Year 1939

War Diary World War One for Monday, December 11, 1939: Politics League of Nations urges Russia to cease hostilities in Finland within 24 hours and accept mediation (Russian rejection on […]

War Diary WW2 for Sunday, December 10, 1939: Sea War Atlantic: First Canadian troop convoy sails from Halifax, with 5 liners under heavy escort (arrives Britain, December 23). Baltic: Russian

War Diary WW2 for Saturday, December 9, 1939: Western Front Corporal Thomas Priday of King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, killed leading a patrol, is first British soldier to be killed in

War Diary WW2 for Friday, December 8, 1939: Air War Polish exile-squadrons to be attached to the RAF. Polish Forces in Exile

War Diary WW2 for Thursday, December 7, 1939: Sea War Atlantic: Pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks SS Streonshalh south of Trinidad, her ninth and last victim. British cruiser squadron sails

Diary for Wednesday, December 6, 1939: Sea War Mines laid, by night, off British East Coast, by German seaplanes and destroyers (which also damage destroyer HMS Jersey by a torpedo).

War Diary WW2 for Tuesday, December 5, 1939 Finland Winter War: Finnish covering forces complete withdrawal to Mannerheim Line. Finnish Blenheim bombers raid Murmansk air base.

War Diary WW2 for Monday, December 4, 1939: Sea War Battleship HMS Nelson, flagship of British Home Fleet, damaged by magnetic mine near Loch Ewe. Royal Navy S class sub

War Diary for Sunday, December 3, 1939: Neutrals Sweden: Army reservists called up and minefield laid off the East Coast.

War Diary for Saturday, December 2, 1939: Finland Winter War: Finnish covering forces (13,000 men) on Karelian Isthmus slowly withdrawing to the Mannerheim Line. Mines and traps destroy numbers of

War Diary for Friday, December 1, 1939: Finland Winter War Finland: Helsinki bombed (80 killed, November 30 – December 1). Finnish coalition government formed, including Ryti (Prime Minister) and Tanner

War Diary for Thursday, November 30, 1939: Finland WINTER WAR: RUSSIAN INVASION OF FINLAND. 26 divisions attack on four fronts at Karelian Isthmus, North of lake Ladoga, in the ‘Waist’,

War Diary for Wednesday, November 29, 1939: Politics Russia severs diplomatic relations with Finland.

War Diary for Tuesday, November 28, 1939: Politics Russia renounces Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Pact (signed 1932). Finns inform Moscow that investigations show that Russian artillery fired the 7 shells at Russian

War Diary for Monday, November 27, 1939: China Sino-Japanese War: Japanese capture Nanning, important rail head in southwest China. Sea War British Government orders seizure of German exports on the

War Diary for Sunday, November 26, 1939: Politics ‘Mainila Incident’: Russians accuse Finns of shelling village of Mainila, killing 4 soldiers, and demand immediate withdrawal of Finnish troops from vicinity

War Diary for Saturday, November 25, 1939: Sea War Germans lay mines off South West Sweden, inside Swedish territorial waters. Sweden protests on November 27.

War Diary for Friday, November 24, 1939: Home Fronts Germany: Government takes in trust the property and financial interests of Fritz Thyssen. The iron and steel magnate and a key

War Diary for Thursday, November 23, 1939: Sea War Atlantic: British armed merchant-cruiser Rawalpindi overwhelmed by German battlecruiser Scharnhorst southeast of Iceland (265 dead). Scharnhorst and Gneisenau avoid pursuit and

War Diary for Wednesday, November 22, 1939: Sea War Royal Navy experts defuse German magnetic mine dropped on Shoeburyness mud flats off coast of Essex. After examining its mechanism, they