World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Wednesday, December 13, 1939
Day 104

December 13, 1939: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 2: "Has Britain A Mystery Plane"
(If they had such a plane, it is still a secret.)
Also note the photos at top right.
(All are photos of crewmen of the ships Ashlea and Newton Beech, both of which were sunk by the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee. All these men were at that time prisoners in the Altmark and would be rescued in Feb. of 1940.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of the Evening Express, Liverpool, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Thetis Inquiry"
(HMS Thetis sank on trials on June 1, 1939.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Midland Daily Telegraph, Coventry, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Days On Raft With Dead Man"
(The Danish sailor was the only survivor from the SS Magnus, which was sunk Dec. 9th by U-20.)
Also note the photo at top center.
(The commanding officer of the Polish submarine Orzel. He was lost in Orzel when the boat went missing after leaving Rosyth, Scotland on May 23, 1940.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the photos at top and left.
(These photos could be of the sinking of U-35 which was sunk on Nov. 29th.)
Also note the report in column 2: "Huge Purge In Nazi Party"
(I have not found any information that confirms this ever happened.)
Also note the report in column 4: "5,000 Poles Executed"
Also note the report in column 5: "Christmas Treat For Germans"
(This was announced in the Hamburg paper yesterday.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Daily News, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at center: "Over 700 Russians Are Believed Drowned Or Frozen In Wreck Of Soviet Steamship Off Jap Coast"
(The Russian ship, Indigirka, was carrying over 800 prisoners who were being used for labor. After the ship turned over, the master and the NKVD official locked the holds and refused to allow the prisoners to escape. Over 700 of them died before the Japanese could cut the hull open a couple of days later. The master was later executed by the Russians and the NKVD official was imprisoned.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of Het Volksdagblad, Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Dutch communist paper.)
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline :"British Cruiser Reported Destroyed By Nazi Warship" and the report in column 6: "British Scoff At Story Of Sea Battle off S.A."
(The Admiralty may or may not have been aware at that time that a battle had occurred. HMNZS Achilles was not sunk by Admiral Scheer as the report suggests. There was a great sea battle off Uruguay, the Battle of the River Plate, between the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee and HMS Ajax, HMS Exeter and HMNZS Achilles. All three ships were damaged in the battle. Because of the time difference the reports made the U.S. papers the day before it made the British press. The battle and the Admiral Graf Spee would be the headline in newspapers around the world tomorrow.)
 
Also note the report in column 5: "Mrs. Adolf? Hitler Hinted Married to Blonde"
(This may be one of the first reports that mentions Eva Braun, who would marry Hitler hours before they committed suicide on Apr. 30, 1945.)
Also note the report at bottom left: "Driver Held on Suspicion of Murder as Five Killed"
(The Laurel H. Crawford story was on the front page of newspapers around the country. He was convicted of killing his wife and three children for the insurance money in March of 1940. He also killed a guest of the family, but was not prosecuted for that crime. He was sentenced to four life terms without parole in San Quentin prison.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the report in column 7: Cruiser Sunk In Navy Fight"
(This is the report about the Battle of the River Plate also in the previous newspaper.)
Also note the report at top left: "Auto Carrying Family Heavily Insured Plunges 1,000 Feet"
(The Los Angeles car crash of Laurel H. Crawford, was front page news on both coasts.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Helena Independent, Helena, Montana.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Finish Of Stalin Is Predicted By Former Dictator Of Russia"


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Ogden Standard Examiner, Ogden City, Utah.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 5: "English Vessel Sunk In Fight, Latins Say"
(Another report about the Battle of the River Plate, but this time showing a photo reportedly of HMNZS Achilles. In fact the photo is of the battlecruiser HMS Hood, which was not involved in the battle. HMS Hood was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck on May 24, 1941 in the Battle of the Denmark Strait.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 13, 1939: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Sonnabend: außenpolitische Rede Cianos.
(Saturday: Ciano's foreign policy speech.)
2. Neuer britische Einflugversuch mißglückt.
(New British entry attempt failed.)
3. Moskauer Absage an Genf.
(Moscow rejects Geneva.)
4. Heimkehr der Bremen - Genfation der Weltpresse.
(Homecoming for the Bremen - Consternation of the world press.)



   
Page published Dec. 13, 2020