Posted on 11/09/2009 6:51:05 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
He wanted it to be warm, but not too warm, because in his judgment no Italian feels any great joy over the fact that Hitler escaped death – least of all the Duce.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
as far as the papers are concerned, brits and french appear totally clueless about the coming german invasion and outcome.
i wonder if any of the military staffs had gamed out what would happen if germany attacked thru the ardenne with massed armor.
thanks for posting.
NAVAL EVENTS-Thursday, 9 November
Battleships NELSON, RODNEY, anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO, and destroyers FAULKNOR, FAME, FORTUNE, FOXHOUND, FORESIGHT, FEARLESS, KINGSTON and IMPERIAL arrived at Rosyth at 0700 for refuelling. KINGSTON had developed a leak in her reserve fuel tank and required repair.
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On Northern Patrol were two cruisers between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four cruisers and one AMC between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait.
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Light cruiser SHEFFIELD departed Rosyth on patrol, and arrived at Loch Ewe on the 21st.
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Convoy FN.34 departed Southend, escorted by sloops GRIMSBY, WESTON, FLAMINGO, which had arrived from Rosyth for this duty. Kites were flown from the sloops at 1000 feet to hinder air attack. The convoy arrived at Rosyth on the 11th.
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Convoy FS.34 departed Rosyth, escorted by destroyers VALOROUS, WOOLSTON and sloop HASTINGS, and arrived at Southend on the 11th.
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Steamer ASHANTIAN (4917grt) reported sighting a submarine, and destroyer ECLIPSE was detailed to search.
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Destroyer KANDAHAR departed Scapa Flow to join destroyer KELLY submarine hunting in Yell Sound. They were later joined by destroyer ICARUS and also searched in Colla Firth.
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A U-boat was reported 250 miles SW of Fastnet, and destroyers BROKE and ECLIPSE were sent to search.
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Submarine H.43 and trawler COMET (formerly TAMURA, 301grt) departed Devonport and exercised off the west coast of Ireland to see if submarines and trawlers could effectively work together. The patrol ended on the 21st.
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U.33 laid mines off North Foreland in Bristol Channel, but no shipping was sunk or damaged.
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U.34 seized Norwegian steamer SNAR (3176grt) as a prize off southern Norway.
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Steamer CARMARTHEN COAST (961grt) was sunk three miles east of Seaham Harbour on a mine laid by U.24 on 27 October; two crewmen were lost.
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Norwegian steamers GEISHA (5113grt) and SUSANNA (810grt) were seized by German warships in the Baltic for contraband violations.
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Light cruiser GALATEA departed Alexandria on patrol and arrived back on the 19th.
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Destroyer GRIFFIN of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla had departed Malta on 20 October and arrived at Gibraltar on the 22nd. She left on the 25th with sister ship GRENADE to escort convoy SL.5, but returned to Gibraltar.
She left again with convoy SL.6 on the 30th and arrived at Plymouth on the 9th November. This completed the transfer of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, now based at Harwich with the three Polish destroyers. Convoy SL.6A was escorted by destroyers ELECTRA and ESCORT into the Downs.
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French destroyers TARTU and VAUQUELIN arrived at Gibraltar to escort convoy HG.7.
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German steamer LEANDER (989grt) departed Vigo to return to Germany. At 0400, 100 miles west of Vigo, she was captured by destroyer ISIS, joined convoy HG.6 which ISIS was escorting, arrived at Falmouth on the 13th, and was renamed EMPIRE CRUSADER for British service.
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German steamers LAHN (8498grt) and TACOMA (8268grt) departed Talcuhuana, Chile, and arrived at Montevideo on the 23rd.
Thursday, 9th November 1939 Day 68
An RAF plane which crashed in Cambridge Road, Middlesbrough, at 16.55 yesterday, with total loss of personnel and machine, caused fires in three houses. One fireman is reported injured; no other civilian casualties. The aircraft mentioned by Home Security was Hudson N7290 from No 220 Squadron.
The two crew were: Pilot Officer Augustus Ryan (pilot), Sergeant Rex Mitchell (second pilot), ACI Albert Wade (crew), with Pilot Officer Douglas Robertson on board as a passenger.
