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Note: Since the war has now begun, Prelude to War is finished.



BBC Announcer: We now bring you the Prime Minister:

Chamberlain: I am speaking to you from the cabinet room of 10 Downing Street. This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a demand for a complete cease-fire or under the Anglo-Polish Treaty, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country will be at war with Germany at 10 a.m.
You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more, or anything different, that I could have done, and that would have been more successful. Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland. But Hitler would not have it; he had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened. And although he now says he put forward reasonable proposals, which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement. The proposals were never shown to the Poles, nor to us.

His action shows convincingly that there is no chance that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force, and we in France are today in fulfillment of our obligations going to the aid of Poland who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack upon her people. We have a clear conscience, we have done all that any country could do to establish peace, but a situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted, and no people or country could feel itself safe, had become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your parts with calmness and courage.



Home Fleet

Carriers: Argus, Ark Royal, Bridgeman (Admiral class), Courageous, Glorious
Battle cruisers: Hood, Howe, Repulse, Rodney,and St. George
Battleships: Agincourt, King George V, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria, Ramillies, Revenge, Royal Sovereign, Warspite
10 Heavy cruisers
34 Light cruisers
63 Destroyers
43 Submarines
20 Sloops
2 Monitors

Mediterranean Fleet

Carriers: Eagle, Hermes
Battle cruisers: Nelson, Renown
Battleships: Barham, Royal Oak and Valiant
5 Heavy cruisers
17 Light cruisers
31 Destroyers
22 Submarines

Pacific Squadron (based at Singapore):

Carrier: Furious
Battleship: Malaya
1 Heavy cruiser
3 Light cruisers
6 Destroyers
4 Submarines

South Atlantic Squadron

1 Heavy cruiser
2 Light cruisers
4 Destroyers

Building:
5 aircraft carriers
4 battle cruisers
2 battleships
6 heavy cruisers
8 light cruisers
36 destroyers
20 corvettes
20 sloops
24 submarines


Pre-dreadnought battleships: Hessen (being converted back into a pre-dreadnought) , Schleswig Holstein, Schlesien
Battleships: Gneisenau, Scharnhorst
6 Heavy cruisers
6 Light cruisers
50 Destroyers
40 submarines


Building:
1 aircraft carrier
3 battleships
4 Heavy cruisers
3 light cruisers
8 destroyers
26 submarines


"Good evening, Mr. & Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press. As many of you are aware, war has broken out in Europe again. The timeline thus far. Germany invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Finland, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US have all declared themselves neutral in this conflict.

Reports out of the Free City of Danzig indicate that there is a large-scale battle under way in the city. We are also hearing reports out of Warsaw that the Germans caught the Poles by surprise and they have seized vast areas of Polish territory.

From London we are getting reports that both France and Britain have declared full mobilization and they have declared a total blockade of Germany.

It looks like Germany had a very unpleasant visit from the Royal Navy just after war had been declared. According to the British, the battleship Iron Duke sank 2 German cruisers and a number of merchant ships before bombarding the locks of the Kiel Canal. The Germans have denied that such a battle took place. They have claimed that the Iron Duke shelled the Kaiser Wilhelm II Children's hospital in Kiel before being sunk by the Luftwaffe.

From this reporter's prospective it appears that Herr Hitler is a liar. This reporter has not been able to find any hospital by that name in Kiel. The Royal Swedish Navy has released a statement by the Captain of the cruiser Gotland. The Captain states that he and his crew witnessed a naval battle between the British battleship and German cruisers and destroyers. From his report, the German Air Force and Navy were unable to sink the British ship. The Royal Navy was able to sink a number of German ships before being sunk by land-based artillery.
The State Department is urging that all Americans in Poland, if they can safely do so, leave Poland at once. If they can't, they are urged to make their way to the US Embassy in Warsaw. They also state that under no circumstances should you be without your passport.
In Seattle…"


Serious planning for the attack on the German Naval Base at Wilhelmshaven began in early 1938 when Vice Admiral Lord Hornblower became Commander, Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the Atlantic (later Home) Fleet. Hornblower, the Fleet Air Arm's most senior naval aviator, had come to the conclusion that war with Germany was inevitable once Hindenberg died and Hitler came to power. He felt that air power could strike a decisive blow to Germany and her Navy.

The plan called for the use of four of the Royal Navy's carriers - the Ark Royal, Bridgeman, Courageous, and Glorious escorted by all five battle cruisers of the Battle cruiser Squadron, cruisers and destroyers to attack Wilhelmshaven. A Royal Navy submarine would be in position 40 nautical miles north of Hegoland to act as a guide for the attack force .The carriers would launch just before dawn and their planes would hit the major warships, air fields, tank farms, coastal artillery positions and other targets of opportunity.

Admiral Hornblower was able to use his influence with MI6 to have an intelligence operative planted in Wilhelmshaven to pass along information. Unfortunately, information could take up to a week to get back to the UK. The operative did have a radio for emergencies. From the pre-war intelligence gathered by this operative, Hornblower and his staff estimated that it would take the Germans 3-4 weeks to reinforce Hegoland and Wilhelmshaven with additional anti-aircraft weapons and fighters. It was known that there was a squadron of Messerchmitt Bf 110 fighters based at the local airfield.

The plan was for three squadrons of torpedo carrying Swordfish to attack the warships in the harbor, while two other Swordfish squadrons (carrying mines) would mine the approaches to the harbor. Five squadrons of Supermarine Storm attack aircraft, each plane carrying 1000 kg of bombs would attack the oil farm, airfield and coastal artillery positions. The five squadrons of Fairy Buccaneer fighters would provide air cover.

The attack force left Scapa Flow four hours after the outbreak of war and was in position to launch their attack on the morning of August 21. What they did not know (since the information had yet to be delivered) was that the Germans had moved two Flak Regiments into the area 48 hours before hand and a squadron of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters the day before.

Two British destroyers, deployed ahead of the attack force, intercepted and boarded a number of German fishing boats, destroying their radios. Their crews were held aboard the destroyers and released after the attacks were over. Both destroyer crews did buy fresh fish from the Germans, paying them in British pounds.

There were four major warships in the harbor that morning - the pre-dreadnought Hessen, the battleship Gneisnau, and the cruisers Konigsberg and Leipzig. The Hessen,a former training ship, had just cleared the harbor when the attack began at 8:00 a.m. The first wave of the torpedo carrying squadrons (800, 810, & 811 Squadrons), 2 bomb carrying Storm squadrons (802 & 803) and 3 fighter squadrons (812, 820, & 821) took the defenses by surprise.

The Hessen was quickly struck by 4 torpedoes and quickly sank just outside the harbor mouth, The Leipzig` absorbed 3 torpedoes before settling on the harbor floor, her turrets just under water. The Gneisnau shot down the four Swordfish attempting to torpedo her while the Knoigsberg seemed to lead a charmed life as the attackers seemed to ignore her. That charmed life came to an end minutes later as 3 Supermarine Storms each dropped 1000kg bombs on the Knoigsburg. She sank within minutes, taking most of her crew with her. Other planes from 802 Squadron went after the oil tank farms, while planes from 803 & 821 Squadrons hit the airfield.

The attacking British squadrons were lucky in that they caught the Me 110 squadron on the ground destroying most of those aircraft still in their revetments. The Bf 109 Squadron, under the command of Major Werner Molders had taken off earlier for area familiarization flights and upon hearing of the attack came flying back to their base only to find it and the harbor under attack.

The second wave ran into pretty heavy flak and fighter opposition, and while a number of mines were dropped inside and outside the harbor, the Supermarine Storms were forced to abort their attack runs and jettison their bombs (the Kaiser Willhelm Bridge was severely damaged). A hospital was also damaged by jettisoned bombs (The Germans would later claim that it had been a target) The British lost eight planes from the first wave, 22 from the second wave. Most of the returning planes were shot full of holes (a third would never fly again). Major Molders shot down six of those planes.

Sailing back to the UK, the German U-boat U-24 managed to fire a spread of torpedoes at HMS Agincourt. The destroyer Gloworm put herself between the U boat and the battleship. Glowworm was sunk, while Agincourt was damaged. The U-24 was sunk by the escorting British destroyers. The Agincourt made it back to the UK, but would spend the next 6 months being repaired.

Both sides claimed victory in the battle. The British claimed that they had sunk both battleships and crippled three cruisers while destroying the Luftwaffe on the ground. The Germans claimed they had beaten off the attack and had sunk the Agincourt and Ark Royal. The loss of the fuel did hurt the Kreigsmarine for a short time and they had a difficult time in finding and destroying all the naval mines dropped by the British. (One was discovered on the sea bottom by some divers in 1989.)



In 1939 I was Second Engineer onboard the cruise ship SS Athenia. We were outbound from Glasgow enroute to New York with a crew of 315 and over 1,000 passengers. We had left Glasgow on August 16, 1939 - two days before the outbreak of the Second World War. By 10pm August 18 we were 250 nautical miles north west of Ireland. We had blacked out the ship (or so we thought). I had gotten off duty a short time earlier and was in my cabin. The first explosion knocked me off my feet, the second one stunned me. I thought the boilers had exploded! I was able to get dressed and get out of my cabin when a messenger stopped me with a message from the Captain. All officers were to report to their boat stations. We had been torpedoed and we were sinking!

I was at my boat station with my boat crew and we began loading the passengers. According to the First Officer, the first torpedo had destroyed the engine room, killing everyone there! The second had destroyed the rudder. Damn Germans didn't even give us a fair warning! We were able to load up fairly quickly and I was given the order to lower my boat. I as informed that an American warship was steaming to our rescue and should hopefully be here by daybreak.

The Athenia sank just before 2 a.m. on the 19th. All of the lifeboats were launched and most of the passengers and crew made it off. My superior, Chief Engineer Carl Davis died when the first torpedo hit the engine room along with most of the Black Gang.

Just after 8am I heard a wonderful sound - an airplane engine. Looking around we saw a biplane coming our way. As she flew over us, the pilot waggled his wings. He flew over us several times. We could see it was an American plane. One of my female passengers told me it was an American Helldiver Scout Bomber, like the one her brother flew in the Navy.

Two hours later, an American destroyer came into view. We were the third lifeboat picked up by the crew of the USS Farragut. Three hours after we were picked up, we were transferred to the American aircraft carrier Alamo and from there we made our way to the US.


In early 1939, I was a Squadron Leader in command of No. 15 Squadron. We flew the Bristol Blenheim bomber and we, along with 3 other squadrons, on August 21 were ordered to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. The French Army had planned an offensive to take Saarbrucken away from the Germans. The French 1st Army (some 12 divisions strong) was going to advance on a 30 km front and we would be providing air support on their right flank. After an intense but short artillery barrage, the French infantry crossed the border and moved on towards Saarbrucken. The German 17th and 79th Infantry Divisions managed to delay but not halt the French advance. My squadron was called in on several attacks on the German 17th Division and we sent in a 10-ship attack on their positions. I led the attack on a fortified position consisting of a number of blockhouses backed up by machine gun and artillery positions. We came in low (about 100 feet off the ground) and we dropped our bombs on an artillery position. We lost our port engine over the target and had to crash land three miles from the French-German border. We walked four miles before being able to hitch a ride back to our airfield. Everyone of course knows the result of the Saar Offensive. The French were halted 10 kilometers outside the city before being driven back by a strong German counter attack and low French morale.