23 Dec 1939
Finland
Finland
- At 0630 hours, 4 Finnish divisions counterattacked on a 28-mile front on the west side of the Karelian Isthmus, trying to trap resting Soviet forces in a massive encirclement; without support of anti-tank weapons or artillery pieces, it was repulsed by tanks; Finnish General Öhqvist called off the attack at 1440 hours after suffering 1,300 casualties. Meanwhile, Captain Mäkinen's 2 machine gun companies in the Finnish 9th Division attacked forward elements of the Soviet 44th Division, tying down the entire column of 15,000 troops and equipment. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]
- An IRA gang stole the Irish Army's entire reserve of small arms ammunition - more than one million rounds - from an ammunition fort in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Most of it was recovered over the following days. ww2dbase [Dublin | AC]
- German SS organization decreed that Polish workers who left their workplace without permission were to be arrested and sent to concentration camps. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
- The British Military Intelligence Section 9 (MI9) was established under the command of Major Norman Crockatt. It was charged with aiding resistance fighters in enemy occupied territory and recovering Allied troops, including downed airmen and prisoners of war. ww2dbase [AC]
Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you. Please help us spread the word: Stay updated with WW2DB: |
Change View
Desktop ViewSearch WW2DB

News
- » The Emperor of Japan Planned to Honor WW2-era Japanese POWs in Mongolia (4 Jul 2025)
- » US State Lawmaker John Winter Caught Using Racial Slur "Jap" and Apologized (11 Jun 2025)
- » Köln/Cologne Evacuated After Discovery of WW2 Bombs (4 Jun 2025)
- » Race, Holocaust, and African-American WW2 Histories Removed from the US Naval Academy Library (7 Apr 2025)
- » US Government Plans to Purge WW2 Information (17 Mar 2025)
- » See all news
Random Photograph
Bomb dropped by Japanese pilot Kazumi Horie exploding on the flight deck of USS Enterprise during Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24 Aug 1942Current Site Statistics
- » 1,179 biographies
- » 337 events
- » 45,089 timeline entries
- » 1,246 ships
- » 350 aircraft models
- » 207 vehicle models
- » 376 weapon models
- » 123 historical documents
- » 261 facilities
- » 470 book reviews
- » 28,481 photos
- » 365 maps
Famous WW2 Quote
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You win the war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country!"George Patton, 31 May 1944