23:55GMT
23:55GMT
The day in dispatches
Filed through the day, as it happened
22:30GMT
22:30GMT
Nordic governments should state what help they will give Finland
STOCKHOLM Two groups of governments have set out where they stand on the war this week. Turkey has signed a treaty with Britain and France in Ankara, and the Nordic heads of state have ended their conference in Stockholm with a declaration that their countries will remain neutral.
19:30GMT
19:30GMT
Australia will bring back compulsory military training, Menzies says
CANBERRA Australia will bring back compulsory military training from 1 January 1940, the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, has announced in Canberra.
18:00GMT
18:00GMT
16:00GMT
16:00GMT
Farmers will have until March to plough grassland for the £2 grant
LONDON Farmers will have until 31 March 1940 to plough up grassland and qualify for the Government's grant of £2 an acre, the Minister of Agriculture, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, says in an answer printed in the Official Report.
Home front
14:30GMT
14:30GMT
Britain's Polish guarantee covered only German aggression, Butler says
LONDON Britain's agreement of mutual assistance with Poland was meant to cover aggression by Germany only, R. A. Butler, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, says in a written answer to the House of Commons.
Poland
13:15GMT
13:15GMT
Soviet officials decline to comment on the Turkish treaty, BUP reports
MOSCOW Soviet official circles are declining to comment on Turkey's treaty with Britain and France, the British United Press reports from Moscow.
12:45GMT
12:45GMT
Italy welcomes Turkey's stand on the Straits and Romania, Rome report says
ROME Italian opinion welcomes Turkey's reported refusal to change the rules for the Dardanelles in Russia's favour and its continued commitments to Romania, according to a report from Rome.
12:30GMT
12:30GMT
Reuter correspondent sees little troop movement behind British lines
FRANCE A Reuter correspondent who has toured the British positions in France reports that the force is heavily mechanised and that little movement of troops can be seen on the roads.
12:15GMT
12:15GMT
Yugoslav newspapers welcome the Turkish treaty, Belgrade reports
BELGRADE Yugoslav newspapers welcome the treaty between Turkey, Britain and France without reservation, according to a report from Belgrade.
12:00GMT
12:00GMT
11:50GMT
11:50GMT
Kingsley Wood visited France for talks with Gort, Air Ministry says
LONDON The Secretary of State for Air, Sir Kingsley Wood, visited France on Wednesday for talks with the French Air Minister, Guy La Chambre, and the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Lord Gort, the Air Ministry announced.
11:45GMT
11:45GMT
French communiqué says German infantry attacks were repulsed in heavy rain
PARIS German infantry units supported by artillery attacked at several points during the night and were repulsed, the French morning communiqué said today.
10:00GMT
10:00GMT
German semi-official statement says Turkey has left strict neutrality
BERLIN Turkey has departed from strict neutrality by signing its treaty with Britain and France, a semi-official German statement says, according to the Associated Press.
08:45GMT
08:45GMT
Le Temps says the Turkish treaty upsets German plans
PARIS Newspapers in Paris welcome the treaty between Turkey, Britain and France as a diplomatic setback for Germany, according to the British Official Wireless.
08:30GMT
08:30GMT
Treaty protocol says Turkey cannot be made to fight the Soviet Union
LONDON Turkey cannot be compelled by its new treaty with Britain and France to take any action that would bring it into armed conflict with the Soviet Union, under a protocol signed with the treaty in Ankara yesterday, according to the published text.
08:15GMT
08:15GMT
Treaty text says Britain and France will aid Turkey if attacked
LONDON Britain and France will give Turkey all the aid in their power if a European power attacks her, under the treaty signed in Ankara yesterday, according to the text published today.
04:00GMT
04:00GMT
Nordic conference in Stockholm ends by reaffirming neutrality
STOCKHOLM The Nordic heads of state and their foreign ministers ended their conference in Stockholm yesterday with a joint declaration that their countries will remain neutral, according to reports from Stockholm.
Baltic
03:30GMT
03:30GMT
Where things stood at the start of the day
- Turkey
- Britain, France and Turkey have signed a treaty in Ankara that is valid for at least 15 years, Neville Chamberlain told the Commons. The full text is due to be published today.
- Royal Oak
- The Admiralty says 810 officers and men were lost when Royal Oak was sunk in Scapa Flow. Hitler has given the U-boat commander, Günther Prien, the Knight's Cross.
- Finland
- Finland's President, Kyösti Kallio, called the Russian demands on his country severe in a broadcast from the Nordic conference in Stockholm.
- Baltic
- Soviet troops are entering Estonia in two columns, according to reports reaching Helsinki. Moscow says a new trade agreement will treble Soviet trade with Latvia.
- Washington
- President Roosevelt has closed American ports and waters to submarines of the countries at war. Eighteen Latin American governments are expected to follow.
- India
- Mahatma Gandhi says the Indian National Congress will not co-operate with Britain in the war.