepool Bay, on which one steamer was sunk.

Northern Patrol - .

Two cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, one cruiser between the Faroes and Iceland with three cruisers en route to the area, and one CL and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. Between 27 October to 9 November, 26 eastbound ships were sighted and 20 sent into Kirkwall for inspection. CLs COLOMBO and DIOMEDE dep Sullom Voe for Northern Patrol duties, both arriving back on 3 November.

CL CERES departed Plymouth for duty with the Northern Patrol, and arrived at Kirkwall on the 31st.


HMS Ceres was a "C" Class cruiser
English Channel

OA.26 of nine ships dep Southend escort DDs WITCH and WIVERN from 27 October to 2 Novembe
.
Southwestern Approaches

MV BRONTE (UK 5,317 GRT), Inbound and carrying general cargo and chemicals embarked with a complement of 42. Ship was torpedoed and stopped,, She was taken in tow, but the UBoat (U.34) attacked a second time, this induced the convoy escorts (HMS WALPOLE and HMS WHIRLWIND ) to sink the stricken vessel with gunfire. All 42 of the crew were rescued.
Photo State Library of New South Wales


OB.26 dep Liverpool escort DDs WINCHELSEA and WITHERINGTON until the 30 October.

Med/Biscay

Fr Contre Torpilleur DD VAUQUELIN dep Casablanca escorting submarine CENTAURE, and arrived at Brest on the 30th.

Central Sth Atlantic

CAs SUSSEX and SHROPSHIRE dep Simonstown and Capetown respectively, to sweep towards St Helena presumably in response to the loss of the TREVANNION. They returned to Capetown on 7 November.

28 October 1939 Saturday

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German pocket battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" received fuel from and transferred British prisoners to tanker "Altmark" near Tristan de Cunha in the South Atlantic. At midnight, "Graf Spee" sets sail for the Indian Ocean. Captain Brown of SS "Huntsman", already a prisoner on "Altmark", records in his diary;

""Graf Spee" returned after nine days absence. We were not allowed on deck as she was oiling from the 'Altmark; and storing by motor boats. Fine weather, sea smooth. Capt. Edwards, Chief Officer and Ch. Engineer of 'Trevanion' were ushered into our quarters. Now thirteen in our quarters thirty-four in the Officers deck."

Click to expand...

EASTERN EUROPE: German police fire on student demonstrators in Prague marking the 20th anniversary of the former Czechoslovakian independence. Street fighting later breaks out in the city center with ethnic Germans clashing with Czech nationalists. One student is killed and a total of 16 casualties are reported. Some 3500 people are arrested.

Molotov -- in a speech before the Supreme Soviet -- asserts that the USSR has a right and duty to adopt strong measures to insure security and publicly demands territorial concessions from Finland.

GERMANY: Adolf Hitler intervenes in war plans to change a limited operation into a strong focused drive to cut Belgium in two.

Himmler issues his Lebensborn decree, urging single German women to dispense with the "bourgeois custom" of marriage to bear racially pure children.

The Stab./JG 77 led by Oblt. Von Manteuffel are again moved, this time transferring from Köln-Ostheim to the airfield at Bonn-Hangelar.

RAF aircraft carry out night reconnaissance missions over southern Germany. This was the first flight in severe weather. All aircraft returned.

UNITED KINGDOM: A Heinkel He-111H, W.Nr.5449 1H+JA of KG 26 attempting reconnaissance in the Firth of Forth area was intercepted by British fighters and forced down, the first to crash on British soil. F/L Archibald McKeller of RAF No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron based at nearby RAF Drem attacked the Heinkel He-111. After he had caused it considerable damage, he was then interrupted by the arrival of three Spitfires from No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron. The Heinkel 111 crashed near the village of Humbie, Scotland. Although argument rages to this day as to which squadron let alone pilot was the victor, the 'kill' was credited to McKellar. The day's efforts were a kill each for 602 and 603 Squadrons and the first victories for the Supermarine Spitfire in combat. Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command sent the following message to both squadrons the next day:

"Well done. First blood to the Auxiliaries"

Click to expand...

WESTERN FRONT: The British Expeditionary Force is reported to have enough food to feed its nearly 200,000 troops for 46 days. The Germans are reported to have massed 65-80 divisions behind the lines from the North Sea to Switzerland.


.

28 OCTOBER


DKM War diary
Matters of vital strategic importance were discussed in the German Admiralty on this day
Selected extracts...

