19th March 1940 Wann sehen wir uns wieder See 19.03.1940 - 23/58 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

14th October 1940 Barlog 8740 8743 Barlog cartoon postcard depicting soldiers seated around a table drinking and singing as more food and drink is delivered. Bestelll-Nr. 8740. Ref: 14.10.940 The caption reads: 'Here we are free as birds. These golden times will never return' (Loose translation) VARIATION The same image as Bestell-Nr.8740 but with new text to the speech bubble, caption text to the upper right corner and a grey shaded background Barlog cartoon postcard depicting soldiers seated around a table drinking and singing as more food and drink is delivered. Bestelll-Nr. 8743. Ref: 12.05.1941 - 25/92 The caption reads: 'Don’t worry, don’t worry Rosmarie!' : 'The First Sea Lord can’t shake us'. (With reference to Winston Churchill) The 'Rosemarie' in question may refer to the popular 'Rosemarie Lied': It's great to be a soldier dear, Rosemarie, Not every day brings sunny cheer, Rosemarie, But you, you are my maiden true, Rosemarie, In all my thoughts I think of you, Rosemarie! Chorus: For soldiers have a simple creed: Stay true in word as well in deed Their hearts are pure, their souls are bound, Once one true girl they've found! Valleri, Valleralle ralle ra! Rosemarie! Two years will pass so quickly here, Rosemarie, And when at last I hold you near, Rosemarie, I'll kiss and whisper in your ear, Rosemarie, From now on love, no need to fear, Rosemarie! In faithfulness forevermore, Rosemarie, I pledge to bind my soul with yours, Rosemarie, Then take the pledge and raise your hand, Rosemarie, In duty to the Fatherland! Rosemarie Link to song on You Tube Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

17th May 1940 Muttertag Mother's Day in Nazi Germany See 17.05.1940 - 23/81 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

1st September 1940

29th March 1940 Blohm and Voss Ha 140 See 29.03.1940 - 23/62 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

