December 1939

December

• 01

  • The Finns fall back to the Mannerheim LineIn early December 1939 Finnish covering forces delayed the Red Army's march across the Karelian Isthmus and by 6 December fell back to the Mannerheim Line.
• 02

  • The Red Army takes PetsamoOn 2 December 1939 the Red Army took Petsamo, Finland's only port on the Arctic Ocean. A handful of Finns fell back south, barring the way into Lapland.
• 04

  • A mine damages HMS NelsonOn 4 December 1939 the battleship HMS Nelson, flagship of the Home Fleet, struck a magnetic mine laid by U-31 off Loch Ewe. Repairs took over six months.
• 05

  • The Red Army attacks the Mannerheim LineIn early December 1939 the Red Army reached the Mannerheim Line. Its attacks on the Taipale and at Summa broke down with heavy losses.
• 07

  • Scandinavia, Italy and the Winter WarIn early December 1939 Norway and Denmark declared neutrality in the Winter War, Italy reaffirmed its “non-belligerence”, and Sweden declared no neutrality.
  • The Battle of Suomussalmi beginsOn 7 December 1939 the Soviet 163rd Division reached Suomussalmi, burnt by the Finns. The Finnish command sent Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo's brigade there.
  • The Battle of Kollaa beginsOn 7 December 1939 the Soviet 56th Rifle Division attacked Finnish positions on the Kollaa river in Ladoga Karelia. The Finns held them to the end of the war.
• 12

  • The Battle of TolvajärviOn 12 December 1939 Finns under Paavo Talvela and Aaro Pajari routed the Soviet 139th Division at Tolvajärvi, their first great victory of the Winter War.
• 13

  • Key eventThe Battle of the River PlateOn 13 December 1939 three British cruisers attacked the “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee off the River Plate and forced her into Montevideo.
• 14

  • The USSR expelled from the League of NationsOn 14 December 1939 the League Assembly condemned the Soviet attack on Finland, and the Council declared that the USSR had placed itself outside the League.
• 17

  • The scuttling of the Admiral Graf SpeeOn 17 December 1939 Langsdorff had the damaged Admiral Graf Spee blown up off Montevideo. Argentina interned her crew; on 20 December he shot himself.
• 18

  • Canadian and Indian troops reach EuropeOn 17 December 1939 the 1st Canadian Division’s first flight reached Greenock, as Churchill announced. Indian mule companies landed at Marseille on 26 December.
  • The air battle of the Heligoland BightOn 18 December 1939 German fighters, alerted by Freya radar, shot down 12 of 22 RAF Wellingtons. Bomber Command then switched to night raids.
• 20

  • Britain recognises the Czechoslovak National CommitteeOn 20 December 1939 London recognised Beneš’s Committee as representing Czechs and Slovaks and entitled to rebuild an army in France – but not as a government.
• 24

  • Mościcki leaves RomaniaOn 24 December 1939 Romania, defying Germany, allowed former President Mościcki to leave for Switzerland. He left with his family on Christmas Day.
• 28

  • Britain extends food rationingAt the end of December 1939 Food Minister William Morrison confirmed that from 8 January 1940 bacon, ham, butter and sugar would be rationed.
  • U-30 hits HMS BarhamOn 28 December 1939 Lemp’s U-30 torpedoed the battleship HMS Barham off the Hebrides. Two weeks earlier Barham had sunk her own destroyer Duchess in fog.
• 31

  • Goebbels’s New Year speechOn 31 December 1939 Joseph Goebbels gave the Third Reich’s version of 1939 on the radio. He passed over the pact with Stalin and warned that 1940 would be hard.