01-1940

Diary for Wednesday, January 31, 1940 Secret War Italy: Secret British military mission to Italy orders 300 Caproni Re 2000 fighters. Germany vetoes deal in April. British attempts to obtain […]

Diary for Tuesday, January 30, 1940 Sea War Heinkel He 111 bombers again attack shipping off British coast. German U-boat U-55 attacks convoy off Land’s End, sinking 2 ships; but

Monday, January 29, 1940 Finland Winter War: Battle of Kuhmo begins. Finns encircle Russian 54th Division at Kuhmo, in the ‘Waist’. Heavy Russian air raids on Finnish ports. Politics Russia

Sunday, January 28, 1940 Home Fronts Britain: Director of Censorship permits newspapers belatedly to reveal details of Britain’s (MAIN EVENT) the coldest winter since 1894: River Thames and Southampton Docks

Saturday, January 27, 1940 Home Fronts Britain: Winston Churchill (uneasy at slow increase in war production) speaks at Free Trade Hall, Manchester: ‘each to our station … there is not

Friday, January 26, 1940 Home Fronts France: Paul Ferdonnet, the ‘Radio Traitor’ – notorious for his pro-Nazi broadcasts in French language from Stuttgart – is tried in absentia by a

Thursday, January 25, 1940 Occupied countries Poland – ‘Goring-Frank Circular’: all material resources and manpower to be ruthlessly exploited for the immediate benefit of the Reich (copies of this top-secret

Wednesday, January 24, 1940 Finland Winter War: Fierce fighting northeast of Lake Ladoga. Finns repel all attacks.

Tuesday, January 23, 1940 Home Fronts Britain: Large number of road accidents in the ‘black-out’ necessitates reduction in speed limit from 30 mph (ca. 48 km/h) to 20 mph (ca.

Monday, January 22, 1940 Finland Winter War: Finnish authorities announce the formation of a Foreign Legion, including British volunteers.

Sunday, January 21, 1904 Air War Finland: Finnish Blenheim bombers raid Kronstadt naval base, near Leningrad (today St Petersburg). Russians bomb Oulu, northwest Finland. Sea War North Sea: RN destroyer

Saturday, January 20, 1940 Politics Britain: Churchill broadcasts appeal to neutral States to join Britain and France in resisting Nazi aggression. He compares their timid conduct with the crocodile’s victims

Friday, January 19, 1940 Finland Winter War: Heavy fighting continues on three fronts. 45 °C (81 °F) of frost recorded. Sea War Destroyer HMS Grenville mined and sunk off Thames Estuary. Neutrals

Thursday, January 18, 1940 Home Fronts Britain: Five workmen killed in series of explosions at Waltham Abbey explosives factory.

Wednesday, January 17, 1940 Secret War Polish cryptographers in France break Luftwaffe Enigma key of October 28, 1939. Regular decoding now possible. Finland Winter War: Finns recapture Kursu, southwest of

Tuesday, January 16, 1940 Home Front France: 66 Communist members ejected from Chamber of Deputies.

War Diary WW2 for Monday, January 15, 1940: Finland Winter War: Russian heavy artillery commences 17-day preparatory bombardment of Summa sector of Mannerheim Line. Home Fronts France: Meat rationing introduced

War Diary WW2 for Sunday, January 14, 1940: Neutrals Norway and Sweden: Russian aircraft drop bombs near Lulea, Sweden and violate Norwegian airspace; diplomatic protests in Moscow.

War Diary WW2 for Saturday, January 13, 1940: Politics Franco-Spanish Trade Agreement: Spain to receive French wheat, fertilizers and manufactured goods in exchange for iron, ore and other minerals. Neutrals

War Diary WW2 for Friday, January 12, 1940: Finland Winter War: Battle of the Taipale. Major Russian effort to break through left flank of Mannerheim Line, by crossing ice-bound river