Historical
Adolf Hitler gave a speech at the Berlin Sportpalast on the seventh anniversary of the Nazis taking power, his first public speech since the attempt on his life in November 1939. He claimed that Britain and France wanted war and he vowed that they would get their fight.
Heinrich Himmler issued a statement clarifying his “procreation” order of 28th October 1939. The “worst misunderstanding”, Himmler wrote, was that the order encouraged SS men to approach the wives of serving soldiers.
Himmler also ordered the deportation of 30,000 Gypsies from Germany, while Heydrich ordered the transportation of German Jews to Lublin in eastern Poland. Author’s note: to the Soviet-controlled area?
German aircraft bombed shipping in the English Channel and North Sea. The cargo steamers SS Highwave, SS Giralda and SS Bancrest were sunk off the Orkney Islands, Scotland. SS Voreda was also hit and damaged off the coast of East Anglia.
The German submarine U-15 sank in the North Sea at Hoofden after it was accidentally rammed by the German torpedo boat Iltis, being wrongly identified as a British submarine.
The German submarine U-55 attacked convoy OA-80G off Ushant, Brittany, sinking the British tanker SS Vaclite The crew was picked up by the Italian SS Pollenzo and landed at Barry, South Wales. In a second attack the Greek SS Keramiai was sunk. U-55 was then sunk by depth charges from the escorts HMS Whitshed, HMS Fowey and the French destroyers Valmy and Guépard, and a RAF Short Sunderland from No. 228 Squadron. Kapitänleutnant Werner Heidel went down with his ship. Author’s note. This action reveals the international nature of transatlantic convoys.
Game day 152. China
Despite the risk of air attacks (to which they were already vulnerable) two Chinese infantry divisions (10 battalions) moved eastwards in preparation for an assault on Peking.
General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings 