HISTORICAL DATA-1938:









  •  JANUARY     On Saturday, January 1 of this year the population of the borough of Queens in New York City reached 1,302,615 persons, according to an estimate by the Queensboro Chamber of Commerce which will be published in the NEW YORK TIMES on Wednesday, February 2 of this year. The Chamber will say that 49,215 people moved to the borough in 1937 and that, using the figure of 3.63 members as the average size of a family, some 13,557 new families had taken up residence in Queens. Taking that same figure for estimated family size, the Chamber said that about 61,566 families had moved to Queens since the census of 1930.  (SOURCE:  Article, "Queens Population Rose To 1,302,615 in Year", New York Times, Wednesday, February 2, 1938, page 1-digitized at: http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/02/issue.html  accessed 6/14/2016-GD).

  •  JANUARY:   On Monday, January 10 of this year, in a reflection of the strong-but not overwhealming-isolationist sentiment in the United States, the House of Representatives defeats the proposal for a constitutional amendment that would require a popular referendum before a declaration of war could be enacted. This amendment was proposed by Representative Louis Ludlow of Indiana.

  • JANUARY:    On Sunday, January 16 of this year in the United States of America the Gallup organization, the American Institute of Public Opinion, releases the results of a poll which shows that 70% of those questioned, who replied to the survey, were in favor of a complete withdrawal from China of all American military forces, as well as removing all medical and religious missionaries. (SOURCE: HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II VOLUME III The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931-April 1942 by Samuel Eliot Morrison Castle Books Edison, NJ 2001, page 18).

  • FEBRUARY:    In a short but sharp debate in the United States Senate on Tuesday, February 1 of this year, Senator Key Pittman, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, described President Franklin Roosevelt's foreign policy as being  unchanged from what it had been in 1933, being one of "non-interference and non-intervention in the affairs of other governments." Senator Pittman denied Republican charges that the administration was seeking either offensive or defensive alliances with other nations. At his press conference today, President Roosevelt declined to go into details about his foreign policy, saying merely that most people knew by now what that policy was.  (SOURCE:  Article, "SENATORS QUESTION OUR FOREIGN POLICY IN A SHARP DEBATE"  ((No author given)), New York Times, Wednesday, February 2, 1938, page 1-digitized at: http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/02/issue.html  accessed 6/14/2016-GD).

  • FEBRUARY:    On Tuesday, February 8, 1938 the Citizens Committee for Planned Parenthood was formed in New York City when 123 people, including clergymen, business men, bankers, educators and women who are active in social work met at the new group's headquarters at 576 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to launch an effort to assist the American Birth Control League's campaign to  provide scientific birth control information to America's 27,000,000 maried couples. The group claims to be the country's first independent group of private citizens formed to educate people on the advantages which have been gained through recent medical and court approval of birth control. The committee said that the American Medical Association had, last year, declared that birth control was an integral part of medical practice, and that, two years ago, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals  ruled that birth control could be prescribed by physicians for life-saving reasons as well as for promoting the well-being of their patients. According to a statement by Gilbert Colgate, the new committee's steering committee  chairman, the purpose of the group is to be an information-providing source for medical information [not actual devices--Garrett Dempsey note] which will promote the health and general well-being of all families by enabling them to better space the births of their children.  (SOURCE:  Article,"123 LEADERS BACK BIRTH CONTROL AID"  ((No author given)), New York Times, Wednesday, February 9, 1938, page L+++ 15, digitized at:  http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/09/issue.html  accessed 6/10/2016-GD). 

  • FEBRUARY:    In Europe German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, on February 8 of this year,  extends an invitation to Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to meet him for a conference at Berchtesgaden on February 12 of this year to discuss the current situation facing both counries.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION Volume I by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality, United States Government Printing Office Washington, 1946, Chapter III, page 24).

  • FEBRUARY:    On February 9 of this year the NEW YORK TIMES publishes a report from Jerusalem which is dated February 8 of this year and which reports that the threat of "Arab terrorism" continues in Palestine, with a British sargeant and an Arab bus passenger being killed in separate shooting incidents.  (SOURCE:  Article, "ARAB TERRORISM RENEWED" ((No author given)), New York Times, Wednesday, February 9, 1938, page L+  11-digitized at: http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/09/issue.html  accessed 6/9/2016-GD).

  • FEBRUARY:    According to another article printed in the NEW YORK TIMES on Wednesday, February 9 of this year, there are truly no open or covert anti-Jewish official actions taking place in Italy. This comes as the Italian Minister for Popular Culture has felt the need to refute rumors appearing in "various foreign newspapers" about supposed measures recently taken by the Italian government against Jewish intellectual activities.  (SOURCE:  Article, "ITALY DENIES BAN ON WORKS BY JEWS" by Arnaldo Cortesi, New York Times, Wednesday, February 9, 1938, page 14  L+, digitized at: http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/09/issue.html  accessed 6/10/2016-GD).

  • FEBRUARY:    At this time the headquarters of the United States Army's Second Corps Area is on Governor's Island in New York Harbor and, according to a report carried in the NEW YORK TIMES on February 9 of this year, that hadquarters announced on February 8 of this year that a bonus of US$500 in then-current funds would be paid to Army Air Corps cadets following three years of service with tactical units, and the headquarters also said that there still remained about 100 unfilled positions in the cadet class which is to be enrolled on the first of next month at the training school at Randolph Field in Texas. Potential cadets must be between 20 and 26 years of age and must have completed two years of "college work". Cadets with a year's training in flying, meteorology, radio and similar subjects are given housing, clothing, money to buy food, and US$75 each month in pay; at the end of this training, cadets may choose to become second lieutenants in the Air Corps Reserve, earning a minimum of US$125 per month. Flight pay and other allowances total about US$245 per month.  (SOURCE:  Article, "ARMY BONUS FOR FLIERS"  ((No author given)), New York Times, Wednesday, February 9, 1938, page 14  L+- digitized at:  http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/09/issue.html  accessed 6/10/2016-GD).

  • FEBRUARY:    It was reported in the NEW YORK TIMES on Wednesday, February 9 of this year that the former property of Henry B. Rosen in Lawrence, Long Island had been sold to the Noramy Realty Corporation, and that the realty company planned to build 25 homes on the property, which is located between Broadway on the south, Central Avenue on he north, Herrick Drive on the east and  Lawrence Avenue on the west. Price of the sale was not disclosed.  (SOURCE:  Report, "25 HOUSES PLANNED FOR LAWRENCE, L. I." ((No author given)), New York Times real estate section, Wednesday, February 9, 1938, page L  35, digitized at:  http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/09/issue.html  accessed 6/10/2016-GD). 

  •  FEBRUARY:    On February 12 of this year Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg meets with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler at Hitler's mountain retreat at Obersalzberg  above Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. Reacting to verbal pressure and threats from Hitler, von Schuschnigg signs what will be known as the "Berchtesgaden Agreement" which grants control of the Austrian security apparatus to the pro-Nazi State Councillor Arthur Seyss-Inquart; this agreement also calls for the release of all Nazi political prisoners being held in Austria.  (SOURCE:  "1938" page, Austria 1918-1938, at:  http://en.doew.braintrust.at/m9sm104.html  accessed 1/22/2014-GD).

  • FEBRUARY:    At his meeting with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden on February 12 of this year, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg agrees to remain silent until Hitler delivers a speech on February 20 of this year; the Ausrian Chancellor expects that Hitler  will reaffirm Austria's independence at that time.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION Volume I by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality, United States Government Printing Office Washington, 1946, Chapter III, page 24). 

  • FEBRUARY:    In Vienna, Austria on February 16 of this year, as a result of the agreement which he signed with Adolf Hitler at Obersalzberg on February 12, Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg is forced to form a new cabinet-his fifth-and he appoints Arthur Seyss-Inquart to the important post of Interior and Security Minister; Guido Schmidt is named Foreign Minister; and Edmund Glaise-Horstenau receives another cabinet post. Amnesty is granted to political prisoners, among whom are some 3,000 members of the Austrian Nazi Party. Having gained control of Austrian security, Seyss-Inquart this day visits Berlin for discussions with Hitler, Goring and Himmler. (SOURCE:  "1938" page, Austria 1918-1938, at:  http://en.doew.braintrust.at/m9sm104.html  accessed 1/22/2014-GD).    

  •  FEBRUARY:    In Austria "After the 17th of February" of this year [according to a report to Field Marshal Herman Goering, submitted by a Dr. Veesenmayer], there has been  an unusally severe flight of funds out of that country, resulting in an "appreciable" drop in Austrian bond or loan values on exchanges in Switzerland and in England. Smuggling of Austrian schilling notes out of the country is increasing so much so as to prevent any accurate quotation of their value as foreign exchange. Dr. Veesenmeyer warns Goering that economic conditions in Austria, although favorable to Germany at this time, should not be allowed to deteriorate to the point that the country would be severely crippled. He also reports that the Papal Nuncio to Austria has delivered a sharp attack against Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg on February 18, "making use of Provincial Governor Gleissner, who is spoken of in opposition circles as the successor." Schuschnigg's position as Chancellor at this time is tenuous, and some sections of the Austrian populace believe that "it is only a matter of time until Austria will be politically and economically united with the Reich."  (SOURCE:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME VI  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 271).

