The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  The British warship Royal Oak was torpedoed in Scapa Flow, an English naval base in the Northeast of Scotland, October 11, 1939.

  Only the hardiest swimmers could live long in the icy waters of the North Sea even if they were wearing lifebelts, it was said.

  Rescue work was complicated by a northeasterly gale. It is not known whether there was additional trouble, experienced in the case of the Courageous, of oil inches thick that covered the sea and is believed to have caused many drownings when the aircraft carrier went down.

  The first list of survivors released by the Admiralty contained only a handful of names. Later it was announced that 378 were saved, among them Captain W. G. Benn and Commander R. F. Nicholls, first and second in command.

  OCTOBER 16, 1939

  ARMY AND NAVY ADD BILLIONS TO PLANS

  HUGE NEW TONNAGE LIKELY

  By HANSON W. BALDWIN

  Special to The New York Times.

  WASHINGTON, Oct. 15—Both the army and the navy are due to share in large-scale expansion within the next few months of plans prepared for submission to the President and to Congress are approved.

  Most of these plans, which are expected to call for an extraordinary expenditure of perhaps several billions over and above the ordinary national defense annual budget for the next fiscal year, which may approximate another $2,000,000,000, are now ready and could be submitted to the present special session of Congress after the debate on the Neutrality Act is finished.

  It is more generally believed, however, that national defense legislation will await action by the next regular session of Congress opening in January.

  Plans for further strengthening of the navy have been closely guarded and their details await announcement by the President or by Congress. There has been much talk about—and some public approval of—“two-ocean navy” to be attained by building enough ships to maintain in the Atlantic a fleet roughly as strong as the fleet in the Pacific, a program which would eventually cost billions of dollars.

  “TWO-OCEAN” PROGRAM DOUBTED

  Although the Navy Department’s official spokesman has pointed out that any program to be offered will simply be responsive to the wishes of the President and of Congress, it is believed that the navy will not suggest any such tremendous expansion as that implied by the term “two-ocean navy.”

  Such a program would undoubtedly look not only toward further strengthening of our naval forces in the Atlantic, but to remedying certain deficiencies evident in our main forces in the Pacific.

  The navy now has fifteen battleships in commission—twelve of them battle line ships, the others in the Atlantic—and eight building. It is probable that two more 45,000-ton battleships will be requested at the next session, bringing to ten the number under construction. Today, we have five carriers built and two building; others may be requested. Submarines and destroyers will also be asked, and, of course, cruisers.

  If any material addition is made to the fleet or to our present building program, additional manpower will be required by the navy over and above that already authorized by the President since the outbreak of war in Europe.

  PROBABLE PERSONNEL INCREASES

  The present authorized strength, as recently set by the President when he invoked his “limited emergency” powers—a strength which the navy hopes to reach before the start of the next fiscal year—is 145,000 enlisted men and 25,000 marines. These totals will probably be increased if a further expansion program is undertaken, since the navy is already feeling a severe shortage of petty officers and men because of the commissioning of forty old destroyers for duty with the neutrality patrol.

  The army’s plans, as published yesterday, contemplate an increase in the enlisted strength of the regular army to the full 280,000 authorized by the National Defense Act. The National Guard would be increased also to its full authorized quota as defined in the act, a force of approximately 420,000 enlisted men, bringing the strength of what is known as our “I. P. F.” or “Initial Protective Force” to about 705,000, plus perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 officers.

  The enlisted strength of the regular army, which is now about 210,000, including the Philippine Scouts, is being raised to 227,000 under the terms of the President’s executive order issued soon after the start of the European war.

  The further increase contemplated will mean, therefore, an addition of another 53,000 men to the regular forces, while the Guard would be almost doubled in strength. The Guard’s strength today is somewhat short of 200,000, but it is being increased to 235,000 under the President’s recent order.

  OCTOBER 18, 1939

  BRITISH PREPARING FOR A ‘BLITZKRIEG’

  Motor Units Behind Lines Are Seen in Practice by Corps of Correspondents

  By HAROLD DENNY

  Wireless to The New York Times.

  WITH THE BRITISH FORCES IN FRANCE, Oct. 16 [Delayed]—Though the war, which at any time may surge over the fields and villages about us, seems remote now, every element of the British Army, which is moving into position at a daily increasing pace, is on the alert as completely as if Chancellor Hitler’s legions already were on the next ridge.

  Behind the front line, where the infantry, formidably armed and strongly fortified, is on guard night and day, other elements are rehearsing daily the manoeuvres that they are likely to be called on to execute in battle conditions among these very hills and valleys.

  Vital among these elements is the mechanized cavalry—a new development of modern war technique, and it was your correspondent’s privilege today to participate in field exercises of this arm. These had many of the thrills of a real battle without, however, the annoyance of being shot at.

  The unit that I visited was a squadron of this new horseless cavalry. It was composed of light but powerfully armored and armed tanks—which certainly will slow up if they do not themselves absolutely check any Hitlerian “Blitzkrieg” through here—and of “carriers.”

