Air Operations, Europe
The Luftwaffe dive-bomb the Jewish quarter of Warsaw.[
| 
]Battle of the Atlantic
- The first U-boat attack on a North Atlantic convoy occurs. U-31, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Hans Habekost, sinks SS Aviemore. The first of 3 escorted convoys leave Halifax, Nova Scotia for Britain. The others depart on the 17th and the 23rd.
- The British steamer Bramden (1594t), inbound from Dunkirk, sinks when it hits a British defensive mine. 3 of the crew are lost.
- U-33 sinks the British steamer Arkleside (1567t) 150 miles southwest of Land's End.
- The British trawler Rudyard Kipling (333t) is sunk by U-27 100 miles west of Donegal. The entire crew is towed in their boats by the submarine to within 5 miles of the coast.
| ]Diplomatic Relations
The Soviet and Japanese governments sign a cease-fire treaty which brings the Mongolian conflict to an end. Japan has been bitterly stung by the 1939 war, and the militarists in the government will argue exclusively for campaigns in Southeast Asia and the Pacific rather that into the bleak hinterlands of the USSR. This treaty will enable the USSR to move troops from east to west.[
| ]
Poland
Warsaw is now surrounded but a surrender demand is refused. The German generals propose to besiege Warsaw and wait until starvation drives it to surrender, but Hitler replies that the Polish capital is to be regarded as a fortress and orders the use of artillery and bombers against the city. A curious note, the Polish general in charge of the forces in the city is named Rommel, Maj-Gen Juliusz Rommel.
The bulk of the Polish army is now concentrated between Lvov and Chelm. Part of List's army is still fighting west of Lvov advancing north to link with Guderian's forces who are maintaining their attack along the Bug.
|
| ]