  • FEBRUARY:    In Germany on February 20 of this year, contrary to the indication which he had given to Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler delivers a speech in which he declares himself the protector of all German peoples and does not reaffirm Austria's independence. At this same time members of the Nazi party within Austria are continuing their subversive activities.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME I  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 24). 

  • FEBRUARY:    On February 28 of this year the Secretary of War signs off on the latest version of the Basic War Plan-Orange. He has signed after the Secretary of the Navy had already approved the plan on February 26 of this year. Among other things, the plan said that both the Army and the Navy forces in the Philippines would draw reinforcements only from locally available sources and personnel.  (Source:    UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The War Department  STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE  1941-1942  by  Maurice Matloff and Edwin M. Snell OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY  WASHINGTON, D. C., 1959, pg. 3, note 4).    

  • MARCH:    On March 9 of this year Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announces a plebiscite to be held on the next Sunday, March 13 to decide Austrian independence.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME I  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 24). 

  • MARCH:  In Europe, not waiting for the Austrian plebiscite on independence to be held, German Chancellor sends an ultimatum to the Austrian government on March 11 of this year, in which he demands that the vote be cancelled , saying that failure to do so will result in a German invasion of that country. This is followed later this same day by a second ultimatum which demands that Chancellor Schuschnigg should resign within the next three hours or Germany would invade his country. Schussnigg complies with this demand.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME I  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 24). 

  •  MARCH:    On March 12 of this year Adolf Hitler sends German troops to invade Austria.  (SOURCE:  AFTER THE REICH  THE BRUTAL HISTORY OF THE ALLIED OCCUPATION  by Giles MacDonogh  Basic Books  ((paperback))-2009, Introduction, pg. 15).  

  • MARCH:    On March 12of this year newly-appointed Austrian Chancellor Artur Seyss-Inquart meets German Chancellor Adolf Hitler at Linz, Austria after inviting him to send in troops to preserve order in the country, and welcomes the arriving German forces; he also uses this occasion to call for the reunion of Germany and Austria.  (Source:  Nuremberg Trial Judgements: Arthur Seyss-Inquart page at:  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nuremberg-trial-judgements-arthur-seyss-inquart  accessed 3/12/2019-GD and  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME I  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 25). 

  • When Adolf Hitler sends German forces into Austria in March of this year, SS Obersturmbannfuehrer George Keppler leads elements of the SS Verfuegungs Truppe into that country, giving the units experience in logistics and troop transporattion.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg . 26). 

  • MARCH:    On March 13 of this year newly-appointed Austrian Chancellor Seyss-Inquart obtains passage by the Austrian legislature of a law which provides that Austria should be absorbed into the German Reich and should become a province of that country. He then succeeds Austrian  President Wilhelm Miklas as President when Miklas refuses to sign that document into law and resigns instead.  (Source:   Nuremberg Trial Judgements: Arthur Seyss-Inquart page at:  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nuremberg-trial-judgements-arthur-seyss-inquart  accessed 3/12/2019-GD). 

  • MARCH:    On March 14 of this year Adolf Hitler enters Vienna amidst clanging church bells and cheering crowds. (SOURCE: See website at:  http://www.thirdreichruins.com/vienna.htm ).

  • MARCH:    On March 28 of this year Konrad Henlein-leader of the Sudeten German Party in Czechoslovakia-meets in Berlin with Adolf Hitler. Henlein is instructed by Hitler to press demands upon the Czech government on behalf of the ethnic Germans living in the Sudetenland, demands to  which it would be impossible for the government to agree.  (SOURCE: see web site at:                                 http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Czechoslovakia:_1938_-_1939/  ). 

  •   At the "end of March" of this year, shortly after he has returned from Austria, [to Germany], Obersturmbannfuehrer George Keppler receives orders to create a new Verfuegungs Truppe regiment for the SS. It is planned that  Regimental Headquarters and the 1st Battalion will be stationed in Vienna. The Regiment's 2nd Battalion will be in Graz, and the 3rd Battalion will be based in Klagenfurt. New barracks will be constructred in those towns to house the new troops.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg . 24).

  • APRIL:    On April 21 of this year top German Nazi leaders hold a meting to plan an attack on the free country of Czechoslovakia. The attack date is set to be no later than the 1st of October of this year. As a pretext for the attack, the Germans plan to stage an "incident" so that they can seem to be replying to a provocation; the "incident" will cap a period of growing  diplomatic disputes. An alternative to this plan would be for Germany to strike the Czechs with a lightning attack as the result of an incident of their own creation, if the Czech leaders try to defuse the disputes. The planners even considered assassinating their own Ambassador to Prague to justify the planned invasion, but that plan was never carried out.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME I  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 25).   

