New Year’s Eve observances in Britain, France and Germany were very subdued due to blackout and noise restrictions. Most celebrations were held in private homes with the windows shuttered. However, the police arrested several people for shining torches in Piccadilly Circus, London.
German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels made a radio address reviewing the official Nazi version of the events of 1939. No predictions were made for 1940 other than saying that the next year “will be a hard year, and we must be ready for it.” Adolf Hitler in his New Year message looked forward to a new Europe under German leadership, liberated from British tyranny.
Spanish leader Generalissimo Francisco Franco made a radio broadcast asking “all Spaniards in this period of depression which follows any war to close the mouths of grumblers and not permit the enemies of the state to take advantage of the situation.”
Japan and the Soviet Union signed an accord on fishing rights in adjacent territorial waters.
In Finland the Russians were pushed back with the loss of two divisions. Some 27,000 Russians died in the battles around Suomissalmi, compared to around 900 Finns.
Game day 112. Germany
The two battleships operating in the South Atlantic sailed south-east towards the Cape of Good Hope.
The battleships off Labrador headed to the south-east towards the Atlantic convoy route while the Submarines returned toward the north of Scotland.
And thus ended the fourth month of the war.
Happy New Year!
General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings 