January 9, 1940; 1940 SEEN AS FATEFUL YEAR

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, JANUARY 9, 1940:

Eleven Vessels Are

Attacked By Nazi
Planes Off England

Thirty-Three Men Wounded—

Danish Vessel is Sunk
CROWDS ON SHORE
SEE BOMB STRIKE

LONDON, Jan. 9.— (CP.) —Thirty-three men were wounded, mostly by machine-gun fire, and one Danish vessel was bombed and sunk as German warplanes were reported to have attacked 11 ships off Britain's coasts today.

Crowds on the cliffs of the northeast Scottish coast saw a bomb hit the stem of a Danish vessel which sank in about three hours. The crew of this ship, the name of which was not disclosed, was rescued by nearby vessels.

HEAR MACHINE GUNS

So near the coast was part of the encounter that onlookers heard the rattle of machine guns.

One of the vessels attacked, it was reported, was a lightship which was machine-gunned intermittently for half an hour. This vessel was relieving another lightship off the east coast of Scotland when attacked.

 

1940 SEEN AS FATEFUL YEAR

LONDON, Jan. 9—(CP.)—Prime Minister Chamberlain in a militant address to the empire today declared Britain's aid to Finland "will be no mere formality," and said that events in the war with Germany thus far were "merely preliminary" to the main struggle to come. "It is only on the sea," he said, "that the war may be said to be in full operation."

The prime minister declared that the British-French alliance should become permanent in the interests of "peaceful reconstruction" after the war is over.

For 55 minutes, he reviewed the progress of the hostilities to date in an address at a lord mayors luncheon at the Mansion House. It was Mr, Chamberlain's first public appearance of the New Year, a year which he said would be a fateful one in the history of the world.

 

Sees Threat

To Holland

New German Headquarters

Established Near Border
—Airfields Built

LONDON, Jan. 9.—(CP)—The Amsterdam correspondent of the Daily Telegraph predicted today that within the next two or three weeks Holland will be as seriously threatened by German invasion as it was last November. The correspondent said he learned from "a reliable source" that a new German army headquarters had been established at Recklinghausen, about 40 miles from the Dutch frontier. "Heavy artillery positions have been prepared near the Dutch frontier, particularly in the wedge of German territory which protrudes into Holland in the Kleve district.

"New military airfields have been prepared during the last few weeks at various points along the whole Dutch frontier, from Emden to Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle). "Although it is a serious statement to make, there is every reason to believe that the Germans count, in the event of an attack, on the co-operation of members of the Dutch Nazi party. It is to be hoped they are mistaken.