World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Friday October 18, 1940
Day 414

October 18, 1940: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report at top center: "Petrol And Grain Cargoes Destroyed: Invasion Stopped"
[See "July 9 Is New Blitzkrieg Date" in the Manchester Evening News of July 4, 1940.]


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of the Birmingham Gazette, Birmingham, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of the Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 3: "Nazi Claim To Have Sunk Submarine"
(The report was completely untrue.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 4: "Convoy HIt - Nazis Lose 5 Ships"
(I don't have the ability to confirm this claim, but it sounds a little over-estimated to me.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Telegraph, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 6: "Brisbane Will Face Milk Shortage Soon"


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the photo: "May Soon Fly Over Germany"
(I don't know if it ever did fly over Germany, but if it did, it was not carrying a bomb load. The photo was probably taken during the first flight of the XB-15 on Oct. 15, 1940. Note that the caption calls the plane a "flying fortress" which was actually the name for the B-17. This was the only XB-15 ever built, and at the time, it was the largest aircraft ever built in the U.S. It was converted into a transport and set a number of records. The aircraft was stripped of all useful equipment and abandoned in Panama in 1945.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Winnipeg Tribune, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the headline: "Invasion Of England Tried, Failed"
The report at top right "London Reveals German Attempt Made Sept. 16"
[The report is concluded here.]
(One has to wonder, how did the British get it so wrong?)


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 2: "Germans Fine Belgians For Sabotage by Refugees"


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 2: "Nazis Crack Down"
(A new German decree which imposes the death penalty for harboring British subjects.)
Also note the report in column 4: "Decrees Bar 150,000 Native Jews From French Public Life"


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
Note the report in column 7: "Nazis Censured In Vatican Broadcast"
Also note the report in column 6: "Fascist Building Bombed"
(Fire bombs used to destroy the building where they printed Italian language, fascist materials.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of the Nevada State Journal, Reno, Nevada.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of The Bakersfield Californian, Bakersfield, California.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
 
1. Neue Stuka= und Schnellboot=Erfolge.
(New successes from Stukas and Schnellboots)
2. Stimmungsbilder aus der Festung London.
(Aerial photos from fortress London.)


October 18, 1940: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
1. Ein Schurkenstreich der britischen Seepiraten.
(A villainous trick by the British sea pirates.)
2. Schiffbrüchige deutsche Seeleute beschoffen.
(German sailors shackled.)
3. Die Baralong= und die Altmark=Verbrechen in neuer Auflage.
(The new edition of the Baralong and Altmark incidents.)

[The Baralong incident was an infamous attack that occurred on Aug. 19, 1915 in which the entire crew of SMS U-27 were machine-gunned to death in the water by the crew of the British Q-Ship HMS Baralong. This incident was well remembered in Germany at the time (probably still is) and the Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, never missed an opportunity to remind the public about it. The Altmark incident was a complete British triumph. This occurred on Feb. 16, 1940 in a Norwegian fjord. A British destroyer, HMS Cossack, came alongside the Altmark, which was transporting over 300 British and Dominion prisoners that had been captured by the Admiral Graf Spee. All the prisoners were rescued and several Germans were killed. The Germans filed a protest because Norway was a neutral country and the British violated that neutrality by entering their waters unannounced. Of course, the German protest was never going to come to anything, and the Germans knew that. However, it is just one of the games people in high positions must play so the public thinks they are doing something.]
[More about Admiral Graf Spee here.]



   
Page published October 18, 2021