military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (11/21/89)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 21 November, 1939 The German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau leave port to raid the North Atlantic shipping lanes. Meanwhile, the cruiser HMS Belfast strikes a magnetic mine and is severely damaged. Initial reports state she was attacked by a U-boat while harbored in the Firth of Forth. Five more merchant ships are lost to mines, including a Japanese liner, the Terukuni Maru. Berlin announces that the recent attempt on Hitler's life was instigated by two British Secret Service agents, now in custody. The actual bombing was done by a German national, George Eiger. Otto Strasser, who recently fled Germany, is also implicated. The two agents were arrested in last week's Venlo incident, raising concerns that the "harboring" of these agents may void Dutch neutrality. Argentina announces that, wherever possible, all purchase will be made from the Allies for the duration of the war. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "One of your readers asked what could be the name of the present big war since the name "World War" has already been used for the last one. It appears to me that so far the present war is naming itself by merely cribbing the old name and omitting the 'ell." - J.M. Elliott, Capt., USN, Ret., in Newsweek