1939 Flashcards
when did world war 2 start?
1939
September 1 1939 what happened
Germany invades Poland. First use of Blitzkrieg. Britain and France give Germany an ultimatum to get out. Blackout and evacuation plans are put in place in Britain.
2 Sept what happened
Chamberlain sends Hitler an ultimatum: withdraw German troops from Poland or war will be declared. The Luftwaffe gains air superiority over the Polish air force.
September 3 1939 what happened
Germany ignores the ultimatum and Britain and France declare war on Germany. British troops (the BEF) are ordered to France. The passenger liner SS Athenia is the first British ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany in the war. Carrying 1,103 civilian passengers, including 300 Americans, she had departed Liverpool bound for Montreal. Torpedoes fired from the German submarine U-30, would see 98 passengers and 19 crew members killed.
September 4 1939 what happened
The RAF raid German warships based in the Heligoland Bight.
September 6 1939 what happened
The new South African government led by Jan Smuts declares war on Germany. In a vote on the previous day, the South African Parliament had rejected a motion to remain neutral in the war; Egypt breaks off relations with Germany.
September 9 1939 what happened
The IV Panzer Division reaches Warsaw and the city is effectively put under siege.
September 17 1939 what happened
Sixteen days after Nazi Germany had invaded Poland from the west, the Russian Red Army attacks from the east. Now facing massive opposition on a second front, Polish troops are ordered to evacuate to neutral Romania.
September 24 1939 what happened
1,150 German aircraft bomb Warsaw.
September 26 1939 what happened
The Luftwaffe attack the Royal Naval base at Scapa Flow. German propaganda claims they have sunk the carrier HMS Ark Royal, when in reality the 2,000 lb bomb had missed by almost 30 yards! A Skua aircraft from Ark Royal shoots down the first German plane of the war.
September 27 1939 what happened
With civilian losses estimated at 200,000 Poland surrenders to Germany. Polish lands are divided between the Soviet Union and Germany, as are 660,000 prisoners of war. For the poor Poles however, many worse atrocities were still to come!
October 6 1939 what happened
Last Polish troops cease fighting. Hitler launches his “last” Peace Offensive to the Western democracies, but this is rejected by British PM Neville Chamberlain.
October 14 1939 what happened
HMS Royal Oak is torpedoed at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland, by German U-Boat 47. Of the old ship’s complement of 1,234, more than 800 men and boys died as result. Still visible, the Royal Oak is a designated war grave.
November 30 1939 what happened
Without a formal declaration of war, Russia’s Red Army invade Finland – the Winter War. The Soviet air force bomb the capital Helsinki, whilst 1,000,000 troops pour across the border.
December 13 1939 what happened
The Battle of the River Plate, the first naval battle of the war, is fought and ends with the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in flames after being scuttled in the River Plate Estuary off Montevideo, Uruguay.