  ARMED BATTLE WAGONS

  These “carriers” are well-armored battle wagons carrying machine guns and rifles of various types suitable for firing on anything, including infantry, tanks and airplanes. The speed with which these carriers can get into serious action is amazing.

  We saw a squadron race across an open field, come to a sudden halt, and then the personnel of all but one leaped out with their guns and mounted them for anti-aircraft work. The one carrier covered them with its machine guns. Meanwhile, the carriers whose crews were mounting guns on the ground raced for cover and in a few seconds were so well camouflaged we, who knew where they were, had difficulty in finding them even with field glasses.

  Then came a sham battle in which the correspondents participated, though as backseat drivers.

  The function of motorized cavalry is much the same as that of cavalry in the earlier eras—to act as a screen for other arms, to feel out the enemy and make the initial contact, to seize and to hold ground when required until infantry can come up and take over. Officers and men who are in this branch know that it is one of the riskiest in all warfare, but those we met today displayed the same easy confidence that we have seen all along the British front.

  CORRESPONDENTS IN TANKS

  When the positions were taken for an advance by the tanks against a simulated enemy, the correspondents clumsily climbed into these weird vehicles and found themselves in the midst of a forest of mechanical implements arranged in an incredibly small space. It fell to the lot of this correspondent to sit in the place of the tank commander with eyeslits just in front of him in a tiny subturret that he could swing with almost no effort so as to see everything going on in front and at sides and even behind, had he chosen to swing his turret in that direction.

  This little turret was like the conning-tower of a submarine. Everything was at hand to control the tank’s movement. Just in front of my face was a speaking tube to the driver, who sat straight out in front before an instrument board as intricate as that on an airplane.

  My own spot was
tight and well-padded with rubber at places that might strike me. Below, at my left in the main turret, was another correspondent—Webb Miller of The United Press—manning a high-powered automatic gun and also fixed so fast in his place that he was almost immune to any injury from the progress of the tank itself. He did emerge, however, with a bruised leg as the result of one of our jumps over natural obstacles.

  REPORT MADE BY WIRELESS

  I frankly confess that I had only the faintest idea what was our objective, and in fact there was none—merely to make contact with the enemy, report his position by wireless, with which every tank is equipped, and scoot back for cover.

  The squadron commander had instructed me to give orders through the speaking tube and I did so with excellent results, I thought. I commanded “forward” when I thought that appropriate and ordered the driver to veer off the path of a tank with which I thought we might collide.

  He did these things and I felt quite pleased until he began going quite contrary to my directions. After hurdling a ditch and coming to rest on the edge of a potato field, I learned that the entire operating personnel had had full instructions before we started and we emerged as merely slightly seasick passengers.

  Troops of the British Expeditionary Force after disembarking the troopship ‘Worthing’ at Cherbourg in France, 1939.

  OCTOBER 19, 1939

  SHORTAGE FEARED OF SCOTCH WHISKY

  231,000 CASES ON OCEAN

  Loss of Two Ships With This Cargo Would Badly Deplete Supply of Aged Stocks

  Special Cable to The New York Times.

  LONDON, Oct. 18—There are two ships on the Atlantic tonight with 231,000 cases of eight-year-old Scotch whisky on board. If the Germans get it there is going to be a shortage of aged Scotch before long.

  Distillers here say there is enough young whisky here to last at least two and a half years of a war, but all the really aged whisky available now is “depression whisky.” In 1931, 1932 and 1933 the makers were hit hard and they did not lay down nearly the normal supply.

  So, what with the war and depression, whiskies are likely to get younger and dearer all the time. The price is going up because British ships carrying them to New York are traveling in expensive convoys and insurance rates for both British and United States vessels have soared since the start of the war.

  WAREHOUSE INSURANCE BARRED

  Then, too, distillers over here are having plenty of trouble. They cannot get any insurance for their bonded warehouses, so that an air-raid like the few in Scotland the last couple of days might seriously diminish the supply. It is possible, for some unexplained reason, for distillers to get insurance on whisky not in warehouses, but that is not going to console the boys on Broadway if a stray bomb wipes out one of their favorite distilleries.

  Before long nobody is likely to be permitted to grow barley or corn over here except for “human consumption.” While there is evidence that whisky is actually consumed by human beings, there are other restrictions that prevent crops from being used for spirits.

  The supply of gin also is likely to be reduced, but the same problem of an aged supply does not arise, because it is an immature spirit anyway.

  EMBARGO ON DRINKING SEEN

  The only immediate hope of increasing the supply of Scotch for the United States is that an embargo be placed on drinking in this country, as was done in the last war. So far, however, consumption of whisky has gone up since the blackout restricted many other forms of amusement. But if it keeps going up and the agitation for some wartime form of prohibition increases, consumption here may be reduced and so release some of the supply to the United States.

