weekly resume 7-14:9:1939.pdf

7/27/2019 Weekly Resume 7-14:9:1939.pdf

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3F, HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT 23'T 0 BE KEPT UNDER LOCK AMD KEY.It is requested that special care may be taken toensure the secrecy of this document.

RJL1-COPY NO. 6 O59) 30.

WAR CABINET.NAVAL, MILITARY AND AIR SITUATION.APPRECIATION BY THE CHIEFS OF STAFFCOMMITTEE".

(Previous Paper Mo, W.P.(59) 15).

Note by the Secretary.

By direction of the Prime Minister, I circulateherewith, for consideration oy the War Cabinet, theattached Weekly Res\ime (No, 2) by the Chiefs of StaffCommittee dealing with the Naval, Military and AirSituation up to 12 noon, 14th September, 1939. (PaperNo. C C S . (39) 32)o

(Signed) E.E. BRIDGES.Secretary.

*S RIchmond Terrace, S.W.1.15th September, 1939.


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T HI S D O C U M E N T I S T H E P R O P E R T Y O F H I S B R I T A N N I C M A J E S T Y * S G O V E R N M E N TTO B E K E P T U N D E R L O C K A N D K E Y .It is requested that special care may be taken toensure the seoreoy of this document.

COPY WO.WAR CABINET.

CHIEFS OP STAPP COMMITTEE.WEEKLY RESUME (NO, 2) OF THE NAVAL. MILITARYAND AIR SITUATION FROM 12.0 NOON. 7 TH"SEPTEMBER e TO 12.-Q NOON 14TH SEP TEMBER^1959,

REPORT.

The accompanying Joint Naval. Military andAir Force Appreciation of the situation as at 12.0 nooaon the 14th September, is circulated in accordancewith the recommendation contained in Paper Wo.WoPo(G)(39) 3, and approved by the War Cabineton 7th September? ( W.M. (39) 7th Conclusions, Minute 17 )o

(Signed) C.L.N. NEWALL.DUDLEY POUND.E. IRONSIDE.

entral War Soom,13th September 9 1939,


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21) 9WTi!TTTfT,Y RESUME (NO.2) OF THE NAVAL, MILITARY AND AIR SITUATIONJgjflTlTOON 7th SEPTEMBER to 12-NOON ll&h SEPTEMBER, 1959,

NAVAL SITUATION. 'General Notes.1 0 During the week one group of the Home Fleet has "beenat sea operating to the north eastv/ard of the Orkneys.

A second group has been on patrol between Faroesand Iceland.2 0 The Humber force of cruisers and Destroyers swepteastward to attempt to intercept off Terechilling a reportedGerman merchant convoy from Rotterdam. No convoy was seen.Since then.the Humber Force has been operating from the Moreto cover the laying of the Dover Barrage. The first lay ofDover Barrage was completed on llth September. The secondlay has been delayed by bad weather.

The 19th T.B.D. Flotilla is. operating from Dover.Movements? of German Fleet,

At 13,00 on 7th September,1939. the main units of theGerman Fleet were distributed as follows:-

Baltic, N. S. Ports.Certain HipperProbable Blucher Scheer

Schleswig-Holstein(Danzig)

LeipzigNurnberg Schlesien(Wilhelmshaven)

1 O Jj S B Destroyers(Majority).Possible Gneisenau )

ScharhhorstGraf SpecDeutschlandEmden

)or at) seaKonigsbergKohn

Submarines SkaggerackBritish IslesEast or Atlantic,-1-


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- i S3

4 During the past few days no definite information as to the movements of the above ships has been available. TheHIPPER appeared to be in the vicinity of Kiel on the 7th andwas apparently still there on the 8th. On that day severalGerman warships were reported near Heligoland and Wilhelmshaven.These included one large unit, several destroyers and possiblysome cruisers. On the 10th, 4 unidentified German units werelocated, 5 in the Heligoland Bight and one at approximately5 4 0 0' W in the southern half of the German declared mined area,.

