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Day 18
Monday 18 September 1939

The Admiralty announces the loss of an aircraft carrier

From the LIVE WW2 feed

The Second World War, in real time, 87 years on.

The day in dispatches

Filed through the day, as it happened
Newest first
23:55GMT
23:55GMT
23:35GMT
23:35GMT
EditorialThe Imperial Review

Announcements, reports and claims should be read as three different things

Today produced a great deal of official speech and very little movement that can be verified, and the two should be kept apart.

23:10GMT
23:10GMT
AnalysisSOThe Stockholm Observer

Estonia and Latvia stay silent on a submarine's escape and Polish aircraft landings

A Polish submarine escaped from Tallinn under fire this morning, and about sixty Polish aircraft had landed at Daugavpils in Latvia by midday. Both reports reached Stockholm through news agencies, and the Estonian and Latvian governments have both stayed silent.

22:30GMT
22:30GMT
AnalysisLSThe London Sentinel

Britain says its guarantee to Poland stands but leaves its next step unstated

Britain's obligations to Poland are unchanged, the government said in a statement issued in London this evening. The statement also says the Soviet case for entering Poland fails to stand up.

21:45GMT
21:45GMT
WireAPSAllied Press Service

Britain rejects the Soviet justification for entering Poland

The British Government has rejected the Soviet government's justification for its attack on Poland, in a statement issued in London this evening.

21:00GMT
21:00GMT
WirePDThe Paris Dispatch

Western Front calm, French say

The Western Front was calm today, according to a semi-official French summary issued in Paris.

20:15GMT
20:15GMT
AnalysisNYRThe New York Register

Roosevelt invites two leading Republicans to the White House before Congress sits

President Roosevelt has invited Alfred Landon and Frank Knox to the White House on Wednesday to discuss neutrality.

19:45GMT
19:45GMT
WireALThe Atlantic Ledger

Northern Ireland farmers to be required to put more land under crops

Holders of farmland in Northern Ireland are to be required to put a proportion of their arable acreage under crops, according to a government information report setting out a compulsory cultivation scheme.

17:15GMT
17:15GMT
AnalysisIRThe Imperial Review

Poland's government has crossed into Romania, and its position now depends on Bucharest

The Polish head of state and his ministers are in Romania, and a communiqué issued today asks the Romanian government for hospitality.

16:00GMT
16:00GMT
WireALThe Atlantic Ledger

Tin producers are allowed to export their full quota this quarter

The International Tin Committee, which regulates exports from the main tin-producing territories, has set the third-quarter export quota at 100 percent of standard tonnages. The announcement was made in London today.

14:45GMT
14:45GMT
AnalysisLSThe London Sentinel

Admiralty withholds where Courageous sank and how many were aboard

The Admiralty has confirmed the loss of the aircraft carrier Courageous but is withholding where she sank and how many of her crew survived.

13:30GMT
13:30GMT
WireLSThe London Sentinel

Lord Camrose appointed to run press relations at the Ministry of Information

Lord Camrose has been appointed Chief Assistant and Controller of Press Relations at the Ministry of Information, the Minister, Lord Macmillan, has announced.

12:45GMT
12:45GMT
WireLSThe London Sentinel

Greenwood says Britain must fight on after the Soviet move

Arthur Greenwood has told Reuters he was shocked by the Soviet entry into Poland, and he rejects the justification Moscow has given for it.

12:15GMT
12:15GMT
WireSOThe Stockholm Observer

About 60 Polish aircraft land in Latvia, Reuters reports

About 60 Polish aircraft had landed at Daugavpils in south-eastern Latvia by midday, Reuters reports from Riga.

11:00GMT
11:00GMT
WireAPSAllied Press Service

American attaché describes meeting a Soviet tank column in Poland

The United States military attaché, Major William H. Colbern, has described meeting a Soviet tank column in Poland yesterday.

09:30GMT
09:30GMT
BreakingWireAPSAllied Press Service

Aircraft carrier Courageous sunk by a submarine, the Admiralty says

The aircraft carrier HMS Courageous has been sunk by an enemy submarine, the Admiralty announced today.

08:00GMT
08:00GMT
WireFECThe Far Eastern Courier

Tokyo says its Soviet truce is unrelated to the war in Europe

The frontier armistice agreed with the Soviet Union is unrelated to the war in Europe, a spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Office says. He also denied that Germany mediated the agreement.

06:30GMT
06:30GMT
AnalysisSCThe Southern Cross

Curtin calls for immediate defence talks between Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand should begin economic and defence consultations immediately, the leader of Australia's Opposition, John Curtin, has told Reuters.

05:00GMT
05:00GMT
WireAPSAllied Press Service

Polish president and ministers reported in Romania

President Mościcki and members of the Polish government are in Romania, according to reports reaching correspondents at Cernăuţi, a Romanian town near the Polish frontier.

03:00GMT
03:00GMT
WireAPSAllied Press Service

Polish submarine Orzeł escapes Tallinn harbour under fire

The Polish submarine Orzeł has escaped from Tallinn, where Estonia had interned her, under fire from shore batteries and warships.

Where things stood at the start of the day

The eastern frontier
Soviet troops crossed into Poland in the early hours. The reported crossing times did not agree and were not reconciled.
Moscow's case
Moscow told Poland's ambassador the Polish state had ceased to exist, and rested the action on that claim. Moscow was the only government making it.
The Polish government
Polish ministers said from Kuty that their government was still functioning on Polish soil.
Warsaw
The city had not accepted the German surrender demand put to it the previous day.
Brest-Litovsk
Berlin said its troops had taken the citadel at Brześć Litewski.
The Allied capitals
London, Paris and Washington had the Soviet news all day and said nothing.
The Far East
Chungking's papers carried the frontier armistice and declined to call it a settlement.