European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                An uneasy world Christmas 1939 by John Barbour associated Pressi t was a nervous Christmas 50 years ago eerie at Best. It was the last bomb free free Christmas for most of Europe until after be Day in 1945. Europe had declared War but Adolt Hitler pleased with his easy Victory Over Poland had not blown the whistle to take on others. The soviet Union to protect its flanks had invaded Finland. But for most of the continent Blitzkrieg was replaced with sit Krieg. The French Felt secure behind Europe s largest army and the Maginot line thought to be impregnable. The germans were building forces behind the Siegfried line. London was blacked out Paris not so Gay was Calm. Italy was beset by anti German demonstrations thus making things difficult for Benito Mussolini. Joseph Stalin was personally negotiating through the holidays with the nazis to buy planes and heavier armaments in return for Oil and Grain. As for the nazi heartland. William l. Shirer wrote. Christmas a High Point of the year for germans was a Bleak one in Berlin that Winter with few presents exchanged spartan food the menfolk away the streets blacked out the shutters and curtains drawn tight and everyone grumbling about the War the Ood and the  Hitler did Tell his army that they would not be ordered to attack until Jan. 1 at the earliest so leaves could be granted. Then in keeping with the Holiday season in 1939, he wired Stalin Best wishes for your personal Well being As Well As for the prosperous future of the Peoples of the Friendly soviet  Stalin answered the Friendship of the Peoples of Germany and the soviet Union cemented by blood has every reason to be lasting and  not exactly warm or merry not something hallmark would come up with. But in keeping with the relationship. Stalin would learn that blood does not make Good Cement. Nazi Germany and the stalinist soviet Union were feeding on the Corpse of Poland which they had mutually agreed to suppress. Czechoslovakia and Austria were firmly under German Sway. Among displaced German jews there was an uneasiness that Christmas. Not everyone could go to America partly because of restrictive United states immigration Laws that made no exception for the plight of the jews and were applied to the letter. Some jews were forced to linger in Amsterdam Paris Scandinavia where they had fled. Rumor abounded that if the nazis Page 16 the stars and stripes wanted you dead they would find you. Armies were arrayed against armies. Germany had pumped divisions into the Siegfried line. France had met the bet with tens of thousands of men on the Maginot line. Britain across the Channel was mobilizing its Royal territorial and had Only some five divisions of regulars. It was working overtime building spitfires and Hawker hurricanes. Hitler was Happy to use the time to build up his forces and Complete the cynical liberation of Poland with the help of Stalin. He ordered that no attack no air raid would be launched without his personal order. Only the German Navy was free to do what it wanted against Allied shipping. In the first month of the War German a boats and mines claimed some 29 British ships. The effectiveness and Brazen ability of German undersea Craft was demonstrated when u-47 entered the Harbor of Scapa flow in the Orkney islands North of Scotland and sent the British battleship Royal Oak to the Bottom. The first lord of the admiralty Winston Churchill got a present on Christmas Day 1939. His naval researchers had worked out a new and effective method for sweeping up German magnetic mines that were taking an immense toll of Allied shipping at British ports. And the British Navy had an Early Christmas present for Churchill the British people and their allies. The germans had built three pocket battleships As raiders against commercial shipping. One of them the Graf Spee had shown its effectiveness sinking nine British vessels totalling 50,000 tons in the first three months of the War. The British committed much of their naval Power to organize eight Hunting groups to find and destroy the heavily armoured super cruisers. One of the groups composed of the Cruiser Exeter with 8-Inch guns and the cruisers Ajax and Achilles with 6-inchers, found the Graf Spee in the South Atlantic near Montevideo Uruguay where the River plate vents to the sea. Each of the Hunter groups was configured to Deal with a pocket battleship but this group lacked another 8-Inch Cruiser the Cumberland which was refitting in the falklands. The Graf Spee had 11-Inch guns with greater Range and hitting Power than the British ships. Even with the Exeter steaming toward her the Spee had three minutes of unimpeded barrages before she came into Exeter s Range. The lighter cruisers were under even a greater disadvantage. The Spee sought to stay at maximum Range under the cover of smoke but it soon found itself beset from three directions. The Exeter was hit and out of control when the Light cruisers finally came into play. Saturday december 23,1969 the German pocket battleship rats pee blows itself up one week before Christmas 1939 utter being attacked by three smaller British ships. The Graf Spee made for the River plate under cover of smoke. The Exeter her Bridge and Forward guns gone was being steered from the emergency controls aft. The Ajax had Tost its after turrets. The entire engagement had taken an hour and 20 minutes. The British ships pursued the Spee to Montevideo and Ley to outside. They were joined by the Cumberland two Days after the initial action evening the Odds. Capt. Langsdorff of the Graf Spee notified the German admiralty of his plight and asked instructions. On the evening of dec. 17, he headed his ship out of the Harbor and toward the waiting British ships. Some two hours later it blew itself up. Two Days later Langsdorff shot himself. Meanwhile the soviets invaded Finland 25 Days before Christmas but the finns would not lie Down and play dead. American moviegoers thai Christmas would see White Clad finnish ski troops on their newsreels. In London Churchill pleaded for a softening of the blackout regulations which he saw As hurting the War Effort and morale of the populace. Military objectives he said could Best be attacked by Daylight or Moonlight. London could be found easily by simple directional navigation. He suggested modified lighting that was employed in Paris that allowed enough Light to see 600 Yards ahead and a margin of safety for motorists. There is no need to have the Rosy glow As a guide and it would not be a guide if it were extinguished before the raiders leave the sea. But there is not much in it anyway. The penalty we pay for the present methods is very heavy. First the loss of life. Secondly As the Secretary of state for air has protested the impediment to munitions output and also work at the ports. Thirdly the irritating and depressing effect on the people which is a drag upon their War making capacity. Fourthly the anxieties of women and Young girls in the darkened streets at night or on backed Oul trains. Fifthly the effect on shopping and  he cited newspaper reports of a Man who was prosecuted for smoking a cigarette too brightly and another of a Mother who was fined for turning on a Light to care for her crying baby. Modifying to a dim Oil he said might help Britain make it through the Mist and fog of the three Winter months with better morale and greater safety. We can always revert to the existing practice if the i War flares up. Or if we do anything to  War would flare up. Before another War free Christmas Day would Dawn \ some 50 million people would violently vanish from the \ face of the Earth. J