04 SO EThe old battleship SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN which had been

reported in the neighbourhood of Gydnia on the 7th was reportedas having passed through the Kiel Canal from the Baltic on the9th September. She had "been damaged by shell fire.

A German cruiser of the KONIGSBERG class, one destroyerand 2 submarines are repoted to have passed the Little BeltNorthward at 0001 on 9th September.

It seems reasonable to conclude that there have beenno considerable movements of the main units of the German Fleetduring the period under review.U.Boats -- Pis-position and General.5. In the North Sea two submarines have made their presencefelt; the steamers GOODWOOD and MAGDAPUR having been sunk bymine or torpedo on 10th September off Flamborough Head andAldeburgh re sp ectively.6. There is no reliable report of a submarine either in theChannel or in t ,e Irish Sea.7. It was estimated that 7 submarines were operating inthe eastern Atlantic on 8th September. Two more may havearrived there since. They displayed considerable activity andachieved some success. Five steamers were sunk and four chased

" on 7th September. On 8th September 2 steamers were sunk and


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two chased. On 9th September four were shelled butescaped. On 11th September three were sunk. Since thenno more ships have been sunk.8. A submarine with a tanker was reported by anAmerican flying boat half way between the Azores andBermuda on 10th September and may be proceeding to theWest Indies.9. The submarine which sank the "Pirby" in 59 040' N,13 o50' W on 11th September, may, it is thought, be proceedingto Canadian . waters.U Boats - Attacks on British MerchantShipping.10. Since war commenced seventeen ships have been sunkof a total tonnage of approximately 95,000. Two of theseships contained between them 21,000 tons of motor spirit,fuel oil and diesol oil.

Return of Mercantile Losses by Enemy ActionIPerioderiod. . 1600 Tons gross 1 Under 1600 j Total Percentage

1and over Tons gross. [All Sizes.Comparison with .! i ueak period 1917:i

.N O . Tonnage. j No. Toimage. INc. j Ton. No. Tonnage.i i ' i . . . . . . .Srd-14th ;I I ; jSept. 1939. L6 94,776 j 110 days in i 283 117 b5,059 30 52peak periodApril 1917 1 I

i i156 181,760 100 100 U -Boats. Attacks on U Boats.

11. During the period under review some 60 attacks onsubmarines have been reported by destroyers and aircraft,and there is reason to hope that in seven of these theobjective may have been damaged. But no Confirmation isobtainable as yet.


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12. Since the outhrealt of war a great many Germanmerchantment have taken refuge in neutral ports and by10th September the following gatherings were reported,In the Azores 35,000 tons; Canaries 61,000 tons,Curacoa 59,000 tons; Vera Cruz 55 OOO tons; Brazilianports 180,000 tons; River Plate Ports 68,000 tons;Portuguese East African ports 60,000 tons; Japanese ports112,000 tons; Reykjavik 17,000 tons and Vigo 150 ,000 tons.Convoys.13o Convoys have "been organised as shipping is collected.

The following have commenced sailings,,(a) Coastal Convoys up and down-"Kcet coast each wayevery second day.(b). 1 Outward Convoy dovn Channel - c:/ei*y second day,, ;(c) 1 Outward Convoy down Liverpool every second day,(d) 1 Military convoy from Glasgow to Mediterranean.(e) East and West bound Convoys in Mediterranean

and S. Atlantic.In future it is expected that convoys will be too

. numerous to enumerate in this report.East bound N. Atlantic convoys will start shortly.

Enemy Mines.1h. The German Declared Area in the Worth Sea is arectangle stretching northward from Dutch waters for adistance of approximately 180 miles long and 60 v;ide.