  •  APRIL:    On April 24 of this year in Czechoslovakia, the Sudeten German Party [apparently acting on instructions from Adolf Hitler-GD] issues a demand for the  right of complete self-rule for the Germans living in the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia. The party also demands the right for open adherence to the ideology of the Nazi Party.  (SOURCE: See "knowledgerush" be home defensewebsite cited in entry for March 28, above).

  •  APRIL (NO SPECIFC DATE):    By sometime during this month the British government has decided that, in a war with Germany, the British contribution should be with its navy and air forces, while avoiding sending a large army to the continent. The army's role should be home defense and defense of Britain's overseas territories.  (Source:  The War in France and Flanders 1938-1940, by Major L. F. Ellis London, 1953, pg. 2 Her Majesty's Stationery Office).       

  •  MAY:    On May 12 of this year in the United States of  America the Navy commissions its sixth aircraft carrier, the Enterprise. It is designated CV 6.  (SOURCE:  Electronic posting, "USN Aircraft Carriers" by John. E. McKillop ((jmckillo@NOTES.CC.BELLCORE.COM))--posted to WWII Discussion List  ((WWII-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu))-dated 12/16/96).

  • MAY:     The commissioning of the aircraft carrier Enterprise comes just after the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral William D. Leahy, had conclued his testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Naval Affairs on February 8 of this year. In his testimony, Admiral Leahy had said that  the United States is not leading a world-wide race to build war weapons. In what was perhaps a gesture toward the strong isolationist and peace movements in America, the Admiral insisted that America was not becoming a militaristic nation. He did, however, praise the Navy's aviation components while insisting that the battleship was still the heart of the Navy's offensive and defensive power. The Admiral had  made these statements as he was supporting the Roosevelt administration's US$800,000,000 program for naval construction.  In contrast to the peace movement, some members of Congress actually feel that the President isn't asking for enough funds, and would like to have a two-ocean Navy, with separate fleets in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.(SOURCE:  Article, "LEAHY SAYS NAVY LEADS NO 'RACE' " by Leland C. Speers, New York Times, Wednesday, February 9, 1938, page 14  L+, digitized at: http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/09/issue.html  accessed 6/10/2016-GD).

  • MAY:    On May 17 of this year a French purchasing commission is in the United States seeking to purchase aircraft for France's Armee de l"Air, and the commission is instructed today to order 100 Hawk 75A airframes from the Curtiss Aircraft Company at Buffalo, New York. The commission is also told to purchase 173 Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engines.  (SOURCE:  See Stockholm IPMS website here: ). 

  •  JUNE:    At about this time in Germany, during the Army's Spring maneuvers, Felix Steiner causes a sensation when his 4th Battalion of the "Deautschland" SS Regiment demonstrates its battle techniques. The assault detachment carries out the assignment of demonstrating the closing stages of an attack upon a fortified position by capturing the enemy trenches using the tactics of fire and movement which Steuiner had developed.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg . 23).  

  •  JUNE:    At some time during this month Canada becomes the first foreign government to recognize the military usefulness of Grumman Aircraft's G-21 Goose amphibian plane. The Royal Canadian Air Force takes delivery of the 16th production airframe this month.  (SOURCE:  Article, "Grumman's Seabirds Ducks On The Pond, Geese In The Air, Widgeons In The Sky!" by Jack Dean, in WINGS magazine, August, 1994, Volume 24 Number 4, pg. 53).

  •  JULY:    At some time during this month General George C. Marshall is called back to Washington, D. C. for a new assignment as Assistant Chief of Staff in the U. S. Army's War Plans Division. (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The War Department  STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE  1943-1944  by  Maurice Matloff  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY  WASHINGTON, D. C., 1959, pg. 1, n. 1).

  •     Also at some time during July of this year the Lockheed Aircraft Company of Burbank, California begins construction of a new twin-boomed, twin-engined fighter plane designated the XP-38 by the Army Air Corps.  (SOURCE:  FAMOUS AIRCRAFT: THE P-38 LIGHTNING by Gene Gurney  A Len Morgan Book Arco New York 1969, pg. 9).

  •  AUGUST:    At about this time Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuehrer SS, conducts an inspection tour of the various Verfuegungs-Truppe units, and on his visit to the "N" or Nurnberg Battalion the unit officers-as usual-are issued the same meal as the men. One of the men of the battalion, Hans Riedl, will later recall that, before he and his comrades were marched into the dining-hall, their hands and finger-nails were given an especially thorough check. Then they were marched off, singing, to the mess hall. When the battalion was all assembled, Himmler, his aides and the battalion's own officers made their entrance. Himmler went through the hall, pausing at several tables to ask casual questions of the troopers. At Riedl's table he asked Perzel of Number 3 Company if it were ususal for the men to be given three potato dumplings with their meal. Perzel came back with a quick reply: "No, Reichsfuehrer. Only because you have come." Himmler's aides  were dead silent at this exchange, filled with embarrassment, but the Reichsfuehrer had already gone on to the next table, giving no indication that the answer was out of line.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pp . 21-22). 

  •     On August 1 of this year the Supreme Commander of the German Army issues a memorandum which says in part, "The Fuehrer has given instruction to the Army Supreme Command concerning the employment of the SS Verfuegungs Truppe in the Field Army....The 'Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler' is to be organized like a motorized infantry regiment. SS Standarte 'Germania'...like an infantry regiment, SS Standarte 'Deutschland'  like a four-battalion infantry regiment..."  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg . 22).

  • AUGUST (WHOLE MONTH):    All during this month German military commanders are finalizing military plans for an invasion of Czechoslovakia, which would be able to be executed "at any opportune moment" and be powerful enought overcome all expected Czech resistance "within four days", giving the outside world no time for a response.  (Source:  NAZI CONSPIRACY AND AGGRESSION  VOLUME I  by Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality  United States Government Printing Office  Washington, 1946, pg. 25).     

  • SEPTEMBER (NO SPECIFIC DATE):    At some time early this month Robert Sherwood meets Harry Hopkins, the Works Progress Administration Administrator for the first time over breakfast at the Long Island, New York home of Herbert and Margaret Swope. Hopkins impresses Sherwood as being a "profoundly shrewd and faintly ominous man."  (SOURCE:  ROOSEVELT AND HOPKINS An Intimate History By Robert E. Sherwood Harper & Brothers, New York, 1948, page 3).

  •  SEPTEMBER:    On or about Saturday, September 10 of this year, at the Nazi Parteitag ceremonies in Nuremberg, Germany the Regiment "Der Fuehrer" of the SS Verfuegungs-Truppe receives its official title and is presentred with regimental and battalion Standards. This regiment is made up of mostly Austrian volunteers.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pp.  24-25).   

  • SEPTEMBER:    In the United States of America on Wednesday, September 21 of this year a very powerful and extremely fast-moving hurricane moves north along the Atlantic seaboard. By eleven A.M. Eastern Standard Time the storm is east of Norfolk, Virginia. By one P.M. Eastern Standard Time the accelerating storm has made its way  as far north as a point 100 miles east-southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and it has a forward speed of about 70 miles per hour. However, senior meteorologists at the U. S. Weather Bureau office in Washington, D.C. misinterpret what their instruments, and outside reports, seem to be telling them. In doing so, they overrule the findings of a junior forecaster named Charles Pierce, who believes that this is a full-bodied major storm. The senior people, instead, release a report to the public that this is merely a strong tropical storm and not a real hurricane. In their defense it should be pointed out that at this time (1938) the Bureau lacks high-speed data transmission and compuer-processing capabilities, and so many of its judgments are based upon human intuition. At Atlantic City the barometric reading takes a steep dive, falling from 29.50 inches of mercury to just 29.23 inches in two hours as the storm races past. Wind speeds at Atlantic City nearly double, going from 23 miles per hour all the way up to 43 miles per hour, from the northwest, accompanied by heavy rains.

  •      Meanwhile at eleven A.M.-while the main body of the storm was till east of Norfolk, Virginia- the observation station at Mitchell Field on New York's Long Island reported a moderate gale-force wind of between 30 and 38 miles per hour, coming from the northeast. Also at the same time, and 18 miles to the west, the airport at Floyd Bennett Field  in Brooklyn saw winds of the same speed, but those winds were coming from the north-northwest.At eleven A.M. too, the weather stations at Atlantic City, New York City and Providence, Rhode Island all reported that the barometric pressure at their locations had fallen by more than 0.1 inch since ten A.M. At these three stations the wind speed was recorded as being between 27 to 37 miles per hour, with some gusts reaching as high as 46 miles per hour.  Atlantic City and Nw York had heavy rain, while Providence remained dry.