5th June 1940 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor Postcard depicting a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 'Condor'. Note that the swastika on the tail has been partially obliterated. Featuring to the reverse a lesser seen Luftwaffe emblem in a triangular vignette. Ref: 05.06.1940 Also see 34/34 Link to Luftwaffe Eagle vignettes Focke-Wulf Fw 200 'Condor' The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor , also known as Kurier (German for courier ) to the Allies, is a German all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft led to military versions that saw service with the Luftwaffe as long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping/maritime patrol bomber aircraft. The Luftwaffe also made extensive use of the Fw 200 as a transport aircraft. It achieved success as a commerce raider until mid-1941, by which time it was being harried by long-range RAF Coastal Command aircraft and the Hurricane fighters being flown from CAM ships. The Fw 200 was operated by Deutsche Luft Hansa, DDL and Luft Hansa's Brazilian subsidiary Syndicato Condor. Dai Nippon KK of Japan also ordered Fw 200 airliners. These could not be delivered to Japan once the war began, so they were delivered to Deutsche Luft Hansa instead. On 14th April 1945 an Fw 200 flew Luft Hansa's last scheduled service before the end of World War II, from Barcelona to Berlin. Other airlines continued to operate the Fw 200 after the end of World War II. The first prototype, the Fw 200 V1, upgraded with extra fuel tanks and re-designated Fw 200 S-1, made several record flights. It was the first heavier-than-air craft to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City, about 4,000 miles (6,400 km), making the flight from Berlin-Staaken to Floyd Bennett Field on 10th-11th August 1938 in 24 hours and 56 minutes. The return trip on 13th August 1938 took 19 hours and 47 minutes. These flights are commemorated with a plaque in Böttcherstraße, a street in Bremen. Beginning on 28th November 1938 it flew from Berlin to Tokyo via Basra, Karachi and Hanoi. The German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, used a specially outfitted Condor 'Grenzmark', on his two flights to Moscow in 1939, during which he negotiated and signed the 'Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union', better known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. His aircraft bore the German civil registration of D-ACVH. A Danish-owned Fw 200 aircraft named Dania was seized by the British at Shoreham Airport after Denmark was invaded by German forces in 1940. It was subsequently operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and was then pressed into service with the Royal Air Force. It was damaged beyond repair in 1941. The Luftwaffe initially used the aircraft to support the Kriegsmarine , making great loops out across the North Sea and, following the fall of France, the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft was used for maritime patrols and reconnaissance, searching for Allied convoys and warships that could be reported for targeting by U-boats. The Fw 200 could also carry a 1,000-kilogram (2,200 lb) bomb load or naval mines to use against shipping, and it was claimed that from June 1940 to February 1941, they sank 331,122 tonnes (365,000 tons) of shipping despite a rather crude bombsight. The attacks were carried out at extremely low altitude in order to 'bracket' the target ship with three bombs; this almost guaranteed a hit. Winston Churchill called the Fw 200 the 'Scourge of the Atlantic' during the Battle of the Atlantic due to its contribution to the heavy Allied shipping losses. Following the debut of what would become the Luftwaffe's primary seaborne maritime patrol aircraft, the rival trimotored BV 138C flying boat in March 1941; from mid-1941, Condor crews were instructed to stop attacking shipping and avoid all combat in order to preserve numbers. In August, the first Fw 200 was shot down by a CAM ship-launched Hawker Hurricane, and the arrival of the U.S.-built Grumman Martlet, operating from the Royal Navy's new escort carriers, posed a serious threat. The six Martlets operated by the Royal Navy from the first escort carrier HMS Audacity shot down a total of seven Condors while escorting three convoys during her short career in the final months of 1941. On 14th August 1942, an Fw 200C-3 was the first German aircraft to be destroyed by USAAF pilots, after it was attacked by a Curtiss P-40C Warhawk and a Lockheed P-38F Lightning over Iceland. The Fw 200 was also used as a transport aircraft, notably flying supplies into Stalingrad in 1942. After late-1943, the Fw 200 came to be used solely for transport. For reconnaissance, it was replaced by the Junkers Ju 290, and even some examples of the Heinkel He 177 Greif bombers serving with Kampfgeschwader 40. With the Allied advance into France, maritime reconnaissance by the Luftwaffe became impossible as the Atlantic coast bases were captured. Production ended in 1944 with a total of 276 aircraft produced. Several damaged Fw 200s landed in Spain during the war. In the beginning, they were repaired and returned to their bases in France. After Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of French North Africa), the Spanish government interned four aircraft that arrived on Spanish territory (although their crews were still allowed to return to Germany). Since the aircraft could not be used, they were sold by Germany to Spain. One of the three flyable aircraft was then operated by the Spanish Air Force and the others used for spares. Because of damage and lack of spares, and for political reasons, they were grounded and scrapped around 1950. Some Condors also crashed in Portugal. Their crews were allowed to return to Germany while the British authorities were allowed to inspect the aircraft and accompanying documentation. Some crew members died in these crashes and were buried in the civilian cemetery of Moura in Alentejo Province, Portugal. The aircraft that crashed in Spain and Portugal had been based in Bordeaux-Merignac, France since 1940. Before then, the operational base of the Fw 200 squadrons had been in Denmark. At the suggestion of his personal pilot Hans Baur, Adolf Hitler specified a modified and unarmed prototype Condor, the Fw 200 V3, as his personal transport, as a replacement for his Junkers Ju 52. Originally configured as a 26-passenger Luft Hansa transport (Works No. 3099), it was reconfigured as a plush two-cabin airliner. Hitler's armchair-style seat in the cabin was equipped with a wooden table, seat-back armour plating, and a parachute in the seat cushion, with an escape hatch in the floor. In line with Hitler's aircraft preferences, it carried the markings "D-2600" and was named 'Immelmann II' in honour of World War I flying ace Max Immelmann. As the war progressed it changed designation to 'WL+2600' and finally '26+00'; it was destroyed at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in an Allied bombing raid on 18 July 1944. FW 200s of various types were configured as VIP transports, for the use of Hitler and his staff, and also other aircraft assigned to Heinrich Himmler, Albert Speer, Hermann Göring, and Karl Dönitz. Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm pilot Captain Eric Brown's plane was attacked and seriously damaged by a Condor in 1940, and he narrowly survived. After this, he studied the design of the Condor seriously for some time. He managed to work out that the forward firing machine gun positions could swivel, but could only fire in a certain arc otherwise they would hit the fuselage of their own plane. Brown worked out where the arc was, and realised this was a blind spot, if one attacked the front of the plane. He used this to successfully destroy a Condor, then informed his fellow squadron pilots who used the tactic to destroy others. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Mi.744 (10.04.1940) Mi.744 Mi.744 (Ref: 20.04.1940 - 29/27) next stamp issue

