military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (01/04/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Sunday, 31 December, 1939 The USSR and Japan reach a conclusion over mutual disputes; Japan agrees to ensure the settlement of Manchukuo's debt for the Chinese Eastern Railway, while the USSR grants an extension to Japanese fishing rights off Kamchatka. The German freighter Tacoma, which assisted the crew of the Graf Spee in Montevideo harbor, has been given 24 hours to leave that harbor or be interned. In the first year of the war, the Allies have lost 222 ships, totalling some 755,000 tons, to German antimerchant warfare. Over half of the losses were to U-boats. Nine U-boats have been sunk, along with about 30,000 tons of German merchant ships, with many more trapped in neutral harbors. Among warships, the Allies have lost a carrier, a battleship, and numerous smaller ships sunk, while Germany has lost a pocket battleship and a few small craft. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "Observers were frequently warned by friendly commanders to be careful of what was said in the presence of the commissar for fear of misinterpretations for propaganda purposes." - Maj. Gen. Stephen O. Fuqua, U.S.A. (Ret), about the Red Army's Commissar system