Japan’s new Prime Minister, Noboyuki Abe, promises to keep Japan out of the European war. Argentina and Chile also announce their neutrality in the war.
The RAF’s Bomber Command gets down to business. After an early Blenheim reconnaissance, 15 Blenheims and 14 Wellingtons are sent to bomb German warships at Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuttel. Five planes from each force fail to find targets in the low cloud conditions. Most of the remaining Blenheims carry out low-level attacks on the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and the light cruiser Emden in Wilhelmshaven harbor.
On the Scheer, the ship’s flak operations officer is going through aircraft recognition tables with a Luftwaffe officer when the British swoop in. At first the flak officer thinks the incoming planes are Germans and expresses annoyance that the Luftwaffe is flying too close to young, trigger-happy sailors. But the Luftwaffe officer has been paying attention to his recognition cards, and yells, “They aren’t ours! They’re Bristol Blenheims!”
The British show ample determination in attack, flying in so low that they see washing hanging on the stern and off-duty crewmen lounging on the stern. The British score three hits on the Scheer. However, the bombs do not go off. The bombs that hit Emden do explode, and the cruiser suffers 12 casualties when a Blenheim crashes on to it. German flak shoots down five Blenheims. 107 Squadron loses four of its five planes on the raid. Residents of Wilhelmshaven, instead of going to the shelters, run into the streets to watch the aerial action.
The bombers also try to attack the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Brunsbuttel in the Elbe, and score no hits, losing two Wellington bombers.
It is worth noting the first of 70,000 British Bomber Command casualties are suffered this day. The first ones lost during the war appear to be Flt. Lt. W.F. Barton and his crew: Flying Officer J.F. Ross, the navigator, and Cpl. J.L. Ricketts, the wireless operator/gunner, all of 107 Squadron, all killed when Blenheim N6184 is shot down by AA gunners of Admiral Hipper.
Also killed is Pilot Officer H.B. Lightoller, son of Charles Herbert Lightoller, the hero of RMS Titanic, and its ranking surviving officer.
Four crews headed for Brunsbuttel report they have found targets to bomb. Two bombs are dropped, due to navigation error, on the neutral Danish town of Esbjerg, 110 miles north of Brunsbuttel, killing two people. The Danes protest to the British government against the violation of neutrality and receive an apology saying that the aircraft had not been one of those that returned and explaining the hazardous nature of the raid.
The Luftwaffe’s air defense fighters (likely early-model Me 109s) intercept, and shoot down two Wellingtons.
Among the RAF attackers is Squadron Leader L.S. Lamb, leading a section of Wellington bombers. Lamb is a New Zealander from Wellington (the city), who will die in an aircraft accident on October 30, 1939. Another Kiwi in the attack is Flt. Sgt. M.H.S. Innes-Jones, who will finish the war as a Squadron Leader. He proves his skill in navigation – his bomber is the only one that finds and attacks the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and return to England. However, the bombs that hit the German warship fail to explode – being fused for 11 seconds delay, they bounce off the Scheer’s armored deck.
Australia is represented in the attack, too: Flt. Lt. J.F.R. Brough, of Bellerive, Tasmania, of 99 Squadron, flies in the attack, too, and shows “calm and presence of mind under adverse conditions” according to the Australian official history, “where were to set an example to his fellow pilots in succeeding months” as he returns to base.
Total effort for the day: 30 sorties, and seven aircraft (23.3 percent) lost.
The raids do little damage to Germany, but boost British morale. An RAF flight lieutenant tells BBC listeners, ‘We could even see some washing hanging on the line. When we flew on top of the battleship, we could see the crews running fast to their stations. We dropped our bombs. The second pilot, flying behind, saw two hit.”
The British are under orders not to endanger German civilian life. At that point in the war, such orders are considered moral and easy to carry out.
That night, the RAF continues what will be a long series of leaflet raids on German cities. The leafleting is a secondary objective: the real purpose of the raids is to do night reconnaissance, to build up a “picture” of Germany by night for more serious raids to come. The RAF learns one thing: German autobahns make good navigation routes for aircraft, with their shiny pavements.
The Times of London pronounces the war as follows: “Stout Polish Defense: Incessant Air Raids.” The British newspapers say that the British losses in the first day’s air raids are nothing like the German claims. Both sides will tell other lies.
Britain suffers her first land casualty of the war in London when Police Constable George Southworth is killed falling from a third floor in Harley Street, after climbing up a drainpipe in an attempt to put out a light in one of the rooms there. He had been unable to get a reply when he knocked at the door.
Hitler sends an order to the fleet, reminding them not to attack passenger liners or neutral shipping. Gunther Prien, commanding U-47, obeys his orders – he stops a Greek neutral and lets her pass unmolested, then closes on two other ships, a Swede and a Norwegian, but when he sees their marking and flags, does not bother to stop them.
Prien is a name to be remembered. Born in 1908 in the Baltic seaport of Lubeck, he spends eight years serving in the German merchant marine, starting off on full-rigged sailing ships, learning everything from shiphandling to how to fight barroom brawls. By 1931 he is a first mate and qualified for captain’s school. But graduation amid the Great Depression leaves him beached and jobless. He is forced to join the Reich Labor Service, digging ditches, until he learns that the German Navy is accepting merchant marine officers for their version of Officer Candidate School. At age 25, he joins the German Navy. He volunteers for U-Boat duty and serves on U-26 on the showboat voyages to Spain, and is rated one of the best six U-boat officers in the fleet. He will become one of the most famous such officers of all time.
HMS Renown arrives at Scapa Flow and as soon as she anchors, the air-raid sirens go, to announce a German reconnaissance plane. There is time for a brief period of relaxation, according to W. Pittendreigh: “In a surprisingly short time she was ship-shape and was always, to us anyway, a good ship, (a clean ship, a happy ship and as usually followed, an efficient ship). Routine duties were as for a seaman on any ship, general care and maintenance, keeping the ship clean, rigging (i.e. renewing wires and ropes, splicing, etc.), boats’ crew….Entertainment, in the main, was a do-it-yourself job, especially in the first months on board when we did not even have radios on the messdecks. There was always an abundance of talent – it was surprising whom it came from sometimes – and some of the concert parties were really very good. She was also a very good ship for sport; we could always raise several good teams for any game. Cards of course were played a lot; crib and solo were probably the most popular, and every turret had at least one regular solo school. Ludo (Ukkers to us matelots) also helped to produce some fun and many arguments, while later when we went out east Mah-Jong was played a lot.
The battle-cruiser enters a round of practice of firings and maneuverings, joining other ships of the Home Fleet, including the battle-cruiser Hood.
In Australia, the Chiefs of Staff Committee, comprising the chiefs of staff of the three Services, is formed to provide advice to the government on operational matters and strategic considerations. A larger body, the Defence Committee, which comprises the chiefs of staff, an officer of the secretariat of the Department of Defence and, on occasions, the Controller of Civil Aviation and the Chairman of the Principal Supply Officer’s Committee, advises the government on overall defense policy. It at least provides more jobs and work for civil servants and the military’s paper-pushers.
