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3F, HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY S GOVERNMENT 23T 0 BE KE PT UND ER LO CK AMD K E Y .It is requested that special care may be taken toensure the secrecy of this document.

RJLCOPY NO. 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 ythe 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. (Papero C C S . (39)32)o

(Signed) E.E. BRIDGES.Secretary.

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

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2 9WTi TTTfT, Y RESUME ( NO. 2) OF THE NAVAL, MI LI TARY AND AI R SI TUATI ONJ gj f l Tl TOON 7t h SEPTEMBER t o 12- NOON ll h SEPTEMBER, 1959,

NAVAL SI TUATI ON. 'Gener al Not es.1 0 Dur i ng t he week one gr oup of t he Home Fl eet has beenat sea oper at i ng t o t he nor t h eastv/ ar d of t he Or kneys.

A s econd gr oup has been on pat r ol bet ween Far oesand I cel and.2 0 The Humber f or ce of cr ui ser s and Dest r oyer s swepteast war d t o at t empt t o i nt er cept of f Ter echi l l i ng a r epor t edGer man mer chant convoy f r om Rot t er dam No convoy was seen.Si nce t hen. t he Humber For ce has been oper at i ng f r om t he Mor et o cover t he l ay i ng of t he Dover Bar r age. The f i r s t l ay ofDover Bar r age was compl et ed on l l t h Sept ember . The secondl ay has been del ayed by bad weat her .

The 19t h T B D Fl ot i l l a i s. oper at i ng f r om Dover .Movement s? of Ger man Fl eet ,

At 13, 00 on 7t h Sept ember , 1939. t he mai n uni t s of t heGer man F l eet wer e di s t r i but ed as f o l l ows : -

Bal t i c, N. S. Por t s .Cer t ai n Hi pperPr obabl e Bl ucher Scheer

Schl eswi g-Hol s t ei n( Danz i g)L ei pz i gNur nber g Schl esi en( W l hel mshaven)

1 O Jj S B Dest r oyer s( Maj or i t y) .Poss i bl e Gnei senau )

Schar hhor stGr af SpecDeut sc hl andEmden

) o r a t) seaKoni gsber gKohn

Submar i nes Skagger ackBr i t i s h I s l esEas t or At l ant i c,- 1

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S

4 Dur i ng t he past f ew days no def i ni t e i nf or mat i on ast o t he movement s of t he above shi ps has been avai l abl e. TheHI PPER appear ed t o be i n t he v i c i ni t y of Ki el on t he 7t h andwas appar ent l y s t i l l t her e on t he 8t h. On t hat day sever alGer man war shi ps wer e r epor t ed near Hel i gol and and W l hel mshaven.These i nc l uded one l ar ge uni t , sever al dest r oyer s and poss i bl ysome cr ui ser s. On t he 10t h, 4 uni dent i f i ed Ger man uni t s wer el ocat ed, 5 i n t he Hel i gol and Bi ght and one at appr oxi mat el y54 0 0' W i n t he s out her n hal f of t he Ger man dec l ar ed m ned area, .04 SO E

The ol d bat t l eshi p SCHLESW G HOLSTEI N whi ch had beenr epor t ed i n t he nei ghbour hood of Gydni a on t he 7t h was r epor t edas hav i ng passed t hr ough t he Ki el Canal f r om t he Bal t i c on t he9t h Sept ember . She had been damaged by shel l f i r e.

A Ger man c r ui ser of t he KONI GSBERG cl ass , one dest r oyerand 2 submar i nes ar e r epot ed t o have pass ed t he Li t t l e Bel tNor t hwar d at 0001 on 9t h Sept ember .

I t seems r easonabl e t o concl ude t hat t her e have beenno consi der abl e movement s of t he mai n uni t s of t he Ger man Fl eetdur i ng t he per i od under r evi ew.

