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(c) crown copyright

Catalogue Reference:cab/66/2/38 Image Reference:0001

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T H I S D O C U M E N T I S T H E P R O P E R T Y OF H I S B R I T A N N I C M A J j E ST V S G O V E R N M E N TT O B E K E P T U N D E R L O C K A N D K E YI t is requested tha t special care may be tak en toensure the secrecy of this document

S E C R E T .1^, 39).,88.

on S T T 9P a p e f N o .77. COPY NO.WAR CABINET.

WEEKLY RESUME NO. 6 OF THE NAVAL, MILITARYAND AIR SITUATION 12 NOON, 5TH OCTOBER TO12 NOON, 12TH OCTOBER, 1939).

Previous Reference; W.P. 59) 73 Also Paper No .. 0.0.8. 59) 66.)

Report by the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The accompanying joint Naval, Military and Ai r ForceResume of the situation from 12.0 noon on 5th October, to12.0 noon on 12th October, 1939, is circulated inaccordance with the recommendation contained inW.P. G,) 39) 3, and approved by the Cabinet on7th September, 1939 W.M. 39) 7th Conclusions, Minute 1 7 ) ,

Signed)0;L N NEWALL.DUDLEY POUND.EDMUND IRONSIDE.

Richmond Terrace, S.W.1.,14th October, 1939.

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T HIS D O C U M E N T IB T H E P R O P E R T Y O F H I S B R I T A N N I C M A J E S T Y S G O V E R N M E N T

S EC RET Copy No

TO B E K E P T U N D E R L O C K A N D K E Y .I t is requested that special care may be taken toensure the secrecy of this document

:WEEKLY RESUME N o . 6 )of the

NAVAL, MILITARY AND AIR SITUATION12 noon October 5 to12 noon October 12

Central War RoomOctober13 1939

20130

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N A Y A L S I T U A TI O NNorthSea

T H E principal itemof naval interest during thepast weekwas anencounterbetween British naval forces andGerman aircraft. On the 8thOctober aircraftsighted aGerman force, consisting of onebattleship, w ith three cruisers and twodestroyers,off theNorwegian Coast proceeding northwards. Br it ish naval forceswere disposed to intercept them, and a force of 12Wel lingt on bombing aircraftleft to attack, but failed to locate them in bad visibility and returned. TheGermans arebelieved tohave turned back during thenight the 8th/ 9th October,and returned via theK A T T E G A T

52. On the 9th October the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, with destroyers incompany, whilst carryingout asweepoff theNorwegi an coast in connection withthe above incident,wasbombed byGerman aircra ft intermit tently over a periodof about four hours without effect, although over 100bombs were dropped. A tleast four separate high-level bombing attacks were madebygroupsof sixaircraftandonedive bombing attack by asingle aircraft.

3. During theweek German aircra ft also attacked two minesweepers offLowestoft and a destroyer in theNorth Sea. Reports have been received thatGerman flying boats are frequently seen by trawlers in an area about 50milesoff CROMER

4. Three German destroyers or cruisers' were reported by aircraft about100 miles to the Eastward of theSHETL AND ISLANDS on the 7th October, butfurther search in bad visibil ity failed to produce any contact wi th this force.On the 10th October there was some activity by German ligh t forces off the,Dutch coast, apparently in connexion with themovement of German shippingbetween German andDutch ports.

German Attack onTrade5. A small shipthe Glen Farg (876tons ,whichwassunkoff theORKN EYS

and atrawlerthe AIsey sunk offB L Y T H - - a r e theonly known Bri tish victimsof U-boat attack during theweek. TheLoch Goil (9,482 tons) struck a floatingmine in theBR I S T O L C H A N N E L but was beached off SWANSEA

6. Neutra l losses were as follows: Dutch s.s.Binnendijk (6,873 tons , sunk off Portland by either torpedo

or mine.Finnish s.s.Indra (1,999 tons ,mined off TERSCHELLINGSwedish s.s.Visttda (1,018tons ,sunkbyU-boatoff theShetland Islands.