The British Declared Area in North Sea is boundedto the Eastward by'territorial waters of neutrals and to

0the Westward by lat. 56 0 0' long 5 0' E. '


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!!!! ! IItalian Navy.15. On 7th September most of the 1st Squadron was atTaranto the 6" cruisers Abruzzl and Garibaldi being atsea. These returned the next day to TaP.anto. Thewhole squadron is believed to be still at that port.16, On 7th September the 2nd Squadron was betweenNaples, Messina and Palmero. On the 8th its dispositionwas as follows.

At Messina 8" cruisers Trieste, Trento, Bolzanoand one destroyer division.At Naples 6 , f cruisers Da Barbiano, Di Guissano,Diaz and one destroyer division.Possibily at Palmero 6 " cruisers Savoia,D !Aosta,Attendolo, Montecuccoli and one destroyer

division.The disposition of this squadron appears to bestill unchanged.

Par East.1 7 . 6" cruiser Colleoni and minelayer Le Panto repor-ted at Dairen on 6th September.Submarines.18. Submarines are based on the Dodecanese, Sardinia andSicily. There appears to have been no change so farfrom the normal dispositions.

Convoy.19. Five merchant vessels escorted by two destroyerswere sighted off Malta at 1100 on 10th September.Japanese Navy.18. The combined 1st and 2nd Fleets (Main Fleet) arein Japanese waters. The 3rd Fleet is in the neighbour-hood of Shanghai and Yangtse, the hth Fleet in NorthChina and the 5th Fleet in South China.


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MILITARY SITUATION.FRANCS.21. ...... French forces are jh -touch with the Germans on thefront from Lauterbourg on the Rhine to the frontier ofLuxembourg. There has been fighting in the vicinityof Gersheim nor-th-ea^-t---of^arreguemines and in theforest of Warndt. Local enemy attacks on the left wingnear the Luxembourg frontier have been beaten off.

GERMANY.Western Front.22. On 6th September, 23 divisions had been identifiedon the Western Front. This number has now risen to atleast 36. The increase has been due principally to theformation of new reserve divisions in "Western Germany.Three or four divisions are also believed to have beenmoved to this front -from Eastern Germany but not fromthe area of operations against Poland. Troops previouslyholding the line opposite the Belgian and Dutch frontiersare reported to have been moved southwards to theLuxemburg and French frontiers.

It is believed that the main concentrations on theGerman Western frontier are about Trier, in the Saar- Palatinate and in the Lorrach Area (North of Basle).Eastern Front.23. On 6th September, it was believed that a total of52 divisions organized into five groups were, beingemployed on the Eastern Front for the attack againstPoland.


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New identifications indicate that the number ofdivisions now employed in the operations against Polandhas increased to 58; it should be noted, however, thatthis increase is not necessarily due to transfer offormations from Central Germany to the Polish frontierbut more probably to the identification of reservedivisions newly formed in Eastern Germany. The GermanArmies have advanced rapidly since 6th September.Mechanized forces have been used boldly to surround andcut off groups of Polish forces.

24. The following operations are now taking place:-(a) The attack from East Prussia is developing stillfurther to the East where two armoured divisions andone motorised division have been identified at Wysokie- Litewski and Hajnowka and are believed to be movingsouthwards towards the Brest Litovsk and Miedzyrzecrailway. It is possible that these forces may bereinforced in the near future, as additional troopsare reported to be arriving at Lyck in East Prussia..

(b) Warsaw, though still in Polish hands, appears tohave been surrounded on the North, West and South andthe Germans now claim that their forces are also atKaluszyn to the East of the City. It is reportedthat German armoured forces have also crossed theRiver Vistula south of Warsaw, at Deblin and areapproaching Lublin. They may also have crossed atAnnopol.


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(c) On the South Front German troops, includingmechanised, formations, have been reported at Rzeszowand at Lemberg where they threaten the southern flankof the Polish forces. This latter town is only about100 miles from the Roumanian frontier.