Boat s -- Pi s - pos i t i on and Gener al .5. I n t he Nor t h Sea t wo submar i nes have made t hei r pr esencef e l t ; t he s t eamer s GOODWOOD and MAGDAPUR havi ng been sunk bym ne or t or pedo on 10t h Sept ember of f Fl ambor ough Head andAl debur gh r spect i vel y.6. Ther e i s no r el i abl e r epor t of a submar i ne ei t her i n t heChannel or i n t ,e I r i sh Sea.7. I t was est i mat ed t hat 7 submar i nes wer e oper at i ng i nt he east er n At l ant i c on 8t h Sept ember . Two mor e may havear r i ved t her e s i nce. They di spl ayed cons i der abl e ac t i v i t y andachi eved some succes s . Fi ve st eamer s wer e sunk and f our chasedon 7t h Sept ember . On 8t h Sept ember 2 s t eamer s wer e sunk and

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t wo chased. On 9t h Sept ember f our wer e shel l ed butescaped. On 11t h Sept ember t hr ee wer e sunk. Si nce t henno mor e shi ps have been sunk.8. A submar i ne wi t h a t anker was r epor t ed by anAmer i can f l y i ng boat hal f way bet ween t he Azor es andBer muda on 10t h Sept ember and may be pr oceedi ng t o t heWes t I ndi es .9. The submar i ne whi ch sank t he " Pi r by" i n 59040' N,13 o50' W on 11t h Sept ember , may, i t i s t hought , be pr oceedi ngt o Canadi an wat er s .U Boat s - At t ac ks on Br i t i s h Mer c hant Shi ppi ng. 10. Si nce war commenced sevent een shi ps have been sunkof a t ot al t onnage of appr oxi mat el y 95, 000. Two of t heseshi ps cont ai ned bet ween t hem 21, 000 t ons of mot or spi r i t ,f uel oi l and di es ol oi l .

Ret ur n of Mer cant i l e Loss es by Enemy Act i onIPer i oder i od. . 1600 Tons gr oss 1 Under 1600 j Tot al Per cent age

1and over Tons gr oss . [ Al l Si zes . Compar i son wi t h .i ueak per i od 1917iNO . Tonnage. jNo. Toi mage. INc. j Ton. No. Tonnage.i i i . .. . . . .Sr d- 14t h ;I I ; jSept . 1939. L6 94, 776 j 1

10 days i n i 283 1175 059 30 52peak per i odApri l 1917 Ii i156 181, 760 100 100 U- Boat s . At t acks on U Boat s .

11. Dur i ng t he per i od under r evi ew some 60 at t acks onsubmar i nes have been r epor t ed by dest r oyer s and a i r cr af t ,and t her e i s r eason t o hope t hat i n seven of t hese t heobj ect i ve may have been damaged. But no Conf i r mat i on i sobt ai nabl e as yet .

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12. Si nce t he outhreal t of war a gr eat many Germanmer chant ment have t aken r ef uge i n neut r al por t s and by10th Sept ember t he f ol l owi ng gat her i ngs wer e repor t ed,I n the Azores 35, 000 tons ; Canar i es 61, 000 t ons ,Cur acoa 59, 000 tons ; Ver a Cr uz 55OOO t ons; Br az i l i anpor t s 180 , 000 t ons ; Ri ver Pl at e Por t s 68, 000 t ons ;Por t uguese East Af r i can por t s 6 , 000 t ons; J apanese por t s112 , 000 t ons ; Reykj avi k 17 000 t ons and Vi go 150000 t ons .Convoys.13o Convoys have been or gani sed as shi ppi ng i s col l ect ed.

The f ol l owi ng have commenced sai l i ngs, ,( a) Coast al Convoys up and down- et coast each wayevery second day.(b). 1 Out war d Convoy dovn Channel - c:/ei*y second day, , ;( c) 1 Out ward Convoy down Li ver pool every second day,( d) 1 M l i t ar y convoy f r om Gl asgow to Medi t er r anean.( e) East and West bound Convoys i n Medi t er r anean

and S. At l ant i c.I n f ut ur e i t i s expect ed t hat convoys wi l l be too

. numer ous t o enumer at e i n t hi s r epor t .East bound N. At l ant i c convoys wi l l st ar t shor t l y.

Enemy M nes.1h. The Ger man Decl ared Ar ea i n the Wor t h Sea i s ar ect angl e st r et chi ng nor t hwar d f r om Dut ch wat er s f or adi st ance of appr oxi mat el y 180 m l es l ong and 6 v; i de.

The Br i t i sh Decl ar ed Ar ea i n Nor t h Sea i s boundedt o t he East war d by' t er r i t or i al wat er s of neut r al s and t ot he West ward by l at . 56 0' l ong5 0' E.

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IItalian Navy.15. On 7 thSeptember 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 7 th September the 2ndSquadron was betweenNaples,Messina and Palmero. On the 8thits 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.7 6" cruiser Colleoni and minelayer Le Panto repor-ted at Dairen on 6thSeptember.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 1100on 10th September.Japanese Navy.18. The combined 1st and 2ndFleets (Main Fleet) arein Japanese waters. The 3 rdFleet is in the neighbour-hood of Shanghai and Yangtse, the hth Fleet in NorthChina and the 5 thFleet in South China.

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MILITARY SITUATION.FRANCS.2 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 ofBasle).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 RPilicaj 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 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 ncrossing the VistulaThe 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 Pol and has however l os t pr ac t i c al l y al l her wari ndust r y and a l ar ge pr opor t i on of her r eser ves of warmat er i al s Her cont i nued r es i s t ance i s t her ef or e dependent on i mpor t s of l ar ge quant i t i es of war mat er i al i n t henear f ut ur e. Ther e ar e some s i gns of a br eak i n t heweat her whi ch woul d be of i ncal cul abl e advant age t o t hePol es 0SOVI ET RUSSI A.

o I t i s es t i mat ed t hat of appr ox 4 000 000 men nowwi t h t he Red Ar my a ppr ox 0 1- g- - ml l i on ar e concent r at ed on ornear t he Pol i sh f r ont i er I t i s r epor t ed t hat t r anspor tand mat er i al ar e be i ng r equi s i t i oned and t he r ai l waysl eadi ng t o t he Pol i sh f r ont i er have been c l osed t o nor malt r a f f i s One r epor t st at es t hat t hese meas ur es appeart o have been t aken wi t h t he knowel dge of t he Ger manGover nment but t hi s cannot yet be accept ed as def i ni t e^

Pr opaganda has been chi ef l y di r ect ed agai nst Pol andand Gr eat Br i t a i n t hough t he t one of t he pr ess has notbeen par t i cul ar l y f avour abl e t o Ger many.I TALY.

s Whi l e t her e i s s t i l l appar ent l y l i t t l e anxi et yt o c ompl et e mobi l i s at i on or ot her m l i t ar y pr epar at i onswi t h any has t e i t s eems t hat I t al i an m l i t ar y measur es ar ebe i ng put i n hand accor di ng t o a pr e- ar r anged pl an0 As ar es ul t I t al y i s gr adual l y i nc r eas i ng her pr epar edness f orwar al t hough i n some r espect s not abl y A R. P. - def ens i vemeasur es cont i nue t o be negl ect ed. Ther e ar e no m l i t ar yi ndi cat i ons of any i mmedi at e of f ens i ve i nt ent i ons andconcent r at i on on t he I t al i an f r ont i er s i s st i l l f ar f r om compl et e.

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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 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 0 7 and possibly the D.O. 2 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 pto the 11th September the objectives selectedfor attack by the German Air Force were within the draftrules drawn up at the Hague in 1923. Numerous casualties to civilians were reported but with one or twoexceptions they were due either to bombs which hadmissed their objectives or to the attack of aircraftfactories 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 losses

sustained 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 w r 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 l l 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 38Polish 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 reconnaissance 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,,m The first ten squadrons of the A.A.S.F. and

the 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 16submarines during the past week. Thereis some reason to hope that 5of these attacks havebeen successful. In addition they have carried outa large number of reconnaissances, and escort flightsfor convoys.

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