October 1939

[October 1], 1939 (Sunday)

• The Battle of Wytyczno was fought, resulting in Soviet victory.
• A royal proclamation ordered all British men between the ages of 20 and 22 to report for army registration on October 21.
• First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill gave a radio address from London reviewing the first month of the war. During this broadcast he famously called Russia "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
• The Chinese National Revolutionary Army at Changsha begins a counteroffensive that targets the Japanese army's overextended lines of communication.
• Latvian representatives negotiate with Soviet leaders Stalin and Molotov, who threaten forced occupation if they do not get military base rights in Latvia.
• Born: George Archer, golfer, in San Francisco, California

  [October 2], 1939 (Monday)

• The Battle of Hel ended with the Fortified Region Hel unit capitulating to the Germans after holding out for three weeks against overwhelming odds.
• The Battle of Kock began.
• Died: George Mundelein, 67, American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

  [October 3], 1939 (Tuesday)

• The Panama Conference concluded with the adoption of a general declaration of neutrality of the American Republics.
• The Greek cargo ship Diamantis was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-35 west of the Isles of Scilly. Because the ship's lifeboats were not suited for use in bad weather, the U-35 took all 28 crew members aboard and dropped them off at Dingle Bay, Ireland the next day.
• Died: Fay Templeton, 73, American actress, singer and comedian.

  [October 4], 1939 (Wednesday)

• Adolf Hitler issued a secret decree granting an amnesty to all crimes committed by German military and police personnel in Poland between September 1 and October 4. The decree justified the crimes as being natural responses to "atrocities committed by the Poles."
• Born: Ivan Mauger, motorcycle speedway rider, in Christchurch, New Zealand.

  [October 5], 1939 (Thursday)

• The Battle of Kock, the final battle in the invasion of Poland, ended in a Polish tactical victory but a German strategic victory.
• Hitler flew to Warsaw and reviewed a victory parade in the fallen Polish capital.
• The Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty was signed, providing the Russians with naval and air bases in Latvian territory.
• Born: Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, in Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines.

  [October 6], 1939 (Friday)

• The Battle of Changsha ended in Chinese victory.
• Hitler addressed a special session of the Reichstag. After speaking at great length about the victory over Poland he then proposed an international security conference, hinting at desire for an armistice by saying that such a conference would be impossible "while cannons are thundering."
• A Gallup poll was published in the United States asking, "What should be the policy in the present European war? Should we declare war and send our army and navy abroad to fight Germany?" 95% of Americans polled said no.
• The comedy film Ninotchka starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas was released. The film was marketed with the tagline, "Garbo Laughs!"
• Born: Melvyn Bragg, broadcaster, author and parliamentarian, in Carlisle, Cumbria, England.

  [October 7], 1939 (Saturday)

• The British Expeditionary Force completed its crossing to France.
• Operation Fish: British Royal Navy cruiser set sail from Plymouth in convoy for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying £2M in gold bar to be used for purchase of military materiel in North America.
• Hitler created the office of Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood and appointed Heinrich Himmler as its head.
• The present version of the Spanish Air Force was officially established.
• Born: John Hopcroft, computer scientist, in Seattle, Washington; Clive James, writer and television personality, in Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia ; Harry Kroto, chemist and Nobel laureate, in Wisbech, England ; Bill Snyder, American football player and coach, in St. Joseph, Missouri.
• Died: Harvey Cushing, 70, American neurosurgeon.

  [October 8], 1939 (Sunday)

• Hitler issued a decree proclaiming the annexation of Pomerania, Wielkopolska and Silesia into the Reich.
• The Piotrków Trybunalski Ghetto was founded in Nazi-occupied Poland.
• German submarine U-12 was lost to a mine in the Strait of Dover.
• The New York Yankees won their fourth straight World Series, beating the Cincinnati Reds 7–4 in 10 innings at Crosley Field to complete a four-game sweep.
• TeleRadio-Moldova was founded.
• Born: Paul Hogan, actor, comedian and television presenter, in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia.

