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 village Mainila on November 26, 1939. learn more
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 high seas in reprisal for magnetic mine campaign. Neutrals Norway:… learn more
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 of Leningrad (today St.Petersburg). learn more
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. learn more
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 supporter of Hitler in earlier years had fled to Switzerland… learn more
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 reach a German port on November 27. Home Fronts Britain:… learn more
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 devise means of ‘neutralizing’ ships’ hulls. learn more
War Diary for Tuesday, November 21, 1939: Sea War Atlantic: German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst despatched into North Atlantic. Mine victims off British East Coast include new cruiser HMS Belfast (damaged). learn more
War Diary for Monday, November 20, 1939: Sea War German seaplanes begin dropping the new magnetic mines in British East Coast shipping lanes (night 20-21). learn more
War Diary for Sunday, November 19, 1939: Occupied countries Poland: Germans erect barricades round Jewish quarter of Warsaw. learn more
War Diary for Saturday, November 18, 1939: Sea War Atlantic: Four merchant ships sunk by magnetic mines off British East Coast. 86 passengers killed on Dutch liner Simon Bolivar. Home Fronts Britain: IRA cause 4 small bomb explosions in London… learn more
War Diary for Friday, November 17, 1939: Sea War Atlantic: Pocket battleship Deutschland (Germany) arrives at Gdynia (Baltic) after her Atlantic raiding cruise (2 ships sunk). Renamed Lützow by Hitler in February 1940 to save face if she is sunk.… learn more
War Diary for Thursday, November 16, 1939: Sea War British, French and Australian warships search for German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in Indian Ocean and East Indies. learn more
War Diary for Wednesday, November 15, 1939: China Sino-Japanese War: Japanese capture last Chinese port of Pakhoi. Since July 1937 Japanese have taken now all of China’s seaports. Politics German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop rejects Dutch-Belgian peace appeal from November… learn more
War Diary for Tuesday, November 14, 1939: Western Front ‘Plan D’ (the ‘Dyle Plan‘) adopted by French and British High Commands after secret, inconclusive discussions with the Belgians. A German invasion of Belgium to be countered by an immediate Anglo-French… learn more
War Diary for Monday, November 13, 1939: Air War Germans bomb Shetland Islands. No casualties, only one rabbit killed. Air raid warning in Paris, anti-aircraft guns engage German reconnaissance aircraft. Sea War Royal Navy destroyer Blanche mined and sunk off… learn more
War Diary for Sunday, November 12, 1939: Politics King George VI and French President Lebrun issue cautious replies to Dutch-Belgian peace appeal. King Carol of Romania offers to mediate; rejected November 16. Western Front First ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association)… learn more
War Diary for Saturday, November 11, 1939: Western Front Slight activity by German patrols and artillery. BEF hold Armistice Day services amid the great battlefields of World War One. learn more
War Diary for Friday, November 10, 1939: Neutrals Holland: Dutch reinforce border troops, cancel all Army leave and prepare to flood ‘inundation area’ by opening sluice gates. learn more
War Diary for Thursday, November 9, 1939: Secret War Venlo Incident: two British Intelligence officers, Major Stevens and Captain Best, kidnapped by the Gestapo on Dutch-German border, while attempting to contact the German anti-Nazi movement (imprisoned until April 1945). learn more
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