28 OCTOBER
Known Rerinforcements .
Allies
Armed Merchant Cruiser Andania
HMS Andania (7.8.2005)


Patrol vessel Guillemot (L 89 / K 89) -
New! HMS Guillemot - Kingfisher Class Patrol Sloop in Other WWII Royal Navy and Allied Ships - Images Forum


Armed Merchant Cruiser Queen of Bermuda (F 73)
Furness, Withy Co - Ocean Liner Postcards

Queen Of Bermuda as she appeared whilst employed as an AMC

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary
"U 37 reported a convoy near the coast off Finisterre, course northeast. Contact lost after an hour.
The French Admiralty announced the sinking of a German U-boat in the Atlantic. Corpses were said to have been salvaged".

At Sea 28 OCTOBER

U-13, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-53, U-56, U-57, U-58, U-59, U-61.

15 boats at sea

Baltic

DKM DDs MAX SCHULTZ, FRIEDRICH IHN and ERICH STEINBRINCK of the DesFlot 1 and BERND VON ARNIM, HANS LODY and KARL GALSTER of the DesFlot 4 attempted a shipping sweep into the Skagerrak. However after encountering heavy weather they were forced to abandon it. SCHULTZ was badly damaged by the weather and mechanical breakdown, lost power and IHN and STEINBRINCK unsuccessfully attempted to tow her. However, SCHULTZ was finally able to regain partial power and returned to Wilhelmshaven for repairs completed in late January 1940.


DD MAX SCHULTZ was from the 1934 class of Zerstorers,

Northern Patrol - .

Two British cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, three cruisers on patrol between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two armed merchant cruisers in the Denmark Strait.

Northern Waters

DDs ZULU and GURKHA attacked a submarine contact off St Abbs Head. ORP DD BLYSKAWICA attacked a submarine contact off the Mull of Galloway. PC SHELDRAKE and aircraft were searching for a reported submarine off Oban, which was in fact RN SS TRIDENT.

U.31 laid mines in Loch Ewe during the night of the 27th/28th, on which two aux MSWs were sunk and BB NELSON badly damaged.

At 03.15 hours, U-59 stopped the illuminated Trawler ST NIDAN (UK 565 grt) with gunfire across her bow and ordered the crew to abandon ship. At 04.25 hours, the LYNX II (UK 250 grt) appeared and the U-boat tried to stop her also by gunfire, but the crew abandoned vessel only after three shots were fired into the bridge. The second trawler was sunk by scuttling charges at 06.55 hours and the first at 08.30 hours.

(No Image Found for St Nidan)

Hearts of Oak - Grimsby Trawlers - Lynx/II



Lynx II

North sea.
What the DKM Admiralty had assumed was an offensive move by the RN into the central North Sea was in fact reactions by the RN to perceived and imminent offensive moves by the KM.
A British sub Picket Line was established off the Dogger Bank and in effect from 29 October to 6 November with the following SS. L 26, STARFISH, SUNFISH and THISTLE, which departed Rosyth on patrol on the 28th.

There they were joined by SS CACHALOT and SEAL, which had already come directly from Portsmouth,

also departing on the 28th, and by SS SEALION, SALMON and SHARK, again sailing from Portsmouth. SS UNDINE, which had left Rosyth on the 22nd, was ordered to reconnoiter north from Heligoland. Her patrol ended on 4 November.

Other submarines on patrol, all of which departed Rosyth on the dates given, were - L 27 on the 20th, off Utvaer; L.23 on the 21st, off the southwest coast of Norway; and SEAWOLF on the 26th and URSULA on the 28th, both in the Skagerrak. UNDINE assumed patrol off Horns Reef.

SS TRIAD, which had departed Rosyth on the 14th, returned to Blyth and SEAHORSE, also from Rosyth but on the 17th returned there on the 31st as this deployment began.

UK East Coast

FS.28 dep Methil, escort DDs MAORI, WHITEHALL and sloops GRIMSBY and WESTON, and arrived at Southend on the 30th.

UK West Coast

DDs EXMOUTH and GREYHOUND were attempting to intercept a reported submarine in the Western Approaches.

Central and South Atlantic –

CL DANAE arrived at Simonstown, providing escort for troopship ATHLONE CASTLE (25564grt) from St Helena where they departed on the 22nd.

Indian Ocean

CLs DAUNTLESS and DURBAN departed Colombo and arrived at Singapore on the 31st.

CV GLORIOUS lost a Swordfish of 825 Squadron was lost in a forced landing at sea; the crew were rescued.

Far East

CL BIRMINGHAM dep Singapore for patrol in the Sunda Strait, was relieved by CL DAUNTLESS on 4 November, and arrived back at Singapore on the 7th.

HMA CL HOBART departed Singapore on patrol, and arrived back on 4 November.