Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Day 93 December 2, 1939

Finland. Red Army advances slowly on the Isthmus with massive casualties. In the far North, a handful of Finnish troops (10th Separate Company and 5th Separate Battery, part of the Lapland Group) face 2 Soviet divisions (104th crosses the border on foot while 52nd takes Petsamo by boat). International Olympic Committee cancels the planned 1940 Helsinki Summer Olympic Games.

Battle of the Atlantic. Near St. Helena again, Graf Spee’s Arado seaplane spots British freighter Doric Star (cargo of meat, dairy products and wool). Doric Star is stopped with 2 long distance shells but the crew radios a distress message and sabotages her engines. After transferring her crew, Graf Spee sinks Doric Star with shell fire and a torpedo.
http://www.bluestarline.org/doric.html

German liner Watussi is stopped by battleship HMS Renown and cruiser HMS Sussex and scuttled 80 miles South of Cape Town. Watussi’s crew of 155 and 43 passengers are rescued by HMS Renown and will spend the rest of the war in South Africa.
http://rapidttp.co.za/waratsea/watussi.html

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