7. The total losses since thebeginning of the war are as follows Total

gross tonnage.By submarine 27 136,422By mine 3 13,031By surface craft 1 5,051Cause unknown 1 210

32 154,714Also sixfishing vessels.

8. I t is nowconsidered certain that the ship which sank the s.s. Clementoff P E R N A M B U C O on the 30th September is the Admiral Scheer. No furtherattacks have been reported. A Norwegian ship reported having encounteredanarmed raider on the 28th September 200miles E. of BAHIA . I t is believed thismay have been the Schivabenland.

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9. W ith ou t m akin g al lowanc e for losses, the number of U-b oats estimatedbe in service now -is 78, of wh ich 28 are of the ver y small typ e. T h e an ticip ate dfuture totals are :Ja nu ar y 1940 ... ... ... 102M ar ch 1940 .; . . . . . . . . 122

Anti-Submarine Operations. : ^^ H^10. Th e weather has been unfavourab le for ant i-submarine act iv i ty durin gthe past week . Si x attacks on presumed submarine contacts Were . car ried outbetween the 5th and 7th October, of which two were by aircraft and one by aFrench pa tro l boat. I t seems un likely tha t any dam age was done to the U -boatsjn any of these attac ks . : - ,On the 11th October there wer e one or tw o subm arine reports, one off Crom er,one off Ty n e. On the 12th October the tra w le r Lochtula attac ked a submarine inLiverpool Bay, and the hunt was subsequently taken up by two destroyers withpromising resu lts. *

Mining.12. Th e Dover barrage is nearly comp leted.13. M an y floating m ines have been rep orte d in the southern part of theNorth Sea. A la rg e num ber hav e d ri ft e d on shore in Suffolk and Essex : sixteenof these are definitely G erm an , some ar e Du tch , others B rit ish . N o doubt thehard gales of the last week account for this.

Casualties.14. Destroyers Escapade and Vivacious col l ided leav ing. Mi l - ford Ha ven.The Troopships Francpnia and Alcantara wh ich were in col l ision in theMediterranean whi lst in convoy wi l l require two weeks and one week respect ivelyto effect repairs.

Convoys..15. Ships fro m the W es t Indie s are being evasively routed to H al i fa x,

there to jo in the H a li fa x convoys wh ich w il l be stron gly escorted. M an y Fren chships are sai l ing in B rit ish convoys. Sie rra L eon e convoys are being escorted byboth Br itis h and Tr en ch wa rsh ips . Ov er 1,300 ships have been sailed in convoysince the commencement of hostil ities and no ship in convoy has yet been lostby enemy action. Ar ra ng em en ts have been ma de for the co-ope ration of Br it ishaircraft in case of a ttac ks on convoys pass ing u p and dow n the Eas t C oast.German M erch an t S hipp ing.

16. Th e No rthe rn Pa tro l cruisers have captured the Cap Norte a Germanliner of 13,000 tons, wh ich was retu rnin g from B ra zi l with a cargo of petroleumand food-stuffs. T h is is the big ge st Ge rm an ship taken so fa r, and is the secondship to be captured at sea that has not scuttled herself

17. S ix Ge rman merchant ships have reached No rw eg ian waters from theAtlantic du ring the wee k under rev iew , inc lud ing tw o of over 13,000 tons. Fo rtyare now believed to be at sea outside Eu ro pe an w ate rs, and ma ny of these are nodoubt try ing to mak e for Germ any. In add it ion, 270 Ge rm an merc hant shipswere believed to be stil l in neu tral port s on the 10th Octobe r. O f these it isbelieved tha t 47 are capab le of be ing con ver ted to arm ed me rchan tmen .Economic Warfare.