War Day 68. All times BST. Blackout ends: 07.54, begins: 17.45
November 9 1939:
In Holland...
Two British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) officers, Major Richard Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best, are kidnapped by the Gestapo while attempting to contact members of the German resistance to the Nazis.
The two British agents have been meeting with a “Major Schaemmle” who claims to represent German Army officers plotting to overthrow Hitler. (He is actually Walther Schellenberg, a Gestapo officer.) Their meetings have been at Venlo, 5 miles (8 km) from the German border. Today, they are to meet at a cafe a few yards from the border.
Upon arriving, their car is hit by machinegun fire, they are overpowered by German security forces and forcibly taken across the border. Himmler ordered the kidnapping immediately after the Munich bombing incident. One of the officers is carrying a list of British agents with him and from this and other indiscretions as well as from their interrogation, the German authorities are able to arrest many British agents in former Czechoslovakia and other occupied territory.
The Venlo Incident is a serious setback for British Intelligence. Both officers remain imprisoned until April 1945.
In Germany... The press and radio accuse Britain of organizing the attempted assassination of Hitler in Munich on November 8th.
In Helsinki... The government restates its position that Finland “cannot grant to a foreign military power military bases on her territory and within the confines of her frontiers.”
In South Africa... An alleged Nazi plot by armed black shirts to sabotage vital industries in Johannesburg and Pretoria is revealed.
War Diary and War Standing Orders of Commander in Chief, Submarines- Admiral Donitz
9.11
U 49 sailed for her operations area in accordance with Operations Order No. 11. U 36’s operational readiness postponed for another 8 days.
November 9, 1939: 500 Jewish families exported from Lublin.
9 November, 1939-
German fighter aircraft knock down 3 Artillery observation balloons, one near Colmar, and 2 near Weissenburg.
There is some controversy among competing fighter squadrons over if balloons should be counted as air-to-air kills for pilots.
Date: 8th November 1939 Unit: 1 Staffel/Fernaufklaerungsgruppe 123 Type: Dornier Do 17P Werke Nr. ? Code: 4U + Location: Lubey, 12 km SW of Sizun, France 
Pilot: Oberfeldwebel Georg Stuehler 1.(F)/123 Nr.22 Killed (Born 06.04.1913 in Wuerzburg.) Observer : Oberleutnant Hans Kutter 1.(F)/123 Nr.6 Killed (Born 07.02.1916 in Hirschberg.) Radio/Op: Obergefreiter Heinrich Schneidmueller 1.(F)/123 Nr.327 Killed (Born 01.11.1913 in Hagen-Haspe / Westf.) 
Georg Stuhler's Death Announcement- REASON FOR LOSS: This aircraft was attacked and shot down by F/O Edgar James (Cobber) Kain in a Hurricane of No.73 Squadron. During the combat Kain's Hurricane was also hit in error by French anti-aircraft gunners during the pursuit. This was Kain's first victory that started his phenomenal career of leading R.A.F. ace of the French campaign. 
Dornier Do-17P
Don’t think so. They were fixated on Belgium and the Netherlands [think Schlieffen], but then, in fairness, so were the Germans early on.
But by the Spring of 1940, the Brits and French, FOR POLITICAL REASONS, decided they had to cover both a piece of Belgium and Holland when the fighting started. To do that, they pulled Giraud’s Seventh Army. Which was the reserve. Which was stationed behind Sedan and Corap’s Ninth Army. Opposite the Ardennes.
Schellenberg wasn’t Gestapo. He was SD. The operation wasn’t Gestapo. It was SD. One of Heydrich’s ideas.
“Flying Pencil”.
From the Personal Diary of Joseph Goebbels (Machine Translation)
He enjoys the protection of the Almighty
9. November 1939
Evening in Burgerbraukeller. The old fellow! Many are missing, many have appeared in khaki skirt. The Fuhrer is welcomed with unimaginable joy.
He holds in his speech a sharp reckoning with England. Strongest attacks against the British big politics. We never surrender. Prepared for 5 years of war. And England will get to know our weapons.
Great excitement raging in the hall. This speech will be a world sensation.
Cut back immediately after the speech by the Fuhrer in Berlin. Ate in our car and talked. We discuss all sorts of problems.
Above all, the lack of foresight and initiative in the Steel Ministry. The Fuhrer is also very angry. But he can right now do nothing about it.
The confrontation with the clergy, he wants to save up for after the war. And that is also quite rightly so!
The general situation is that the Fuhrer is very optimistic. England must be brought to its knees.
In Nuremberg, bad news comes, I must present to the leaders a telegram after the took place shortly after our leaving the Bürgerbräus then an explosion. 8 dead and 60 injured. Tumbled down the entire vault. That is outrageous.
The Fuhrer keeps the news first for a hoax. But I ask for in Berlin, everything is right. They had tried twice to stop the train, but without success. The extent of the damage is enormous.
An attempt, no doubt conceived in London, and probably carried out by Bavarian Legitimists. The leader of a communique dictated that I had the same issue in Nuremberg.
We consider extensively probable perpetrator, consequences and possible action. We hold the people being back yet, until we at least know what direction the attack comes from.
The leader and we are all miraculously escaped death. If the rally every year, as had been previously carried out according to plan, then we all lived no more.
The leader has begun in contrast to the past half an hour earlier and closed early enough. He enjoys the protection of the Almighty. He will not die until his mission is
In the closing days of World War II, Goebbels had his complete original diary converted to a new technology called Nicrofich.
About 43,000 pages were photocopied and reduced to about 10 x 15 centimeter large glass plates.
In 1992 Elke Fröhlich discovered that glass plates in the former Special Archive in Moscow.
On behalf of the Institute of Contemporary History (ICH), she published the Goebbels diaries from 1992 to 2005 in two parts with a total of 29 volumes.
November 9, 1939
MGM Releases “Ninotchka”, starring Greta Garbo. It will be nominated for 4 Academy Awards.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Greta Garbo
Best Picture
Best Writing, Original Story
Melchior Lengyel
Best Writing, Screenplay
Charles Brackett
Walter Reisch
Billy Wilder
The movie makes fun of the Soviet Union, which sets the American Left in to a frenzy.
BEST LINE:
Buljanow (Felix Bressart) asks Ninotchka (Greta Garbo):
“What is the mood in Moscow?”
She replies, “Excellent. The last mass executions were a great success. There are again fewer but better Russians.”
FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMISSIONER MOLOTOV PAASIKIVI AND TANNER TO 9 NOVEMBER 1939 LETTER.
Acquainted me today (9 November) to leave, the Finnish government to a written statement, saying that the Soviet Government’s statement of November 3 is in the wrong.
In fact, the Soviet Government proposed this November 3 as follows:
1. The Soviet Government, having regard to the Finnish Government’s announcement that it can not accept another state or to the marine garrison military base investment “territory of Finland,” Finnish Government has proposed, glimpse of the port areas located in the land sales to the Soviet Union.
Such a solution would make groundless the arguments which assume that this is a piece of land is the Finnish territory, because, once it is sold to the Soviet Union, it should be already in the Soviet zone.
2). A result of the above, I believe that the Paasikivi and Tanner, the current memorandum dated 9 November for the following objection “Finland can not grant to a foreign power to military bases on its territory and within its own borders” is inappropriate and represents the Soviet Government’s attitude caricature.
It is clear that if the area of Hanko to the east or in the islands are sold or exchanged for an equivalent area in the Soviet Union, they may no longer be the territory of Finland and the Finnish borders.
Given the above, I return to you a memorandum dated 9 November.
V. Molotov. V. Molotov.
Nugent's going to the premier tonight at the Radio City Music Hall. Then he will run over to the Capitol for "Dancing Co-Ed." Finally he will try to catch rising star John Wayne in "Allegheny Uprising" at the Palace. He will stay up late and write reviews for tomorrow.
My mistake. Frank will be devoting himself solely to "Ninotchka." His associates B.R.C. and B.C. will be handling the other two.
A walking-paced advance through the Ardennes could easily be stopped by moving troops around by rail, again like what happened in WWI. So even when the Allies wargamed an attack though the Ardennes they saw nothing they could not easily handle.
