27 Aug 1939 | World War II Database

27 Aug 1939

Germany publicly announced that the annual Nazi Party rally in Nürnberg, Germany and the upcoming Tannenberg memorial event were both canceled. Additionally, the government announced the start of food, footwear, textile, and coal rations. ww2dbase [CPC]
German leader Adolf Hitler responded to the message from French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier from the previous day, noting that Germany had no intention of fighting France, so if France was to attack Germany due to the German-Poland situation, it would be a war initiated by France, and Germany could not be faulted for such a conflict; additionally, Hitler stressed that Germany had no territorial demands on the German-French border. Meanwhile, Hermann Göring's friend Birger Dahlerus, a Swedish national, attempted a parallel route to negotiate for peace. ww2dbase [The Danzig Crisis | CPC]
Adolf Hitler responded to Benito Mussolini's message from the previous day, noting that he accepted Italy's inability to participate in direct fighting should a German-Polish war broke out, but he would very much appreciate political (by means of threatening to entering the war, thus tying down French troops on the French-Italian border) and economic (by offering Italian workers for German industry and agriculture) support. ww2dbase [The Pact of Steel | CPC]
Togo departed Douala, French Cameroon. ww2dbase [Togo / Coronel | CPC]

China

Japanese 23rd Infantry Division attempted and failed to break out of the encircled village of Nomonhan, Mongolia Area, China. ww2dbase [Battle of Khalkhin Gol | Nomonhan, Mongolia | CPC]

Germany

German Air Force Captain Erich Warsitz successfully took the prototype He 178 jet aircraft into the air, thus making it the first aircraft to fly using a turbojet engine. The test flight was conducted out of Rostock-Marienehe Airfield on the Baltic Sea coast. ww2dbase [He 178 | Rostock, Pommern | CPC]

United States

Helena was launched at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, United States, sponsored by Ms. Elinor Carlyle Gudger, granddaughter of Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, United States. ww2dbase [New York Navy Yard | Helena (St. Louis-class) | Brooklyn, New York | CPC]