  •      While all of this was going on, the staff at the Washington Weather Bureau office was preparing the eleven-thirty A.M official advisory bulletin, and Chief Forecaster Mitchell chose the description of just a tropical storm for the event along the Atlantic coast. As issued, the notice read, "Tropical storm central 10 AM about 100 miles east of Virginia Capes moving rapidly northward or slightly east of north." It went on to predict that there would be winds from the north along the New Jersey coast, as well as that of Maryland and southern Delaware,  which were expected to reach whole gale force by the afternoon before finally turning back to the northwest and slowing down by nighttime.

  •      In an unusual and unfortunate mistake, the New York City Weather Bureau office is overlooked as a recipient of advisories from Washington about the storm  all morning on September 21, and up until three P.M. This is true even though the storm was headed directly for the city. During this time, winds in New York reach full gale force, and torrential rains pour down upon the unaware city. At the new Empire State Building, the wind gauge shows a speed of an amazing 120 miles per hour for one gust. In Babylon on Long Island the barometric pressure fell by an astonishing 0.40 inches in just one hour. Based on that reading, indiations were that the monster storm would make landfall at the western end of Fie Island on Long Island's south shore.

  •      At the far eastern end of Long Island, a short distance from the end of the Island's Twin Forks, the weather station on Block Island recorded sustained 38 mile-per-hour winds, and gusts of as much as 54 miles per hour by one P.M.  A bit farther away, Providence'sstation was shaken by gusts of 60 miles per hour, but no rains had reached them yet.

  •      The next advisory from Washington, for two P.M., said, "Warnings change to northwest Virginia Capes to Sandy Hook. Tropical Storm central 12 noon about 75 miles east southeast of Atlantic City moving rapidly nort-northeastward with no material change in intensity since morning. Storm will likely pass over Long Island and Connecticut late this  afternoon or early tonight attended by shifting gales." However, even as this bulletin was being released, saying that the storm wouldn't hit Long Island until "this afternoon", Long Island's south shore, from Fire Island to land's end at Montauk Point were already being lashed by winds which gusted to full hurricane force. On the north shore and in Connecticut  and along the Rhode Island coast, winds of almost hurricane speed-74 miles per hour- were being felt. This was true at Block Island, Fisher's Island, Stonington, Connecticut and on Rhode Island's coast.

  •      By two P.M., according to a later estimate, the storm's center was east of Lakehurst, New Jersey and about midway between Atlantic City and New York City. It had also picked up much greater forward momentum, so much so that it was to become known as the "Long Island Express" hurricane. Forward speed actually reached as much as 70 miles per hour-a virtal rocket among Atlantic hurricanes.  This hurtling wall of wind and rain smashed into the south coast of Long Island at some time between two;thirty and three P.M. Landfall was at Patchogue, and it crossed the middle of Fire Island. The collision with land was strong enough for seismographs at Fordham University in New York's borough of the Bronx recorded the event. It was said that earthquake machines as far away as Alaska also jumped a bit. When it came ashore, the Express was still at a Category 3 level for hurricanes, with very low (about 28.0 inches) barometric pressure and wind speeds over 100 miles per hour as it raced across central Long Island. The storm's intensity was increased by the fact that it came onshore almost right at the precise time of the autumnal high tide. This created a storm surge of a frightening 16 feet., with waves of another 15 to 25 feet to create huge walss of water which reached about 35 feet in height.  An idea of the storm's size can be gained by the fact that, when the eye passed over Long Island, it reached from Bellport all the way to Southhampton, or some 30-50 miles.

  •      The storm also affected New York City before heading into Connecticut and New England. The gale-force winds and high tides caused the East River to inundate some three blocks of Manhattan and to rupture some steam pipes which were buried underground near the river.Electricity was knocked out in parts of the Bronx, and  hospitals had to operate by candlelight. On Long Island, moe than fifty people were killed by the storm, and that counted only rhose whose bodies were not washed out to sea by the rain and wind. Westhampton Town lost the most, with 28 deaths recorded there. Westhampton also saw 153 shorefront homes destroyed; Fire Island lost 300 homes and cottages at Ocean Beach, and another hundred each at Saltaire, Fair Harbor and Montauk.

  •      In dollar terms, the destruction on Long Island alone, not counting New York City or Connecticut, was put at $6.2 million in then-current dollars. By 2007 standards, this would be equivalent to a loss of more than $91 million. The Dune Road area at Westhampton Beach and the Long Island Railroad tracks were washed away.Nearly everything on the eastern end of Fire Island was swept away, including over 200 homes which had been built on the dunes. Even the Shinnecock Bay Coast Guard Station was swept into the sea, along with its steel lookout tower and 100-foot radio antenna.