18. Ba d weather has seriously hand icapped the wo rk of Contrab and Control .Sixty-seven neutral ships are at present under examination in the three detentionports of the U nit ed Ki ng do m . Th e total tonna ge of cargo seized in priz e in G reatBatOain up to the 7th October is 314,888 tons.[20130] 2

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South American Division19. The strict application of the neutrali ty regulations in S. America,

which from ourpointofview isvery desirableinorder torestrict enemy activities'may somewhat hamper theactivities of our S.American Division andmakeitnecessarytomake fuller use o f theFalkland Islands.

M I L I TA R Y S ITU A T IONWestern FrontBritish Eexpeditionary Force.

20. The 2ndCorpsandremaining G .H.Q. Troops havenowmoved forward,and, by the 12th October, the B.E.F., with the 51st French Division undercommand, will have completed thetaking over of theL ILLE sector of theFrenchfrontier defences, from -M A U L D E (north of St.Amand) to A R M E N T I E R E S .German Movements.

21. German operationson theWestern Front have been confined throughoutthe we ek tominor attacksandreconnaissancesin thearea between theRhineandthe Mosel le. There have beennooperations southof K A R L S R U H E .

More interest attaches to the moves of German reinforcements and thedevelopment of German fortifications. A total of 126German divisionshasbeenidentified. Of these,58divisions (asopposed to 52 a weekago ) areknownto beontheWestern Front,andelementsof afurther 20divis ions have been identifiedin the same theatre. The distribution of these divisions is believed to be asfollows:

Minimum. Maximum .North Sea to excl. of K L E V E 2 2inch KLEVE to incl. A A C H E N 14 24excl. A A C H E N to R M O S E L 10 12R M O S E L to R RHINE 21 27Upper R H I N E front ... ... - ... 11 15

Total .. . 58 78N O T E .E l em e n t sofeachof twodivisions have been reportedin twodifferent

sectors. Hence themaximum figure isreduced from 80 to 78.It will beseen that thelargest coneentrationis in theRhine-Mosel le sector,andthere are indications that this area may befurther reinforced in thenear future.

22 . General V o n ,Reichenau, who commanded the German mechanisedformations inpeace,isreported tohave established hisheadquarters at MARBURGonthe 9thOctober, and to beassembling anarmy to thenorth-east of Coblenz.

I t isestimated that these mechanised formations hadcompleted therefittingnecessitated by thePolish Campaign by the 7thOctober, and that, since then,they have been ready for actionon theWestern Front. I t is doubtful, however,whether therehas yetbeenanyactual concentration of mechanised divisions westof theR H I N E although elements of onearmoured division and onelight divisionhave been reported in thearea between K AISERLAUTERN andK A R L S R U H E and ofone light division north of D U S S E L D O R F .

23. In forward areas thebulk of German rail movement hasbeen betweenF R E I B U R G and BA S L E but no big increase in theforces on the southern half ofthe R H I N E front hasbeen established.

24. Work is still in progress on German fortifications between E M M E R I C Hand the SAAR . N ew fieldworks have been identified in the EIFEL sector andinundations have been made, by means of barrages, in the valley forming theouter edge of thefortified zone south-east of P I R M A S E N S . A n item of interestis a work, possibly an aerodrome with underground hangars, which hasbeenlocated south of A A C H E N .Pontoon bridges have been built across theR H I N E south of M A I N Z and ona tributary of theRhineat apoint southof R H E I N A U (south of KEHL .

Engineer stores andpontoon equipment arereported by a reliable sourcetohave been brought up to thearea E M M E R I C H -G E L D E R N -K L E V E -R E E S a d-magfofrindioato oporationo acroaotheDutch frontier.

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Soviet Russia.The Russian Army in Poland

25. Theart i l lery expansion, on wh ich theSovie t decided a year ago, hasapparently notprogressed very far, for Russian formations in Nor thern Po lan d,presumably drawn from the imp ortant W h it e Russian m il i tary d istr ict, arereported tohave only 48 field guns andhowi tzers perd iv is ion and 12mediumguns and how itzers percorps.I t hasbeen suggested, h owe ver, that the Sov ie t did not move comp leteformations into Poland,butem ployed pick ed units from a numbero f formations.This theory is indirectly confirmed by the var ie ty of regiments identif ied,though thereisreason to suspect that some renum berin g of units has been carriedout inorder toconfuse f or eig n observers.

