World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Friday, December 8, 1939
Day 99

December 8, 1939: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at top right: "Pocket Raider Home-Report"
(The German cruiser Deutschland had docked in Gotenhafen (Gdynia) occupied Poland on Nov. 16th. It was not Deutschland that sank HMS Rawalpindi (on Nov. 23rd) it was the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 1: "Hull Men Lost In Blown-up Trawler"
Also note the report in column 7: "R.A.F. Sink Enemy Submarine"
(An incorrect report, no U-boats were sunk by the R.A.F. in December of 1939.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of the Evening Express, Liverpool, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 2: "Chief Steward Of Missing Ship"
(Mr. Appleby at this time was a prisoner in the German ship Altmark. Appleby and all of the other prisoners held in Altmark were rescued in a daring raid by Capt. Philip Vian, RN and HMS Cossack in a Norwegian fjord on Feb. 16, 1940. As far as I can tell Mr. Appleby survived the war.]
 
Also note the report in column 5: "First Trip On Ship-Now Missing"
(Sadly Harry Craig was one of the seven men killed when San Calisto was mined on Dec. 2nd.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Midland Daily Telegraph, Coventry, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at bottom left: "Nightmare Voyage In Submarine"


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 7: "20,000 Civilians Die In Warsaw"


December 8, 1939: Front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the photo at bottom left: "Rescue Bird"
(Fanad Head was sunk on Sept. 14, 1939 by U-30, the same submarine that sank the Athenia on Sept. 3rd. The submarine, U-30, was not sunk by the R.A.F. as stated in the caption.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Destroyer Is Damaged By Nazi Torpedo"
(This is an interesting story, HMS Jersey was not hit by a torpedo from a U-boat, but it was hit by a torpedo fired from the German destroyer Z-12 Erich Giese. The Admiralty believed the destroyer had been attacked by a U-boat because the crews of the British destroyers never even saw the German ships.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of Het Volksdagblad, Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Dutch communist paper.)
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Helena Independent, Helena, Montana.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Police Say Victim Was Really German Intelligence Agent"
(This is the ongoing story about the murder of Dr. Walter Engelberg in New York City.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Telegraph-Herald, Dubuque, Iowa.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 2: "Trail Pugilist In Nazi Slaying"
(Another story about the murder of Dr. Walter Engelberg in New York City.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
(Note that they are also running the report of the sunken U-boat, which did not happen.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of The Lima News, Lima, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


December 8, 1939: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Die gestrigen Englandflüge der deutschen Luftwaffe.
(Yesterday's flights to England by the German Air Force.)
2. Unverändert gute Beziehungen zu Italien.
(Relations with Italy remain good.)



   
Page published Dec. 8, 2020