  •      After ravaging Long Island, the Express continued a path of destruction through Connecticut and southern New England, making it one of the greatest-if not THE greatest- East Coast storm in history.  (SOURCE: This eport is almost entirely based upon "The Weather Doctor's" excellent narrative here:)

  •   SEPTEMBER:   By  some time during this month (September, 1938) the British have set up five "Chain Home"  radar stations at the estuary of the Thames River.  (SOURCE: Electronic posting, RE: RADAR ARTICLE-posted by Jim O'Neil ((jconeil@PRIMENET.COM))-posted to World War II Discussion List WWII-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU on April 4, 1998).

  • SEPTEMBER:    At some time during this month,in reaction to Germany's demand that Czechoslovakia cede the Sudeten border area to it (Germany), the American military staff adds to the scope of its war-planning responsibilities by taking account of this reassertion of German imperial aims.  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE 1941-1942 by Maurice Matloff and Edwin  M. Snell,pg.4)

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  • SEPTEMBER: By the end of September of this year, elements of the Verfuegungs Truppe of the German SS are participating in the preparations for the occupation of the Sudetenland areas of Czechoslovakia, and gaining valuable experience in movement as coherent units.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg.  26). 

  • OCTOBER:    On October 26 of this year President Franklin Roosevelt delivers a radio address to the Herald Tribune Forum in New York City, New York, in which he says that the current situation in Europe has a direct bearing on American security, especially in the Western Hemisphere, and that America will take proper measures to protect itself. (Source:  Hear recording of speech at: fdrlibrary.org recording afdr.127.mp3).  

  • OCTOBER:    At this time (end of October, 1938)  President Roosevelt's speech onn October 26 of this year declaring that recent events in Europe do have a serious negative effect upon American security, and saying that America will take  steps to address the danger, fails to change people's widely-held belief  that we have no need to get involved in another European war.  (Source:   UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The War Department  STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE  1942-1943  by  Maurice Matloff and Edwin M. Snell OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY  WASHINGTON, D. C., 1959, pg. 5).   
         

  •  OCTOBER:    At some time during this month General George C. Marshall is promoted to the post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army in Washington, D. C. (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The War Department  STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE  1943-1944  by  Maurice Matloff OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY  DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY  WASHINGTON, D. C., 1959, pg. 1, n. 1).

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  •  NOVEMBER:    On November 1 of this year in Germany the 4th Battalion leaves the Verfuegungs Truppe of the SS when it is converted into a motorcycle battalion.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg. 18).

  • NOVEMBER:    On November 12 of this year in Germany General Field Marshal Herman Goering issues a decree which says that, because of "[t]he hostile attitude of the Jewry towards the German people and Reich, which does not even shrink back from committing cowardly murder," it is necessary for the government to mount "a decisive defense" and to impose "a harsh punishment (expiation)" upon them. Accordingly, under authority granted to him  "by virtue of the decree concerning the execution of the 4-year Plan of 18 Oct. 1936 (RGBI. I, page 887)", he is now imposing upon all Jews of German nationality a "contribution" of 1,000,000,000 [one billion] Reichsmark to the German Reich; provisions for implementation of this decree will be issued by the Reich-Minister of Finance in agreement with the Reich-Ministers concerned.  (SOURCE:   Translation of Document 1412-PS from 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 1579 in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV, at http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/1412-ps.asp  accessed 11/14/2013-GD).

  • NOVEMBER:    Also on November 12 of this year Commander Robert S. Chew, Acting Secretary of the Joint Board, in a letter to the Joint Planning Committee, directs them to "study...Joint Action in Event of Violation of Monroe Doctrine by Fascist Powers".  (Source:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II  The War Department  STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE  1942-1943  by  Maurice Matloff and Edwin M. Snell, pg.5).  

  • DECEMBER:    On December 3 of this year a decree is published in Germany which strips all Jews in Germany of most of their property rights. Among other things, this decree says that "The owner of a Jewish industrial enterprise...may be ordered to sell or liquidate the enterprise within a definite time. Certain conditions may be stipulated in the order." The decree also says that a trustee may be appointed for Jewish industrial enterprises, the owners of which have been ordered to sell or to  liquidate the business. Such trustee shall be responsible for seeing to it that the business continues on a temporary basis, and to see to the completion of the sale or liquidation of the business. As regards shares of corporate stocks, bonds and similar securities held by German Jews, "Within a week after this decree goes into effect, Jews must deposit all their stocks, shares in mines, bonds, and similar securities at a foreign exchange bank. New securities must be deposited within a week after their acquisition. The holder of securities belonging to a Jew may not deliver them to anyone but a foreign exchange bank for the account of the Jew." All such deposits and title registrations are to be marked as Jewish. Similar restrictions are placed upon real estate owned by Jews.  (SOURCE:  Translation of Document 1409-PS from 1938 Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, Page 1709 in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression Volume IV, at http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/1409-ps.asp  accessed 10/31/2013-GD).

  •  DECEMBER:    In California on December 31 of  this year the Lockheed Aircraft Company moves their new twin-boomed, twin-engined fighter, the XP-38, under wraps from the assembly plant in Burbank to the testing grounds at March Field near Riverside, California for its initial flight and ground tests.  (SOURCE:   FAMOUS AIRCRAFT: THE P-38 LIGHTNING by Gene Gurney  A Len Morgan Book Arco New York 1969, pg. 9).             

  • (NO SPECIFIC DATE):   At some time this year, while he is touring through Austria to celebrate the forced union of Austria and Germany, Adolf Hitler makes a special stop at Klagenfurt. He goes there to visit with his former high-school history teacher, Dr. Leopold Poetsch of the Linz high school. Dr. Poetsch is now retired, and Hitler is highly pleased to learn that his former teacher had been a member of the previously outlawed Nazi Party in Austria, and of the S.S. The German leader speaks privately with the elderly man for an hour, and afterwards his tells his entourage, "You cannot imagine how much I owe to that old man."

  •     At some time during this year, after German troops occupy Austria following the forced union with Germany,Adolf Hitler-apparently self-concious about his early failure to promptly enlist in the Austrian military- orders the Gestapo to find the official military documents relating to his induction into the Austrian army. The Germans search through the files at Linz, Austria but are unable to turn up the pertinent papers, and Hitler is furious at their lack of success. The documents in question have been hidden by a member of the local government, and will be made public after the war. They show that Hitler was ruled unfit for either military or auxiliary service due to bad health-he still had a lung disease at the time.  (SOURCE:  The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer  Fawcett Crest  New York  ((paperback)) June, 1989, pg. 49-footnote).

  •     Also at some time during this year the newly-organized Volkswagen company at Wolfsburg, Germany begins production of the Volkswagen "People's Car" planned by Adolf Hitler. As it does so, the company does not have a nucleus of experienced workers and the current employment market in Germany cannot fill the gap. Therefore, the company has to hire Italian workers to meet its production goals.  (SOURCE:  Review: Der Volkswagenwerk un seine Arbeiter im Dritten Reich reviewed by Stefan Berger in magazine Journal of Social History Fall, 1998 issue-electronic posting at http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2005/n1_v32/21186991/p1/article.jhtml?term=Franz+Eh...)

  •     At some time during this year in Germany "Der Fuehrer Standarte" is organized to replace the "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" in the SS Verfuegungs Truppe organization. The "Adolf Hitler" Standarte has left to assume its role as Hitler's personal guard regiment.  (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg. 15).

  •     During this year in Germany an SS military division (the Verfuegungs Truppe)  is being formed with three infantry regiments plus artillery and other units normally asociated with a regular army organization. It  faces some difficulties in logistics and tactics when it goes on active service, but it copes with them. (SOURCE:  DAS REICH THE MILITARY ROLE OF THE 2ND SS DIVISION by James Lucas Cassell Military Paperbacks 2002, pg. 26). 

  •     At some time during this year in Europe the tiny nation of Liechtenstein is absorbed into Adolf Hitler's growing German Reich.  (SOURCE:  Electronic posting, Subject: HUMOR: Lichtensteiner SS, by Edward George Lengel ((egl2r@FARADAY.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU))-posted to World War II Discussion List WWII-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU on 3 June 1996).).

  •     Also at some time during this year United States Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring has to reduce the size of the planned initial force called for by the  Protective Mobilization Plan, because the indicated capacity of American industry  is insufficient to support a larger force.  (SOURCE:  UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The War Department GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND STRATEGY 1940-1943 by Richard M. Leighton and Robert W. Coakley  OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1955, page 26).

  •     At some time during this year as well, the LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT COMPANY of Burbank, California in the United States of America sets up a parts depot in Amsterdam in the Netherlands to provide their European customers with a handy source of on-site service and maintenance.   (Source:  FAMOUS AIRCRAFT: THE P-38 LIGHTNING by Gene Gurney A Len Morgan Book Arco New York 1969, pg.11).

  •     At some time during this year General Henry H. Arnold assumes top-level control of the U. S. Army Air Corps, which currently consists of just twenty thousand men and a few hundred planes which are not up to present European battle standards.  (SOURCE:  HAP The Story of the U.S. Air Force and the Man Who Built It, by Thomas M. Coffey, The Viking Press, New York, 1982, page 2).

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