9 Dec 1939
- German merchant freighter Kurmark, acquired by the German Navy in the fall of 1939, was commissioned into service as auxiliary cruiser Orion. ww2dbase [Orion | CPC]
- 27-year-old Corporal Thomas Priday, while leading a patrol near Metz, France, became the first British soldier to be killed in the European War. He was killed by friendly fire. ww2dbase [AC]
- German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee sailed toward the River Plate estuary on the border of Uruguay and Argentina to attack a reported convoy departing from Montevideo, Uruguay. Meanwhile, Royal Navy Force G (light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, soon to be joined by heavy cruiser HMS Exeter) was already en route toward the area in search of Admiral Graf Spee. ww2dbase [Battle of the River Plate | Admiral Graf Spee | CPC]
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"With Germany arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, America remote and indifferent... do you not tremble for your children?"Winston Churchill, 1935
