19 September 1939

The day in dispatches

Filed through the day, as it happened

Newest first

23:45GMT

EditorialThe London Sentinel

Readers should ask how sure each official account says it is

Four governments published accounts of the war today, and they differed in how much they admitted to being unsure.

23:15GMT

WireALThe Atlantic Ledger

Morgenthau calls the fall of sterling disturbing

WASHINGTON The fall of the pound is disturbing, the Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, said today.

22:45GMT

WireSCThe Southern Cross

Canada organises two divisions for possible overseas service

OTTAWA Canada is organising two divisions of troops to be available as an expeditionary force if required, the Canadian government announced today.

22:00GMT

WireNYRThe New York Register

Roosevelt prepares a message to Congress

WASHINGTON President Roosevelt is preparing the message he will deliver to Congress when it convenes in special session on Thursday, the White House said today.

21:00GMT

AnalysisSOThe Stockholm Observer

Hitler says Germany and Russia will settle Poland between them

STOCKHOLM Germany and the Soviet Union will decide between them what happens to Poland, Hitler said at Danzig this evening. He also said Germany has no war aim against France or Britain and wants a lasting peace.

19:30GMT

WireAPSAllied Press Service

Hitler tells Danzig he has no war aim against Britain or France

DANZIG Germany has no war aim against either France or Britain, and he wants a lasting peace, Hitler said in a speech at Danzig tonight.

18:00GMT

16:30GMT

WirePDThe Paris Dispatch

Polish Embassy in Paris publishes a message from President Mościcki

PARIS The Polish Embassy in Paris has released a message from President Mościcki on the transfer of the seat of government, so that Poland may continue to be governed.

15:00GMT

WireAPSAllied Press Service

Berlin declares the battle of the Bzura ended

BERLIN The battle on the River Bzura, west of Warsaw, is over, the German High Command announced today. It claimed 50,000 prisoners taken so far.

13:30GMT

EyewitnessLSThe London Sentinel

Survivors of the Courageous come ashore

A BRITISH PORT Survivors of the aircraft carrier Courageous came off the destroyers today in whatever clothes they had been given, which were jerseys, other men's coats and a few blankets. They carried nothing, because there had been no time to save anything.

12:00GMT

AnalysisLSThe London Sentinel

Admiralty gives a survivor figure for Courageous but no casualty figure

LONDON The Admiralty has given two figures for the aircraft carrier Courageous today, a day after it announced her loss with almost no details.

10:30GMT

WireAPSAllied Press Service

Admiralty puts the Courageous survivors at 681

LONDON A total of 681 men have been landed from the aircraft carrier Courageous, the Admiralty says. The carrier was sunk by a submarine on Sunday.

09:00GMT

AnalysisIRThe Imperial Review

Ministry's account of the air war on submarines gives no numbers

LONDON The Ministry of Information's account of Coastal Command's war at sea, handed to the newspapers for this morning, contains no count of submarines attacked or sunk.

07:30GMT

WireAPSAllied Press Service

Ministry publishes an account of the RAF's watch at sea

LONDON RAF Coastal Command squadrons have kept watch over the North Sea and the Atlantic since the war began, working with the Royal Navy against attacks on merchant shipping, according to an account published by the Ministry of Information.

06:00GMT

Communiqué—

Duke of Windsor to take a staff appointment abroad

The War Office issued this on Monday and the Ministry of Information held it for this morning's papers.

War Office, via the Ministry of Information

Official text

The Duke of Windsor is to take up a staff appointment abroad, the War Office has announced. The announcement was issued on Monday, and the Ministry of Information held it for this morning's papers. It gives the Duke the new rank of Major-General, dated to 3 September, and leaves his destination and the staff he will join unstated.

03:00GMT

WireSOThe Stockholm Observer

Moscow accuses Estonia over the escape of a Polish submarine

STOCKHOLM Estonia allowed the Polish submarine Orzeł to leave Tallinn, where she had been interned, according to a statement issued in Moscow by TASS, the Soviet state news agency.

00:30GMT

WireAPSAllied Press Service

Soviet troops reported inside Vilna

KAUNAS Soviet forces have entered Vilna, according to reports reaching Kaunas tonight.

Where things stood at the start of the day

At sea: The Admiralty has announced the loss of the aircraft carrier Courageous to submarine attack, and believes the attacking submarine was sunk. It has given no position and no casualty figure.
Poland: German forces report the encircled Polish armies west of Warsaw breaking up. Warsaw has not fallen.
The east: Soviet forces are advancing across eastern Poland for a second day. His Majesty's Government has rejected Moscow's stated justification.
The Polish government: The President and ministers have crossed into Romania. The terms on which they have been received are not public.
The Baltic: The Polish submarine Orzeł has left Tallinn. Estonia has not explained how a vessel under internment came to sail.
The Far East: Tokyo has separated the armistice in the east from the war in Europe. The four boundary commissioners are unnamed.

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