3rd October 1940 kennkarte

Philatelic Exhibitions & Events (1933-1947) Philatelic Exhibitions Commemorative postcard for the 5th National Club Day, 46th German Philatelic Day (54mm address line), with 'In Verbindung mit der Nationalen Briefmarken-Ausstellung' to the lower left panel. There are seven variations of this postcard. Ref: 29.03.1940, BV318 Philatelic Exhibitions 1933 Aschersleben - 39. Deutscher Philatelistentag (19th-21st August 1933) 1934 1935 Königsberg - Ostropa, 23rd June - 3rd July 1935 (See 17/85) 1936 Berlin - 1. Tag der Briefmarke (7th January 1936) Coburg - Briefmarken-Ausstellung Baÿerische Ostmark (6th-7th June 1936) Lauenstein - 42. Deutscher Philatelistentag (6th-7th June 1936) Munster - 3rd Munster Postage Stamp Exhibition, 16th-18th October 1936 1937 Tag der Briefmarke 1937 - 'Ka-Be' Mi.513 overprint, 10th January 1937 Tag der Briefmarke 1937 - Walter Behrens - commercial postcard (with attached reply) - 10th January 1937 Breslau - 6th Silesian Postage Stamp Exhibition, 3rd-10th January 1937 Berlin - Colonial Postage Stamp Show, 9th-10th January 1937 Frankfurt - Study Group of the Greater Frankfurt Stamp Collectors' and Trade Society, 9th-10th January 1937 Chemnitz - Colonial Postal Exhibition, 10th January 1937 Berlin - National Exhibition of the German Postage Stamp, 16th-18th April 1937 (10 postcard series). See 08.04.1937 - 22/97 and 16.04.1937 Gera - 1st postage stamp exhibition (sponsored KdF) in conjunction with the 700 year anniversary of the city of Gera, 21st-29th August 1937. See 27/59 Gössnitz - 50th anniversary of Gössnitz/German Philatelic Assoc., 17th September 1937 1938 Berin-Schöneberg - 1933-1938 Briefmarkenverein 'Schöneberg' (commemorative envelope with 3 Pf Hindenburg medallion imprint stamp). see 32/86 Stuttgart - 1st Swabian Postage Stamp Exhibition 8th-16th January 1938 Hannover - Briefmarken-Ausstellung 16th-18th September 1938 Suhl - 'Thüposta 2' , 9th October 1938 1939 Berlin-Pankow - Briefmarken Werbeschau (K.d.F.), Kreis VIII, 19th March 1939 Munich - 45th Deutscher Philatelistentag, 3rd-4th June 1939 1940 Berlin - 5. Reichsbundestag, 46. Deutscher Philatelistentag, March 1940 1941 TAG DER BRIEFMARKE 1941 'Im Kampf um die Freiheit' (Flag bearing soldier) CHECK LIST LINK AND WHERE T d B SHOULD BEGIN Slatinian ( B&M - Slatiňany) - Briefmarken-Ausstellung, 22nd-29th June 1940 - see 35/49 Berlin-Karlshorst - 1st Stamp Exhibition of the KdF Collectors Groups of District IX, 1st -2nd November 1941 1942 TAG DER BRIEFMARKE 1942 Official KdF cover for T d B, Vienna (see JB:Vienna92/767) Berlin-Lichtenberg - Philatelic Association AGM, 1st January 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 Büdingen - 1. Briefmarken Wohltätigkeits Ausstellung (Roten Kreuz) Ref: 17/74 Cologne - Rhein-Posta, 13th-20th April 1947 (See Ref: 17/73) Lindau - Briefmarken-Ausstellung (Lindau-Herbstwoche), 13th-28th September 1947 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

4th January 1940 Mi.P289 See 06.01.1940 - 30/45 (cancel - Danziger Marienkirche) See 10.01.1943 - 34/47 for card used with text altered by correspondent. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

13th November 1940 Flieger Ausbildungs Regiment 82 Feldpost cover to Ernst Kramer at Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 82 at Würzen (an Air Training Regiment). Ref: 13.11.1940 With a strange typewritten 'reply' to the sender... 'Message from the c.c. to Ilse Kramer From a magic bible "Der alten Weiber Philosophey" printed in Frankfurt/M. in 1571: 'If a pregnant woman carries her child in her right side and likes to eat fennel and birds and likes to hear people talk about jousting, then she is carrying a son'. Probatum sit! signed. O.L. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

9th January 1940 SS Bremen Postcard depicting the SS 'Bremen'. Sent via feldpost from FPN 00522 (4. Kompanie Marine-Flak-Abteilung 244). At this time the 'Bremen' was being used as a barracks ship. Ref: 09.01.1940 SS Bremen From Wikipedia: On 26th August 1939, in anticipation of the invasion of Poland, the Kriegsmarine high command ordered all German merchant ships to head to German ports immediately. Bremen was on a westbound crossing and two days from New York when she received the order. Bremen ' s captain decided to continue to New York to disembark her 1,770 passengers. She left New York without passengers on 30th August 1939 and on 1st September, coincident with the start of the Second World War, she was ordered to make for the Russian port of Murmansk. Underway, her crew painted the ship grey for camouflage. She made use of bad weather and high speed to avoid Royal Navy cruisers, arriving in Murmansk on 6th September 1939. With the outbreak of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, on 10th December 1939 Bremen made a dash to Bremerhaven, arriving on 13th December. On the way she was sighted and challenged by the S-class submarine HMS Salmon . While challenging Bremen , an escorting Dornier Do 18 seaplane forced Salmon to dive for safety. After diving, Salmon ' s commander, Lieutenant Commander E. O. Bickford, decided not to torpedo the liner because he believed she was not a legal target. His decision not to fire on Bremen likely delayed the start of unrestricted submarine warfare. Bremen was used as a barracks ship; there were plans to use her as a transport in Operation Sea Lion, the intended invasion of Great Britain. On 16th March 1941, Bremen was set alight by 14-year-old crew member Walter Schmidt while at her dock in Bremerhaven and completely gutted. A lengthy investigation discovered that the arson resulted from revenge stemming from a ship's officer who had punished him for not completing his assignment, not an act of war. Schmidt was later guillotined for the arson, becoming one of the youngest people to be judicially executed by the regime at age 15. Starting in 1942 she was dismantled to the waterline so the steel could be used for munitions. In 1946 her remains were towed up the River Weser, beached on a sandbar off Blexen, Nordenham and destroyed by explosives, though some parts of the double hull remain visible to this day. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page