  [October 9], 1939 (Monday)

• Hitler issued Directive No. 6 ordering preparations for an offensive in the west with an initial date set for November 12. Protests from his service chiefs and very cold weather would cause the date of the attack to be postponed repeatedly.
• Off Newfoundland, the American freighter City of Flint was intercepted en route from New York to Liverpool by the German cruiser Deutschland. The Germans declared the freighter's cargo "contraband" and took the ship over with a prize crew. While at sea the Germans painted the fake name Alf on the freighter and hung Danish flags over the sides.
• Born: John Pilger, journalist, in Sydney, Australia.
• Died: Giulio Gavotti, 56, Italian pilot.

  [October 10], 1939 (Tuesday)

• The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty was signed.
• French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier gave a radio address rejecting Hitler's latest peace propositions, saying that a settlement at this time "would only consecrate conquests by deceit or violence and would not prevent preparation for new ones." Daladier vowed that arms would only be laid down "when we have certain guaranties of security which may not be put in doubt every six months."
• Admiral Erich Raeder urged Hitler to invade Norway to protect Germany's vital iron ore traffic.

  [October 11], 1939 (Wednesday)

• U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt received the Einstein–Szilárd letter.
• Born: Austin Currie, politician, in Dungannon, Northern Ireland.

  [October 12], 1939 (Thursday)

• The regions of Nazi-occupied Poland not annexed by the Reich were incorporated into a new administrative unit called the General Government. Wawel Castle in Kraków was made the seat of government.
• In the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain formally replied to Hitler's peace offer by saying that a settlement "must be a real and settled peace, not an uneasy truce interrupted by constant alarms and repeated threats." Chamberlain further explained, "Herr Hitler rejected all suggestions for peace until he had overwhelmed Poland, as he had previously overthrown Czechoslovakia. Peace conditions cannot be acceptable which begin by condoning aggression. The proposals in the German Chancellor's speech are vague and uncertain and contain no suggestion for righting the wrongs done to Czechoslovakia and to Poland. Even if Herr Hitler's proposals were more closely defined and contained suggestions to right these wrongs, it would still be necessary to ask by what practical means the German Government intend to convince the world that aggression will cease and that pledges will be kept. Past experience has shown that no reliance can be placed upon the promises of the present German Government."

  [October 13], 1939 (Friday)

• German submarine U-40 struck a mine and sank in the English Channel.
• U-42 was sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyers and.
• Charles Lindbergh made another radio address in favor of American isolationism and questioned Canada's right to be involved in the war. "We must protect our sister American nations from foreign invasion, both for their welfare and our own", Lindbergh said. "But, in turn, they have a duty to us... We desire the utmost friendship with the people of Canada. If their country is ever attacked, our navy will be defending their seas, our soldiers will fight on their battlefields, our fliers will die in their skies. But have they the right to draw this hemisphere into a European war simply because they prefer the Crown of England to American independence?"
• Born: T. J. Cloutier, poker player, in Albany, California.
• Died: Ford Sterling, 55, American film actor.

  [October 14], 1939 (Saturday)

• penetrated the British naval base at Scapa Flow and sank the battleship. 833 men were killed including Rear Admiral Henry Blagrove.
• was sunk southwest of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyers, and.
• Born: Ralph Lauren, fashion designer, in the Bronx, New York.
• Died: Henry Blagrove, 52, British Royal Navy officer.

  [October 15], 1939 (Sunday)

• Germany and Estonia signed an agreement on the resettlement of Baltic Germans.
• The New York Municipal Airport was formally dedicated in New York. Nearly 100,000 people turned out to watch almost 60 military aircraft perform a flypast.

  [October 16], 1939 (Monday)

• Nine planes of the Luftwaffe conducted an air raid on the Firth of Forth, damaging three British ships, the cruisers Southampton and Edinburgh, as well as the destroyer Mohawk, and killing sixteen Royal Navy crew before Supermarine Spitfires of No. 603 Squadron arrived and shot down three of the enemy aircraft, the first to be downed over British territory.
• The Nazis ordered all Poles out of Gdynia.
• The comedy play The Man Who Came to Dinner by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart premiered at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway.