Paul Reynaud becomes the new Prime Minister of France, as 239 French Deputies vote in favor and 1 against. However, indicating once again the fractured sentiment, there are 300 abstentions. Paul Reynaud forms a new French government after his election as Prime Minister by the Chamber of Deputies. Former Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet is excluded from Reynaud’s government.
Former Prime Minister Édouard Daladier becomes Minister of National Defense and War. Reynaud also will serve as his own Foreign Minister. There are three Socialists in the cabinet. There will be an inner war cabinet of nine members. Daladier still has widespread support, and Reynaud essentially is forced to have him in the cabinet.
For Italy the formation of the Paul Reynaud government is an unpleasant shock, which widens the gap between this country and France and makes even slimmer the already very slim chance of the Allies obtaining Rome’s support. M. Reynaud is by reputation a strong Anglophile and an enemy of Fascism, and is seen as anti-Italian.
The most outspoken criticism of the Chamberlain government that has been voiced since the outbreak of the war was heard in the House of Commons this afternoon as Liberal and Conservative speakers joined in demanding more vigorous conduct of the war by a smaller War Cabinet of Ministers free from departmental responsibility. What the critics of the government want now is what David Lloyd George as Prime Minister gave the country after the early reverses of the last war. However, when the members dispersed for the Easter holidays there. seemed to be little prospect that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain would bow to critics of his regime until before Parliament reconvenes April 2, although parliamentary recesses in this country are a favorite time for reshuffling the Cabinet,
The fact is that Mr. Chamberlain’s stock is riding a bull market after his defense of British policy in the Russo-Finnish war and the wave of enthusiasm throughout the country over the air raids on the German. island of Sylt, which appeased the British appetite for action against the enemy. Public opinion is gathering behind the proponents of change, but the time is not ripe yet for major developments, despite what has happened in France. Because of the Supreme War Council any change in the French Government affecting a reorientation of policy is bound to be reflected in political changes here, unless the present British Government can accommodate itself to the future policy of the Allies.
Sir Henry Tizard briefs the British Cabinet of research by two physicists at Birmingham University working on an atomic “super-bomb.” He cautions that “It is quite conceivable that Germany is, in fact, developing this weapon.” The government has appropriated funds to study this issue.
George Orwell writes a review of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in which he concludes, “I would kill Hitler if I could, but I cannot dislike him.”
German Labour battalions in the Todt Organization begin constructing bunkers along the “Ostwall,” the border with the Soviet Union.
The Swedish Government, which still would like to conclude a Scandinavian defensive alliance with Norway and Finland, despite Soviet objections, announced today that as part of new defense measures the military class of 1933, totaling 10,000 men, would be called up for 150 days of training this year and 64 days next year.
Marshal Semyon Timoshenko was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for the first time and the Order of Lenin for the second time.
British and Turkish delegations met in secret in Syria.
A Sussex farmer, Gerald Winter, sees an RAF plane crash and risks his life to drag the pilot out of the burning plane.
The first prototype SNCAO CAO.600 made its maiden flight on 21 March 1940, being flown from Villacoublay to Istres on 31 March. The SNCAO CAO.600 was an all-metal monoplane with an inverted gull wing and a retractable tailwheel undercarriage. The pilot and bombardier/navigator sat in separate cockpits with individual stepped windscreens, with the navigator in the extreme nose and the pilot above the leading edge of the wing. The radio-operator/gunner sat further aft, with his cockpit behind the wing. Power was provided by two Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engines. It had completed 35 flying hours by 25 June when the test programme was stopped by the French surrender to Germany. The second prototype, which differed in having the folding wings required for carrier operations, was abandoned incomplete, while the first prototype was dismantled and stored until it was finally scrapped following the German occupation of Southern France in November 1942.
The 4,947-ton German steamer Heddernheim was torpedoed off the Danish coast by the British submarine HMS Ursula. Though the steamer is not large, her sinking represents the first coup in a major step-up in British efforts to cripple Germany’s vital iron-ore supplies. Germany’s armaments depend on imported iron ore. No less than nine million tons come from Sweden, much of it brought through Narvik, a Norwegian port that is ice-free all year round. The Royal Navy is now moving in destroyers and submarines to make the route dangerous if not impossible. Germany’s armaments depend on imported iron ore. No less than nine million tons come from Sweden, much of it brought through Narvik, a Norwegian port that is ice-free all year round. The Royal Navy is now moving in destroyers and submarines to make the route dangerous if not impossible.
At 0100 hours, the Danish motor merchant Algier was torpedoed and sunk by the U-38, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe, approximately 15 miles northwest of Foula, Shetlands in the North Sea (60°17′N 2°49′W). Algier was hit by a stern torpedo from U-38 and sank by the stern with a list to port after 10 minutes about 15 miles north-northwest of Foula, Shetlands. The ship had been missed with a first torpedo at 2324 hours the day before. Four crew members and a passenger were lost. The 18 survivors abandoned ship in a lifeboat, were picked up by the British trawler Manx King and landed at Scalloway the same day. Five crewmen were lost. The 1,654-ton Algier was carrying general cargo, including copper, tin, mercury, and 11 Studebaker motor cars and was bound for Copenhagen, Denmark.
At 0326 hours, the Danish motor merchant Christiansborg was also torpedoed and sunk by the U-38 in the North Sea (60°17′N 2°49′W). Christiansborg was hit in the foreship by one torpedo from U-38 and broke in two. The ship had been missed by a stern torpedo at 02.56 hours. The forepart sank in 60°15N/02°40W and the afterpart was shelled and sunk by the British armed boarding vessel HMS Discovery II later the same day. The 24 survivors were picked up by the British vessel and taken to Kirkwall. One crewman died. The 3,270-ton Christiansborg was carrying maize and was bound for Copenhagen, Denmark.
The British paddle steamer Gondolier was scuttled in Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands.
The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary departed New York for Sydney, Australia, to be fitted as a troopship. Troop accommodations would be increased from 2,140 to 5,500.
Convoy OG.23F forms at sea for Gibraltar.
Convoy HG.23 with thirty six ships departed Gibraltar and was given ocean escort by sloops HMS Scarborough and HMS Wellington from 21 to 30 March. In Home Waters, the convoy split and convoy HG.23A was escorted by the sloops. In Home Waters, convoy HG.23 was joined by destroyers HMS Campbell and HMS Walker from convoy OG.23 and destroyer HMS Volunteer from 27 to 30 March. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 30th.
Convoy OA.114 departed Southend escotted by destroyer HMS Antelope from 21 to 23 March, destroyer HMS Amazon from 22 to 23 March, destroyer HMS Windsor on the 23rd. The convoy dispersed on the 24th.
Convoy OB.114 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers HMS Vanoc and HMS Versatile from 21 to 24 March. The convoy dispersed on the 25th.
Convoy SA.33 of one steamer departed Southampton, escorted by sloops HMS Foxglove and HMS Rosemary. The convoy arrived at Brest on the 23rd.
Convoy MT.35 of eight ships departed Methil escorted by the 1st Anti-submarine Groups and sloops HMS Fleetwood and HMS Stork. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.126 of twenty one ships from the Tyne, four additional from Middlesbrough, seven from the Humber departed the Tyne escorted by sloops HMS Fleetwood and HMS Stork from convoy MT.35 and anti-submarine trawler HMS Lady Philomena (417grt). The convoy arrived at Southend on the 23rd.
Convoy HX.29 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS Ottawa and HMCS St Laurent. The destroyers turned over the convoy to armed merchant cruiser HMS Ausonia and French Naval submarine Sidi Ferruch at 1745/22nd. The armed merchant cruiser was detached on 2 April. Destroyers HMS Versatile and HMS Winchelsea escorted the convoy from 2 to 4 April, when the convoy arrived at Liverpool.
The War at Sea, Thursday, 21 March 1940 (naval-history.net)
Base ship DUNLUCE CASTLE caught fire at Scapa Flow, and was beached in Ore Bay until the fire was brought under control.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO and destroyers HOSTILE, DIANA, and FORESTER arrived at Sullom Voe at 0700 to refuel. The destroyers departed at 1835 to rejoin the Fleet.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA departed Sullom Voe for duty as the anti-aircraft ship for the Norwegian convoys.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CURLEW arrived at Scapa Flow.
At 1100, destroyer JUPITER, detached from convoy ON.21, arrived at Scapa Flow at 1200 with condenser trouble. Repairs were carried out by destroyer depot ship WOOLWICH.
Destroyer JUNO arrived at Scapa Flow after repairs. She was dispatched to replace destroyer JUPITER in convoy ON.21.
Destroyer DIANA reported her asdic gear was damaged.
Destroyers ELECTRA and ENCOUNTER departed Scapa Flow at 2316/20th to Skerry Sound to guard the harbour entrance to Scapa Flow after the Tower of Cliff battery fired on a U-boat in Holm Sound. The destroyers took up patrol in Skerry Sound to guard the eastern entrance to Scapa Flow. ENCOUNTER attacked a submarine contact in Stronsay Firth in 58 57N, 2 37W. The contact proved to be a wreck.
U-57 (U-22 – Uboat.net; possibly U-22 – Axis Submarine Losses) sank Norwegian steamer SVINTA (1267grt), which was in the tow of tug ST MELLONS after having been damaged in the bomber attack on convoy ON.21 on the 20th. SVINTA sank 4¾ miles 40° east of Copinsay. ELECTRA and ENCOUNTER were diverted to SVINTA’s position to search for the submarine.
Destroyers WOLVERINE, VANSITTART, VIMY, and VENETIA departed Plymouth to sweep prior to meeting convoy HX.26 at 0745/24th.
Convoy OA.114 departed Southend escorted by destroyer ANTELOPE from 21 to 23 March, destroyer AMAZON from 22 to 23 March, destroyer WINDSOR on the 23rd. The convoy dispersed on the 24th.
Convoy OB.114 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers VANOC and VERSATILE from 21 to 24 March. The convoy dispersed on the 25th.
Convoy SA.33 of one steamer departed Southampton, escorted by sloops FOXGLOVE and ROSEMARY. The convoy arrived at Brest on the 23rd.
Convoy MT.35 of eight ships departed Methil escorted by the 1st Anti-submarine Groups and sloops FLEETWOOD and STORK. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later that day.
Convoy FS.126 of twenty-one ships from the Tyne, four additional from Middlesbrough, seven from the Humber departed the Tyne escorted by sloops FLEETWOOD and STORK from convoy MT.35 and anti-submarine trawler LADY PHILOMENA (417grt). The convoy arrived at Southend on the 23rd.
Due to increased U-boat activity in Moray Firth, destroyer IVANHOE and three trawlers on patrol in the Firth were placed under the control of Vice Admiral, Orkneys and Shetlands. Destroyers ESK, EXPRESS, IMPULSIVE, and ICARUS of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla were placed under the orders of Vice Admiral Orkneys and Shetlands to patrol within twenty miles of 58-08N, 2-28W between sunrise and sunset. The next day, these destroyers patrolled within forty miles of 58-45N, 00-00E between sunrise and sunset.
Off Fro Havet near Trondheim in 63N, 7E, destroyers FEARLESS and HASTY entered Norwegian territorial waters to challenge German steamer NORDLAND (1902grt), (or German liner ANTONIO DELFINO (13,589grt)) which was travelling under the protection of Norwegian torpedo boat TRYGG. FEARLESS was ordered away, but attempted again at Hustad, again unsuccessfully, to intercept the German ship. This search continued from 0645 to 1415. Wartime press reports and some postwar accounts identify this German ship as liner EUROPA (49,746grt) which remained anchored at Bremerhaven from prewar days throughout the war. German steamer NEUENFELS (8096grt) was challenged by two Destroyers of Operation DU near Lindesnes on the 22nd and escaped into Rosfjord.
Submarine CLYDE departed Blyth for Scapa Flow. Submarine CLYDE was joined off Scapa Flow by anti-submarine whaler BUTTERMERE (560grt) on the 23rd.Both ships arrived later that day.
Submarines SNAPPER and SUNFISH were ordered to intercept German steamer CHARLOTTE CORDS (1779grt), which was reported preparing to depart Rotterdam for Germany. Submarine SEAL was ordered to intercept German steamer JOHANN BLUMENTHAL (1626grt) off Arendal on the 23rd. Neither German ship was intercepted.
Submarine URSULA in the eastern Skagerrak stopped Norwegian steamer OTTAR JARL (1459grt) for inspection, but she was allowed to continue. Shortly after at 2146, eight miles ENE of Skagen, URSULA encountered German steamer HEDDERNHEIM (4947grt) which had departed Haugesand on the 18th. She fired three torpedoes, one of them hitting the German steamer, which sank in 57-48-40N, 10-53-30E. This was the first sinking of a German merchant ship by a British submarine in the war. Submarine URSULA was damaged by ice on this date.
Destroyer BOADICEA took the Chief of the General Staff (CIGS) to Boulogne. The CIGS returned to Dover on the 25th on destroyer KEITH.
U-38 sank Danish steamer ALGIER (1654grt) and CHRISTIANBORG (3270grt) in 60 17N, 02 49W. Five crew were lost from ALGIER and one from CHRISTIANBORG. The eighteen survivors from ALGIER were rescued by British trawler MANX KING and landed at Scalloway on the 21st. The after part of CHRISTIANBORG was sunk by gunfire from armed boarding vessel DISCOVERY II later the same day. The armed boarding vessel landed the survivors at Kirkwall.
Convoy HX.29 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by Canadian destroyers HMCS OTTAWA and HMCS ST LAURENT. The destroyers turned over the convoy to Armed merchant cruiser AUSONIA and French submarine SIDI FERRUCH at 1745/22nd. The armed merchant cruiser was detached on 2 April. Destroyers VERSATILE and WINCHELSEA escorted the convoy from 2 to 4 April, when the convoy arrived at Liverpool.
Convoy HG.23 with thirty-six ships departed Gibraltar and was given ocean escort by sloops SCARBOROUGH and WELLINGTON from 21 to 30 March. In Home Waters, the convoy split and convoy HG.23A was escorted by the sloops. In Home Waters, convoy HG.23 was joined by destroyers CAMPBELL and WALKER from convoy OG.23 and destroyer VOLUNTEER from 27 to 30 March. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 30th.
French destroyer SIMOUN arrived at Gibraltar from Casablanca and sailed for Toulon.
Light cruiser DANAE departed Singapore on patrol duties.
Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who advocates a third term for President Roosevelt, said today that no Democratic Presidential candidate now in the field could control enough delegates to win the nomination. He included Vice President Garner, Federal Security Administrator McNutt and Postmaster General Farley. Ickes made the one-sentence statement to his press conference in reply to a question, and declined to elaborate. In reply to another question, he declined to give an opinion as to whether the Democratic National Convention would draft President Roosevelt.
Rep. George Boldea Pinkham (R-Massachusetts), suggested today that Congress “seriously consider the impeachment” of James Cromwell, United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Canada, if he is not recalled at once. Pinkham made public a letter to Secretary of State Cordell Hull asserting that “any disciplinary action short of Cromwell’s immediate recall will be insufficient to meet the present situation.” He charged that Cromwell’s recent speech in Canada, in which he pictured the’ Allies as “fighting to save democracy”, was in flagrant violation of President Roosevelt’s neutrality proclamation. The storm of isolationist sentiment forces Secretary of State Cordell Hull to rebuke his statement of the 19th, and will eventually force him from his position.
Secretary of State Cordell Hull tonight reprimanded James H.R. Cromwell, newly appointed American Minister to Canada, for his pro-Ally speech in Toronto on Tuesday.
Although failing to reach a final vote today on the Agriculture Appropriation Bill, the Senate completed action on amendments assuring passage of its full total of about $923,000,000, and approved in addition RFC loans of $40,000,000 for the electrification of rural areas and $50,000,000 for a farm-purchase program.
The House began consideration today of the $954,189,700 supply bill for 1941 for the Labor Department, Federal Security Agency and other functions. The bill was trimmed by the Appropriations Committee $19,118,170 under current appropriations and $11,798,942 under estimates of the Bureau of the Budget.
A public debt of any amount up to $50,000,000,000 would not worry Secretary Morgenthau, he said at his press conference today, but he categorically denounced any “trick” or “roundabout” methods for circumventing the present statutory debt limit of $45,000,000,000.
New York Mayor La Guardia entered the controversy over the number of the nation’s unemployed today as president of the United States Conference of Mayors. He was a guest of President Roosevelt at luncheon, and urged on the Chief Executive a sizable deficiency relief appropriation for the rest of this fiscal year, and an appropriation for next year at least as large as the $1,500,000,000 voted at the last session of Congress. The Conference of Mayors, Mr. La Guardia said on arrival here this morning, estimates that unemployment will be not less than 9,000,000, on the average, throughout the coming fiscal year, and may reach 10,000,000 or 11,000,000 unless the employment curve takes a sharp bend upward.
[Ed: “Unless.”]
A report severely indicting the National Labor Relations Board’s administrative methods, policies and machinery, and recommending remedies, made in October by four of the board’s own regional directors, was shelved by order of the board majority, it was disclosed today.
Howard Hughes increases his stake in Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc. (T.W.A.), which he has been building since May 1939, to 30%. This gives Hughes a controlling share of T.W.A.
Bound on the most significant voyage of her four-year career, the 81,000-ton liner Queen Mary was somewhere at sea last night, presumably overhauling her smaller sister vessel, the Mauretania, which had sailed twelve hours earlier on a similar secret mission.
Auxiliary USS Bear (AG-29) and Interior Department motorship North Star (U.S. Antarctic Service) depart Bay of Whales for the United States. Staying behind are the men who will spend the long winter night at East and West Bases.
“Rebecca” based on the book by Daphne du Maurier, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine premieres in Miami, Florida (Oscar – Best Picture 1941).
Woody Guthrie was recorded for the first time, in an interview with Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress during which he also performed some original and traditional songs.
Tonight Canadian Premier W.L. Mackenzie King, in his final election broadcast from Ottawa, began by emphasizing the importance of the election inasmuch as it was the first vote of a free democracy cast during a war in which democracy was fighting for its existence.
The Alberta Social Credit Party led by William Aberhart won a second term in the Alberta general election, although it lost seats from its 1935 landslide.
Second Battle of Wuyuan: 35th Army of Chinese 8th War Area captures Wuyuan. The Chinese battle it out with the Japanese defenders of Wuyuan all day long, then finally capture the city at 16:00. The Japanese move north.
Battle of South Kwangsi: Chinese 93rd Infantry Division crosses the Yung River and advances toward Tatang, threatening rear of Japanese 22nd Army spearhead around Yungshun.
The most important resolution adopted by the Japanese-sponsored Central Political Conference on behalf of former Premier Wang Ching-wei today abolished the names of the “North China Provisional Government” and the “Central China Reformed Government.” However, the step toward the abolition of the North China government does not mean complete dissolution of that regime, as there is being formed a “North China Political Affairs Commission.”
“Political affairs of the Provisional Government will be taken over at the order of the Central Government within the scope provided by its laws and decrees and will be readjusted as soon as possible by the North China Political Affairs Commission,” it was announced. A clear-cut definition of these political affairs was not given, but it is generally believed that North China will remain autonomous to the extent of handling problems pertaining to North China, with the “Central Government” dictating foreign policy and relations with Japan. The “Central Government,” headed by Mr. Wang, is to be inaugurated March 30.