25. It seems that the German forces advancingsouthwards towards Brest Litovsk area and those whichhave crossed the Vistula South of Warsaw may endeavour toeffect a junction with the object of cutting off thePoles fighting in the Y/arsaw area. The object of theGerman force advancing Eastwards, which has reached theLemberg area would appear to be to sever the Polish armiesfrom communication with Roumania.POLAND.26. On the 6th September, the following Polishforces were opposing the German advance :--Northern Group.Ostroleka - Plonsk - Pultusk, i.e. some 40 to 50 milesnorth of Warsaw.Western Group.There had been heavy fighting around Bydcoszcz, butfurther south there had been little fighting.South Western Group.Was in contact with the enemy of the general lineSleradz - Piotrkow -- Kirlce, i. e. 90 to 100 miles 3.W.of Warsaw.Southern Group.Was in contact with German troops in the neighbourhoodof Cracow and in the Carpathians.


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27. Owing to overwhelming German air superiority andthe very dry weather which gave the German armoured andmechanized forces full scope, the Poles were forced tocontinue their retreat rapidly. By the morning of the8th September, the Polish Northern Army Group had fallenback to the line of the R. Bug; in.the SouthwesternsecStor German armoured and mechanized, forces hadpenetrated from the S.W. through the Polish lines andwere within 40 miles of Warsaw, and the line of theretreat of the Polish Western Army group of eightdivisions was seriously threatened. The Polish SouthernArmy of seven divisions had suffered severely and was inserious danger of being outflanked by German forcesadvancing from Slovakia.

28. In view of this critical situation the PolishHigh Command decided to try to stabilise the battle alongthe line of the Rivers Bug - Vistula and San, restingtheir right flank on the Prypet marshes. The isolatedWestern Army group was ordered to fight its way throughto Warsaw. The bridges over the Vistula had beenheavily bombed and their position was precarious.29. By the evening of the 9th September, the PolishNorthern Army Group was holding the line of the Bug, butstreet fighting was going on in the outskirts of Warsaw.Some very confused fighting took place on the 10th and11th September, all along the front, but by the eveningof the 11th the Poles appeared to have succeeded intemporarily stabilising the front on the line of RiversBug - Vistula and San, and to have forced the Germanstemporarily to withdraw from Warsaw.


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30 o The Polifh Armies were re-grouped on this lineand the position on 12th September appears to have been:

The Northern Arm,y3Of ten to twelve divs. was holding the line of the RiversBug - Narew and Vistula from the right flank to the R,Pilicaj a front of about 130 mi les 0The Central Army 0Of six or aeven divs c was holding the line of. the R 0Vistula from the Pilica to Josefow, a front of about75 m i l e S oThe Southern ArmVcwhich was holding the 160 mile line Josefow - Przemysl -Lwow with some eight divisions DThe Western Army Group 0Which had been isolated west of Warsaw was said to beattacking in a S.E. direction through Sochaczew about30 miles west of Warsaw. It is possible that thisArmy had also recaptured Lodz n31 0 . The General indications are that the Poles havefor the moment succeeded in stabilising on this lineand that, except for the Western Army Group most oftheir forces have succeeded i n crossing the Vistula,,The position of these Armies is still very serioushowever as both flanks are -threatened by enemy mechanisedforces and formations are holding very wide frontages.The Poles are believed to be collecting a reserve of12 divisions East of the Vistula, and if they succeedin doing this and in extricating their Western Army Groupthey will have enough troops to organize a reasonablysolid defensive system, always provided that they areable to stop the further advance of the German mobileformat ions a.


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32 0 Poland has,, however, lost practically all her war,industry and a large proportion of her reserves of warmaterials Her continued resistance is, therefore, depen-dent on imports of large quantities of war material in thenear future. There are some signs of a break in theweather which would be of incalculable advantage to thePoles 0

SOVIET RUSSIA.33o It is estimated, that of approx, 4,000,000 men nowwith the Red Army approx 0 1-g--million are concentrated on ornear the Polish frontier,, It is reported that transportand material are being requisitioned and the railwaysleading to the Polish frontier have been closed to normaltraffis One report states that these measures appearto have been taken with the knoweldge of the GermanGovernment, but this cannot yet be accepted as definite^

Propaganda has been chiefly directed, against Polandand Great Britain, though the tone of the press has notbeen particularly favourable to Germany.