Rep orts cr it icis ing adv ersely the efficiency ofRe d Ar m y un it s inPo landarestill being received.Soviet relations with th Baltic States

26. TheEstonian Governm ent has accepted most of thedeta iled demandsmadeby theSoviet m i l i ta ry mission.In add i t ion to thepublished agreement, theSoviet mayobtain an ai rbaseat KL O O G A AKE near A L T I S K I and possibly another at VI R T S U . I t is alsoreported that Soviet troops are to be stationed at HAAPSALTJ , apparent ly as amobile reserve to oppose possible land ing operation s. Themovement of Soviettroops into Estonia was tohave started on the9th/10th O ctober, b ut/a ppea rs-tehmebeen pos tpon ed .^ e*Z6*

Under the published terms of the Sov ie t -Latv ian Pact , w hich was s ignedon the6th October, theSov iet U ni on has obtained rights toestablish na va l basesat LIBAU andWI N D A U , to build aerodromes for the Red A i r Force on La tv ianterritory and to station coastal art i l ler y between WI N D A U anc^jBiTRAGS at the

7N.W. cornerof the Gulf o f RIGA .Accord ing to theLa t v ian M in i s te r for Fore ign A f fa i rs , theSoviet Govern ment adopted areasonable attitu de d urin g thenegotia tions. Troo ps w il l numberfrom 25,000 to 35,000,anddetailsof thelocation of aerodromes anddefencesareto be wo rked outbym il it ar y m issions.By her treat ies with Estonia and L a t v i a the Soviet hasobtained effectivecontrolof the coast from L ithu an ia to Len ing rad , inc lud ing adom inating positionat theentrance to theGu l f of R i g a . Her strate gic position in theBal t i c is,therefore, very greatly improved.I t isdifficult to forecast the futu re of these States, buti t ismost un like ly thatthe Sovie t can afford toal low them t o ma inta in th eir cultural and economic entit iesowing to the effect w hich con tact wit h norm al conditions mig ht have uponRed A rm y troops.

27. A c co r d in g to Pres s rep orts, the Soviet-Li thu anian negot iat ions haveresultedinthe cess iono fVILNA toL i thuan ia in exchange forthe righ t toestablishSoviet garrisons andairbases in the country and thefre e useo f the VILNA-LIBAUrailway. There is noconfirmation of reports that theSoviet Government hasdemanded the constructionof fort i ficat ions on the Li th ua nian -Ge rm an frontier .28. TheSov iet has adopted a somewhat threatening attitud e to F in land inconnection with theforthcom ing talks. Th is has led thelatter tomo bilise some50,000 to 60,000 men, and to deploy forces along hermore vulnerable frontiers .The scope of theSoviet demands is not ye tknown. But, if they areexcessive, itis quite prob able th at the Fi nn s w il l resist.I t is reported that theSoviet has a total of four divisions on or neartheFinnish frontier. I t is assumed that this to tal does not include the normalgarrison of theLen ingra d area, and in anycase these fo rces could be re inforcedquickly i f necessary.Sweden isnatural ly apprehensive of Soviet action against Finland and theAaland Islands, andapp ears also tofear aSoviet attempt to seize thenorthern-Norwegian ports. The Swed ish A r m y normal ly d ischarges all its conscript

personnel in theautumn, but these men arebe ing retained with thecolours inview of thegenera l situation. TheGovernment is tak ing measures to improvethe train ing and arm amentof the forces, butisunl ikely toproduc e effective resultsfor several months. I t is,there fore, doubtful w hether Sweden w il l bep reparedto give Finland active support if thelatte r resists Ru ssian deman ds.