Panzer divisions and mobility would be the key to German surprise and successes which will occur 6-8 months from 11/09/39. Stay tuned for these developments.
Young King Leopold the Third of Belgium squarely predicted this in a speech from October, 1936:
“There has been such a vast change in methods of warfare as a result of technical progress, particularly in aviation and mechanisation, that the initial operations of armed conflict can now be of such force, speed, and magnitude as to be particularly alarming to small countries like Belgium.”
He was roundly laughed at..
Operation Niwi Would prove he was correct....
I wonder how the history of the world would be different if the assassins had succeeded.
The ceremony for the Jpanese withdrawal in China, which marks the conclusion of the Second Sino-Japanese War, took place in a simple 20-minute ceremony in the auditorium of the Central Military Academy in Nanking on 9 November 1939 at 09:00am.
Lieut. Gen. Okamura Yasutsugu and Gen. Ho Ying-chin, representing their respective governments, signed the Act of Withdrawal.
According to a report submitted by the Japanese Headquarters, there were in China over 785,000 Japanese troops and over half a million Japanese civilians. Pursuant to provisions embodied by Admiral Yamamoto, the Chinese occupied zone was divided into sixteen areas and the commanders in their respective areas were empowered to receive Japanese arms and facilitate Japanese troops repatriation.
Manchuria, the area excluded from China in the Peace and Reconciliation Treaty, had been occupied by over 630,000 Soviet troops since early August 1939, when the Soviet Union commenced Operation Autumn Storm following her invasion of Japanese controlled areas. This territory would never be turned over as it was ultimately occupied by the Manzhouguan communists following the Soviet withdrawal.
Scratch the above....
It’s from 1945
Whew. You had Homer blinking in confusion.
November 9, 1939 -
American Ernest Lawrence received 1939 Nobel prize in physics;
The prize in chemistry awarded jointly to Adolph Butenandt of Germany and Leopold Ruzicka of Switzerland;
Deferred 1938 prize in chemistry went to Richard Kuhn of Germany. (source: The Britannica Archive)
Any relation to Lawrence Livermore?
interesting!!
and dont forget gliders and paratroopers.
The following comes from: Assassination Attempts on Hitler’s Life
"Johann Georg Elser, born January 4, 1903, had served an apprenticeship as cabinetmaker (Schreiner) and from 1929 to 1932 worked in Switzerland at this trade then returned to Germany to assist in his father's lumberyard."He bitterly resented the Nazi stranglehold on labour unions and the growing restrictions on religious freedom. He then decided to kill Hitler by placing a time bomb in one of the columns behind the podium where Hitler was to give a speech in the Burgerbrau Beer Cellar in Munich.
"The bomb was set to detonate at preciesly 9.20pm on Wednesday, November 8, 1939.
"At 8.10 Hitler enters the beer hall but at 9.12pm he suddenly ends his speech and departs. Eight minutes later the bomb explodes killing eight people and wounding sixty-five including Eva Braun's father. Seven of those killed were Nazi Party members.
"Elser, who, since 1933, refused to give the Nazi salute, is later arrested as he tried to cross the border into Switzerland at Konstanz. He was held for questioning due to the 'strange content' of his belongings. He was transported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and later confined in the concentration camp at Dachau.
"On the 9th Of April, 1945, two weeks before the war ended in Europe, Johann Elser was executed by the SS.
"In the city of Bremen a street was named in his honour, Georg-Elser Weg.
"In Berlin a memorial has been erected and a plaque to his memory is sited in his hometown, Koenigsbronn."
All told, it is claimed there were 42 attempts to assassinate Hitler, some more serious than others. This one has to rank as one of the most serious.
Kind of. Lawrence Livermore is named after him. Lawrence after Ernest, and Livermore is the town its located in.
Just now saw it late tonight. I’ll work on it tomorrow night.
Here is my rough translation, prepared without benefit of a German/English dictionary. I make no claims of the accuracy of the translation, and in fact I would not be surprised if the translation contained many inaccuracies. One reason, in addition to my rusty ability with German, is that this is a technical document. It is what we in America would call an Arson Cause & Origin Report. It contains a lot of technical lingo that pertains to an arson investigation, and because it also makes findings of structural damage to the building, contains a number of technical engineering or design terms. I am far from conversant with those terms as they were used in 1939 Germany.
“Incident: Explosive destruction of Nov. 8, 1939 at the Burgerbraukeller (Beer Hall) in Munich
An investigation of the explosion in the Munich Beer Hall occurring about 24 hours ago was conducted by 1st Lt. Wittman of the Arson Investigation Division of the Munich Police under the direction of the Criminal Police of Munich, with the assistance of the Chief Coroner Dr. Bohme. The investigation in the location and placement of the explosive device resulted in the following significant findings:
The main vertical support beam behind the speaker’s rostrum was in large part destroyed. The 3 lateral structural steel support beams connected to the main vertical support beam were twisted in directions away from each other. The steel supports were destroyed from this point to the floor, from which the main connections (or junctions) were severed. Because of this the main vertical support beam and the other lateral beams, having had their connections severed, collapsed at an angle of about 60 degrees. Because of that the entire podium that had been supported by these vertical and lateral beams, and the backdrop for the podium, lost its structural integrity. The backdrop between the supporting columns over this half of the area was compromised and became unattached. The lower part of a vertical support beam nearby was somewhat (destroyed? damaged?) and thereby further weakened the speaker’s rostrum.
The floor of the gallery behind the podium was penetrated by the vertical support beam.
Based upon these findings, the bomb must have been placed here on the vertical support beam near the floor.”
There is more to the report; there is only the part of the first sentence of the next paragraph of the findings, which appears to deal with findings on the nature of the explosive device, such as the explosive material used. However, not enough of that report is in this post to get any further info.
What surprises me about this report is that these findings were made so quickly. This would not normally happen today. However, it could also be in the nature of a preliminary report prepared by an engineer and bomb squad expert, one conversant with structural demolition.
Hope this helps.
Here is my rough translation, prepared without benefit of a German/English dictionary. I make no claims of the accuracy of the translation, and in fact I would not be surprised if the translation contained many inaccuracies. One reason, in addition to my rusty ability with German, is that this is a technical document. It is what we in America would call an Arson Cause & Origin Report. It contains a lot of technical lingo that pertains to an arson investigation, and because it also makes findings of structural damage to the building, contains a number of technical engineering or design terms. I am far from conversant with those terms as they were used in 1939 Germany.
“Incident: Explosive destruction of Nov. 8, 1939 at the Burgerbraukeller (Beer Hall) in Munich
An investigation of the explosion in the Munich Beer Hall occurring about 24 hours ago was conducted by 1st Lt. Wittman of the Arson Investigation Division of the Munich Police under the direction of the Criminal Police of Munich, with the assistance of the Chief Coroner Dr. Bohme. The investigation in the location and placement of the explosive device resulted in the following significant findings:
The main vertical support beam behind the speaker’s rostrum was in large part destroyed. The 3 lateral structural steel support beams connected to the main vertical support beam were twisted in directions away from each other. The steel supports were destroyed from this point to the floor, from which the main connections (or junctions) were severed. Because of this the main vertical support beam and the other lateral beams, having had their connections severed, collapsed at an angle of about 60 degrees. Because of that the entire podium that had been supported by these vertical and lateral beams, and the backdrop for the podium, lost its structural integrity. The backdrop between the supporting columns over this half of the area was compromised and became unattached. The lower part of a vertical support beam nearby was somewhat (destroyed? damaged?) and thereby further weakened the speaker’s rostrum.
The floor of the gallery behind the podium was penetrated by the vertical support beam.
Based upon these findings, the bomb must have been placed here on the vertical support beam near the floor.”
There is more to the report; there is only the part of the first sentence of the next paragraph of the findings, which appears to deal with findings on the nature of the explosive device, such as the explosive material used. However, not enough of that report is in this post to get any further info.
What surprises me about this report is that these findings were made so quickly. This would not normally happen today. However, it could also be in the nature of a preliminary report prepared by an engineer and bomb squad expert, one conversant with structural demolition.
Hope this helps.
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