15^th March 1940

Historical

The first British “bombe” computer for decrypting the German “enigma” machine code was put into operation at the Government Code and Cypher School, Bletchley Park, England.

The Finnish Parliament ratified the Moscow Peace Treaty.  Many Finns moving out of the area surrendered to the Soviets burned their houses before leaving.

The Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Kanimbla seized the Soviet steamer Vladimir Mayakovsky carrying American copper to Germany in the Sea of Japan.

The British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was damaged when a 250 pound bomb exploded in the bomb room.

The RAF dropped six million propaganda leaflets over Warsaw.  On the return flight one aircraft landed on a German airfield by mistake, but successfully took off again and returned home.

King Carol II of Romania granted an amnesty to imprisoned members of the fascist “Iron Guard” paramilitary organisation in exchange for their allegiance.

Game day 197. China

Three Industrial Resource Points were received at the industrial area in China.  Twelve more IRPs (supplied by the USA) were moved by rail from Hanoi towards the same industrial area.

Five Armoured battalions reached the outskirts of Shanghai.

16^th March 1940

Historical

The Yugoslavian steamer Slava hit a mine laid by U-29 on 2^nd March and sank in the Bristol Channel.

32 Junkers Ju88 dive bombers of KG30 attacked the Royal Navy Home Fleet in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.  The cruiser HMS Norfolk was hit with one bomb.  One British civilian, James Ibister, was killed, the first on mainland Britain due to enemy action since September 1939.

The foreign ministers of the Baltic States held a conference in Riga. They agreed to share information in order to prevent the Soviet Union from playing them off against each other.

Sumner Welles met with King Victor Emmanuel III in Rome in the morning and then with Mussolini in the evening.

The Battle of Wuyuan in China began.

Game day 198. USSR

Infantry units continued to move towards the Turkish border, and from Moscow to Stalingrad.