The resolution asked that as many as possible of those serving with the “North China Provisional Government” be retained by the new commission so that, although the name would be changed and the “Central Government” would. assume certain North China responsibilities, there would be little change in the North China governing body.. A similar policy was voted regarding the “Central China Reformed Government.” Today’s meeting of the Central Political Council also adopted the Council’s Constitution and amended the organs of law of the national government. Hitherto the Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Control and Examination Yuans have been responsible to the Central Executive of the “orthodox” Kuomintang. The new resolution makes these yuans directly responsible to the Central Political Council.
It was revealed here today that Chinese guerrillas broke through strong Japanese guard lines along the Shanghai-Nanking railroad on Monday in an unsuccessful attempt to wreck a train carrying delegates to the Central Political Conference. The guerrillas succeeded only in derailing a freight train, four cars of which are still lying beside the tracks. Evidence that guerrilla activity has been intensified recently is seen in strengthened Japanese defenses and burned-out houses in the railroad zone.
Japan’s relations with Western powers are in a state of suspense pending results. of the great experiment that Wang Ching-wei is now introducing at Nanking. While that is being tried out no new developments one way or another in foreign policy will be attempted, and during the coming months foreign Ambassadors in Tokyo are expected to have little. to do but wait and watch events. Ambassador Joseph C. Grew of the United States is considering the possibility of passing his Summer vacation in the United States. This prospect was made the basis today of unfounded reports that he is retiring. Like all United States Ambassadors he is entitled to thirty days’ annual furlough and may have an extension of thirty more. The trip, if made — and there has been no definite decision yet — will be a vacation without political significance. Though the Grews would visit Washington, they would expect to pass more time at their home in New Hampshire.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 146.73 (-0.18)
Born:
Chip Taylor [James Voight], American songwriter (“Angel of the Morning”; “Wild Thing”), singer, and producer, in Yonkers, New York.
Solomon Burke, American soul singer (“Cry To Me”; “Diamond In Your Mind”) and preacher, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2010).
Naval Construction:
The Royal Navy Dance-class ASW trawlers HMS Mazurka (T 30) and HMS Minuet (T 131) are laid down by Ferguson Bros. Ltd. (Port Glasgow, Scotland).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvettes HMS Gloxinia (K 22) and HMS Picotee (K 63) are laid down by Harland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland).
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Violet (K 35) is laid down by W. Simons & Co. Ltd. (Renfrew, Scotland).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type 1936A destroyer Z29 is laid down by AG Weser (Deschimag), Bremen (werk 963).
The Royal Navy Dido-class light cruiser HMS Royalist (89) is laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland).
The Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Type VIIB U-boat U-102 is launched by F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel (werk 596).
The Marine Nationale (French Navy) Flower-class corvette La Malouine is launched by Smiths Dock Co., Ltd. (South Bank-on-Tees, U.K.). On completion, La Malouine sailed for Portsmouth for fitting out. It was here that she was commissioned into the Marine Nationale in June 1940. However, France surrendered to Germany on 22 June 1940. As a consequence of this event La Malouine was seized by the Royal Navy on 3 July 1940 and subsequently commissioned into the Royal Navy, as HMS La Malouine (K 46), by Lt. Cdr. R.W Keymer RN, on 29 July 1940. Throughout the remainder of the war La Malouine flew both the Tricolore and the White Ensign.
The Royal Navy Flower-class corvette HMS Calendula (K 28) is launched by Harland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland). In 1942 she will be transferred to the United States Navy as part of the reverse Lend Lease arrangement and renamed USS Ready, one of the Temptress-class “gunboats”. With the end of hostilities she will be returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.
The Royal Navy Fiji-class (Crown Colony-class) light cruiser HMS Trinidad (46) is launched by Devonport Dockyard (Plymouth, U.K.); completed by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.).
The Royal Navy rescue tug HMS Hendon is commissioned.
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