  OCTOBER 25, 1939

  BELIEF RISING HERE U.S. WILL SHUN WAR

  American Institute of Public Opinion Survey Shows 54% Hold to This View

  The number of American voters who believe the United States will be drawn into the European war has decreased sharply since hostilities started, according to a survey made public yesterday by the American Institute of Public Opinion, of which Dr. George Gallup is director.

  “Two weeks before the war broke out an institute survey found a large majority believing that the United States would be drawn into a war if it came,” the institute said. “Today opinion is more evenly divided, with a small majority saying they think the country will avoid armed participation in the present war.

  “The question on which a cross-section of voters throughout the country were asked to express their views read as follows:

  “‘Do you think the United States will go into the war in Europe, or do you think we will stay out of the war?’

  “Those who expressed an opinion divided as follows:

  Will go in………46%

  Will stay out……54%

  “Approximately one voter in every eight (13 per cent) expressed no opinion.

  “The fact that before the war a majority thought the United States would be involved, whereas today there is a tendency to believe it can stay out, may have several explanations. First, two months ago most voters thought of the next war in terms of the last, or, in other words, a ‘war in earnest.’ The first six weeks of the present war, however, with its cautious and perfunctory fighting and the absence of bombardments on open cities in France and England during that period, have apparently caused a reduction in fear of immediate American involvement.

  “Second, the voters themselves, and many experts, apparently underestimated two months ago the intensity of desire throughout the country to avoid getting into war. Since the outbreak of hostilities this intensity has manifested itself in many surveys by the institute, in letters to Congress and in other ways.

  “Third, President Roosevelt has on repeated occasions since early September solemnly assured the country that the United States is not going to join the conflict. These pronouncements may have had a quieting effect.

  Chapter 2

  “FIGHTING IN THE WEST IS AT A STANDSTILL”

  November 1939–March 1940

  The months following the German victory over Poland were nicknamed the “Phony War” because there was very little military action between the Anglo-French Allies and the German Reich. Years later Cyrus Sulzberger, the lead foreign correspondent for The Times during the 1940s, wrote that the “British and French gave the appearance of being removed from the conflict they had accepted.” The chief action was at sea and The Times gave full coverage to the battle off the Latin American coast, which led on December 18 to the scuttling of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee in Montevideo harbor.

  The real fighting took place elsewhere, first in China, where the Japanese Army continued to press forward against crumbling Chinese resistance, but most important of all in the war begun by Stalin’s Soviet Union against the small Scandinavian nation of Finland. This was an act of aggression prompted by the German-Soviet pact of August 1939, which put Finland into the Soviet sphere of influence. Stalin wanted to bolster Soviet security by establishing additional bases on Finnish territory. The Finns naturally refused. War began on November 30, 1939 and, to the astonishment of the wider world, the tiny Finnish Army resisted the Soviet assault. According to The Times, Finnish success partly stemmed from Soviet incompetence, but was chiefly a matter of Finnish tactical skill, with fast ski troops firing their submachine guns as they moved in and out of the snow-covered landscape. Soviet losses were heavy. “The bodies,” wrote one eyewitness, “were frozen as hard as petrified wood.”

  In the end Finland had to give in and concede bases and territory to the Soviet giant. But all this time, as The Times headline put it, “Fighting in the West Is at a Standstill.”

  In China Japanese Army leaders were trying to patch up a peace with the Chinese warlords to ensure permanent domination of China. The Times was clear that even if Japanese civilians wanted to forge a better relationship with the United States, “The mentality of Japan’s military commanders has not changed.” The crisis in Asia remained at the forefront of much of the reporting during t
he Phony War. The Times’s concern with the problem of India and the harsh British treatment of Mahatma Gandhi’s independence movement was to be a feature throughout the wartime years. Oppression was also the key to reporting on the German occupation of Poland following defeat of the Polish forces in late September. The main focus was on the treatment of the large Polish Jewish community. Some two million Jews lived in the area of Poland under German control in the annexed territories and the so-called General-Government of Poland, set up under the National Socialist lawyer, Hans Frank. The Times ran articles alerting its readers to the establishment of ghettos for Jews in occupied Poland and the problems of famine faced by a Jewish population that was singled out for deliberate discrimination. In January Dr. Nahum Goldmann addressed the American Jewish Congress in Chicago with the news that as many as one million Jews would die in occupied Poland during 1940. The same month The Times ran a piece under the headline “Jews Lay Torture to Nazis in Poland.”

  In the United States attitudes toward the war were divided. Though many Americans sympathized with the Western Allies and disliked Hitlerism, Hitler still came out on top in a poll of college students, asking them who they felt were the world’s most outstanding personalities. The American public had other concerns—the problem of Japanese aggression, the threat of communism—as well as the domestic problems of economic revival following the Great Depression. By March, however, there were signs that the Phony War was approaching an end. “War Seen Entering a New Phase of Violence” ran the headline. And indeed it was.