ITALY.34 s While there is still apparently little anxietyto complete mobilisation or other military preparationswith any haste, it seems that Italian military measures arebeing put in hand according to a pre-arranged plan 0 As aresult, Italy is gradually increasing her preparedness forwar, although in some respects notably A. R.P. - defensivemeasures continue to be neglected. There are no militaryindications of any immediate offensive intentions, andconcentration on the Italian frontiers is still far fromcomplete.


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LIBYA.35. It was officially notified by the ItalianGovernment that Libya would be reinforced as from 9thSeptember by two artillery regiments and four infantryregiments, i.e.. the equivalent of about two divisions.The previous garrison of two corps now appears inprocess of completion to three corps (i.e. to a totalof six divisions).36. - The fact that the main concentration of theseformations is in western Libya, however,indicates adefensive rather than an offensive attitude. There arestill no indications of exceptional activity towards theEgyptian frontier.ITALIAN EAST AFRICA.37. There have been no increases in the garrison ofItalian East Africa. Italian troops from some frontierposts, notably on the Sudan and Kenya frontiers, havebeen withdrawn perhaps on account of supply difficultiesduring the rainy season, but possibly in order to avoidfrontier incidents. In this connexion, it is of interestthat the Italian authorities asked on 8th September forBritish frontier detachments to return to Moyale andMandera (Kenya frontier) so that the maintenance oforder would not devolve on Italian troops. There areno indications of any Italian offensive intentions.

-IS-


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ALBANIA.38. In spite of troop concentrations at Italianports, there is no reliable evidence indicating thatthe Italian garrison of Albania has been appreciablyincreased. No undue activity has been reported atAlbanian ports.

MIDDLE EAST.39. Irau and Egypt have made no formal declarationof war but have co-operated fully in implementingnecessary defence measures.

The populations of Iraq and Syria view ourdropping of leaflets over Germany as a sign that weshall be agreeable to make a quick peace with Germanyonce the latter has obtained her objects in Poland andare therefore unenthusiastic in the Allied cause.

40. Palestine situation is deteriorating.Indications point to this being due to the efforts ofthe Mufti to revive rebellion.41. Afghanistan. An Afridi raid on a considerablescale from the Tirah (tribal territory on the Britishside of the Durand Line) into Afghanistan was brokenup by prompt action of Afghan regulars. The raid wasprobably sponsored by foreign agents. Full detailsare not yet available.42. There can be no doubt but that Germany is busyin the Middle East with propaganda.


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FAR EAST.43. Calling up of reservists has been going onunobtrusively, during the past two weeks, in twodivisional areas in Japan. A high percentage, if notall, of these reinforcements are being sent to Manchuria.

44.. Following the recent formation of a new Cabinetin Japan certain changes in the Japanese High Command arenow announced.

The objects of these changes appear to be(i) to consolidate Japan's position in China, and

(ii) to prepare for any eventuality in Manchuria.

45. Notwithstanding the serious flood conditions atTientsin, Japanese barrier restrictions against theBritish Concession remain unabated.46. The Japanese authorities at Shanghai are callinga conference of commanders of these forces. Thenominal subject for discussion is the internationaldefence scheme at Shanghai. The British commanderanticipates that in actual fact he will be asked towithdraw his troops and that a similar request will bemade to the French. He has been authorized to attend.Efforts are being made to postpone the conference from14th September to the following day in order that theAmerican Naval Commander-in-Chief may be present.

It is not believed that the Japanese Governmentmean to employ force to achieve their ends: there ishowever the possible danger that the local Japanesecommanders may e x c e e d their instructions.


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AIR SITUATION,'O-nerations in Poland.,,i+7. A study of such information as is availableindicates that up to the present the role of theGerman Air Forces engaged- in operations in Poland hasbeen as follows:-

(a) At the outset, the German Air Force, inaccordance with their known doctrines, attacked the PolishAir Force with the object of destroying it. In this theywere successful. Their early attacks includedaerodromes, aircraft factories and Flying Training Schools,,There were two instances of training aircraft beingcaught In hangars and destroyed by fire.

(b) As soon as they were assured of asufficient measure of superiority the- main attack wasturned On to coKmuniQations. Although the immediateresults were disappointing, the cumulative effect ofthe attack on rail communications seriously hamperedthe mobilisation and subsequent movement of formationsof the Polish Army.

(c) The German Air Force also took part in theland battle, in locating and attacking Polish forceswhich were preparing for the counter attack. TheGermans used the D 0 . 1 7 and possibly the D.O. 2 1 5 fb.rthis purpose, flying very low.


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lj.3. It is generally agreed that the action of theGerman bombers contributed, greatly to the confusion anddisorganisation of the Polish land forces,

k9 0 U p to the 11th September the objectives selectedfor attack by the German Air Force were within the draftrules drawn up at the Hague in 1923. Numerous casual-ties to civilians were reported but with one or twoexceptions they were due either to bombs which hadmissed their objectives, or to the attack of aircraft

-

factories employing civilians. After this date reports .of civilian casualties in towns and villages outside thezone of armies began to multiply. On the 13th Septemberinstructions were issued from German Headquarters whichas far as can be ascertained have led to the attack ofany town or village which could be accused of offeringresistance to the advance of the German armies. Althoughsome shreds of legality still remain, provided theattacks are in the zone of the armies, the area coveredby the attacks appears to be far greater than is

1 : * : :. - y ;. : . y y y / y - y y y - - y' ' 'justified by any reasonable interpretation of the rule,.. . . . . . . . . .

' .y ; " .y y :y;y :'.:. ' y . . . . ' -50. It has been impossible to assess the full lossessustained by the German Air Force. The Polish staffclaim that in the first three days they destroyed 67aircraft, but this figure has not been confirmed. It isbelieved that the losses on the first two days were heavyowing to the low height of all attacks, and it issignificant that on subsequent days the attacks werecarried out from greater heights.

" Si51 e: Polish anti-aircraft fire in the Warsaw districtwas ineffective, but this was largely due to the tacticsy J J - uiio uroj.-ijxa.ii U U U U C J . - D -LAX x u c x u g U Q i g u o i ^u ik ;2 i l j ill UUS?vicinity of their targets.
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52. It is under stood that the Polish, fightersalthough much outclassed in speed shot down tv/o M.E .t10sand two M.E .109s on the first day. Both thesesuccesses were gained by surprise attacks from below.It is also reported that a force of 38 Polish bomberand bomber reconnaissance aircraft attacked a Germanmechanised column some twenty miles in length and causedheavy casualties. This column was unable to movefor twenty hours.,. This attack took place on thesecond day of the war.

British Air Operations.53. There are no major air operations to recordduring the period under review. Bomber aircrafthave carried out some further propaganda and recon-naissance flights. Enemy opposition has been- slightand only one aircraft is' missings Ono aircraft (landed in Belgium and the crow has been interned.Propaganda flights have now boon temporarily suspended,,5hm The first ten squadrons of the A.A.S.F. andthe h Fighter Squadrons accompanying the Field Forceare now ready to operate from their bases in France,though they will not be complete in all respectsuntil 20th September.55. Aircraft from Coastal Command have attacked atotal of 16 submarines during the past week. Thereis some reason to hope that 5 of these attacks havebeen successful. In addition they have carried outa large number of reconnaissances, and escort flightsfor convoys.


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& tl 0

French Air\Operations*560 French aircraft have been, mainly engaged inreconnaissance flights. At first little or noopposition was experienced but in the last few daysthey are reported to-have 4 .0 st 1 0 air or aft.


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