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Soviet activities elsewhere29. Th ere have been no furth er signs of concentrat ions on the Roumanianfrontier, where Soviet forces are est imated at between twelve and fifteen

divisions. Th e bulk of the Rou m an ian Ar m y has been mov ed int o EasternRou m anic .Sov iet m il i ta ry a ct iv ity in the Caucasus app ears to be contin uing . Onerepo rt stated that there w ere a t least eigh teen divisio ns in this area, but this isthought to be an exaggerat ion.The Ba lkans .Yugoslavia

30. Fo ur defe ns ive l ines are bein g con structe d in the area enclosed by ther ivers Danu be and Ti sa and the H un ga r ia n front ie r . Th ey are des igned toma ke an at tack by mo tor ized forma t ions across the Hu ng ar ian fron t ier asdif ficult as possible t i l l the we t wea ther begin s about mid Nov em ber.L it t l e info rm atio n is ava i lab le re ga rd in g the state of the f ie ld defences onthe German frontier, but they are bel ieved to consist of two l ines; one justsouth of the fron tier, and the other about tw en ty miles from the fro nti er.Bulgaria

31. Th e tension between Tu rke y and B ulg ar ia appears to be diminishing.I t is expe cted that the division s at present concen trated nea r the Tur ki sh frontierand main tained at a higher establ ishment than other Bu lga r ia n format ions wi llshort ly be reduced in strength .Greece

32. I t has been officially announced tha t, as a resu lt of the Ita lo-G reekaccord, the Gree k forces wi l l be returned to their norm al peace locat ions. Theclasses of reserv ists due fo r release are to be disc ha rge d, but it ap pe ar s that thestrength o f forma t ions near the A lb an ian f ron t ier w i l l be ma intain ed by t ransfe rr in g fro m Southern Gree ce men whose per iod of t ra in in g has not beencompleted.

Italy33. Th ere has been no ap pre ciab le increase in m il i ta ry a ct iv ity. I t isoff ic ial ly announced that tw o new inf an try divis ion s have been form ed , but i t isnot ye t know n wh ether these are to be first-line d ivis ion s or me rely trainingdivision s for reservists. Some expan sion in A l p i n i units has been effected byincrea sing the number of battal ions in each reaim ent. Th ere is, how ever, noconf irmat ion o f the reported forma t ion o f add i t ion al A l p in i d iv is ions.The total reinforcements to date in Western Libya are est imated at one corpsof three divisions with some corps and army troops and possibly one addit ionalinf an try divis ion. Rein force m ents in Eas tern Li b ya a ppe ar to be confined to onecorps headqua rters and some ad di t ion al art i l l e ry. Th ere are indicat ions thatsix battal ions of native troops have been duplicated, thereby providing suff ic ientinf an try u nits to complete tw o na tive division s. Th e att i tu de in Lib ya remains

defensive .Re l ie fs o f I ta l ia n A r m y personnel in A l ba ni a have cont inued. Arr ivalshave again sl ightly exceeded departures, but no new units have been identi f ied.Re po rts show that the coast and an ti-a irc ra ft defences of ports are now beingsystematical ly instal led.T h e Ita l ia n press of the 30th September announced the for m atio n of theFascist A lbanian Mi l i t ia , organised in four legion headquarters , wi th GeneralHeadquar ters a t T i rana.

I ran34. I r an has taken the fo l lo wi ng precau tions : Two/^d ivisions, totall ing18,000 men in all, have been^gisvod to theC U C S U S fro n tie r; one division , 8,000strong, is on theT U R K E S T N fr on tier . In the oi l- f ie ld area, strong pol ice guards

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are prote cting the ref inery, and troo ps are gu ard ing A B A D A N is land, the p ipe- l in eand the IRAQ f ront ier nor thward f rom M O H A M M E R A HThe two strong d iv is ions stat ioned atT E H E R A N have not been moved.Tar BAST.

35. In Ce ntra l China, Japanese forces, operat ing southwards towa rdsChangsha, have wit hd raw n. Th is wi th dr aw al was probably occasioned by underestimation of maintenance diff iculties and over-confidence which resulted in minortactical reverses. Th e Japanese w ith d ra w al has been orde rly, but it appears th atthey have sustained con siderable losses in men and ma teri al. T h e success has hada markedly favou rable effect on Chinese morale .I n South Ch ina, sporad ic f ighting continues near the border of the Le ase dTerritory at Hong Kong and the Japanese have had to increase their troops asa result. Th er e is am ple evidence that these reinforcem ents are not directedagainst the Colony.36. Th e si tuat ion at T ien tsin has imp roved .A t Sha ngh ai the ac tivit ies of the police of the pup pet regim e are causingdiff iculties in the western district of the city, which is in the British defencesector.

A I R S I T U A T I O N .Distribution of German Air Force.

37. N o ma jor moves have come to l ig ht durin g the past week, and it appe arsthat the German long-range bomber units are sti l l at their normal aerodromes.Reports have been received of intensive work on aerodromes in north-westGermany. Th e land in this area is l iable to be we t in wint er and it is probablethat the Germans are constructing runways on their aerodromes.Trench A ir Force.

38. D u rin g most of the week bad weath er made air reconnaissances diff icult.Some useful f l ights we re mad e over the areas to the east of Lu xem bu rg, and airphotographs have disclosed that the Germans are constructing defence works inthis sector. L o w clouds hav e reduce d the losses from G erm an fighter ai rc ra ft.Effectiveness of Germ an Anti A ir cr af t F ire .

39. P i l ot s have reported that German ant i -a ircraf t f ire is extremelyaccurate. Nev erthele ss, very fe w a irc ra ft have been destroyed by this means inWestern Ge rma ny. On the 8th Septem ber a Frenc h reconnaissance air cra ft w asbrought down at a height of 16,000 ft., and on the 11th September a similartype of air cr aft was destroye d by grou nd machine-gun f ire. Fo ur other ai rc ra ftwere missing d ur ing Septem ber and may have been shot dow n from the groun d.It is more probab le, ho we ver , that they w ere lost by fighter action .I t therefore app ears that of the twenty-seven French a i rcr af t lost du r ingSeptember as a result of enemy action, only two are known to have been destroyedby A A f ire, althou gh the loss of fou r m ore may have been due to the same cause.Royal Air Force Operations.Bomber Command

40. W it h the except ion of the employment of bomber a irc raf t againstGerman nava l forces re ferr ed to in para gra ph 1 above, our bomber forces in thiscountry and with the advanced air str iking force in France have undertaken nomajor operations during the current period.Royal Air Force Com ponent of the Field Force

41. Th e mo vem ent to Fra nc e of the ope ration al and ancil lar y units of theRoyal A i r Fo rce Compo nent is now com plete except for the a ir cr af t of o nesquadron.

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Reconnaissances to report on road and rai l movements in North-WesternGerm any have been m ade in da yl igh t. One ai rc ra ft wh ich reconnoitred thearea Munster-Osnabruck-Bremen brought back a useful general report andphotographs which revealed no abnormal act ivity; the pi lot stated that heencountered heavy fire from anti-aircraft guns and from the coast defencesbetween Borkum and Juist.Co operation with Naval forces.

42. Coastal Com mand airc ra ft have car ried out a total of 57 patro ls andsearches and 44 escorts for convoys in H om e Wa te rs du rin g the week. In addit ionto the sig htin gs of enemy vessels re fe rr ed to above a lar ge number of merchantships have been repo rted. A ir c r a f t have sighted submarines on only threeoccasions.German sea reconnaissance aircraft have encountered our air patrols onthree occasions. On one of these three Hu dson a irc ra ft shot dow n a Germanflying boat 95 miles east o f St. A nd re w s. A Dan ish traw ler picked up the crew.

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