Pennsylvania Military Museum

10/07/2026

Weekly World War II News
October 1st – October 7th, 1939
The Morning Press, Bloomsburg
Great Britain’s King George VI called to armed service all British men between the ages of 20 and 22 years, “with certain exceptions,” as his first Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, boldly declared the European war would end only when the Allied forces were convinced that Reichsführer Adolf Hi**er, “has had enough.” The Admiralty chief, in an Empire broadcast, declared “Russia has worn Hi**er off his eastern dreams.” But he added that he could not forecast Russia’s next move, terming it a “riddle wrapped in mystery inside of an enigma.” Shortly before the Churchill speech, in which the Admiralty had said Britons believed “we are entitled to the respect in goodwill of the world and particularly of the United States.”
Adolf Hi**er and foreign minister Joaquin Von Ribbentrop met with Italy’s foreign minister for a conference which was though to possibly have an important bearing on the course of the European war. Speculation about the closed-door event ranged from the possibility that Premier Mussolini might be asked to initiate mediation in the war to reports Hi**er was consulting his Axis partner to explain policies which the Führer expected to present to the Reichstag later in the week, but Italy declared a few days later that she would refrain for the present from taking the initiative in any efforts to restore peace to Europe.
On the military front in the east, the German high command reported the last center of Polish resistance had raised the red flag of surrender on Hela Peninsula, which extends into the Baltic northwest of what was then the city of Danzig. The report said Polish representatives had emerged after weeks of German siege to arrange for capitulation. In the west, the British government coupled an announcement that the Royal Air Force had reconnoitered at night over Berlin with a warning that German bombers attempting to raid London would “get the reception they deserve.” The British, who had made elaborate preparations against possible air raids on London, heart of the empire, had sought to emphasize the “ease” with which the Royal Air Force had been able to make reconnaissance flights over Germany. At the same time, a new menace to British shipping appeared in an Admiralty announcement that an armed German raider had sunk the 5,151-ton British freighter Clement in the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil. Sinking of the Clement brought total British losses since the war start to at least 32 vessels and was the first reported since the 4,646-ton freighter Hazelside was shelled and torpedoed off the Irish coast September 24th. As to Hi**er’s intent, on October 7 the Führer offered an armistice in Europe’s war if President Roosevelt proposed such a step for a general European settlement. Soviet Russia and Germany exclusively would solve the problems of “final reorganization” and “the question of reestablishment of the Polish state.” Immediately France answered with a blunt declaration that the European war would be fought until “victory which alone will permit assurance of a regime of real justice and lasting peace in Europe.” Britain declared against treating with Germany on the basis of “minor assurances” but would welcome any peace proposals which would achieve Britain’s announced war aim of ending “German aggression.”
President Roosevelt warned mid-week that smugglers had better not carry supplies from United States ports to U-boats on the seas. At the president’s press conference, a reporter called his attention to a story in the Philadelphia Record that government agents were investigating reports that “erstwhile rumrunners” and unscrupulous skippers of “freighters” were carrying oil, food, and drinking water to German submarines off the Atlantic coast. The reporter asked the president whether, in view of these reports, he was willing to say a word to the wise. The president replied that if anybody was doing that sort of thing, they’d better not. Meanwhile, one of the articles adopted at the neutrality conference of American republics was an “American safety zone” surrounding the United States and countries to the south in the western hemisphere. Warring nations would be asked to consider the zone neutral territory and refrain from belligerent activities while in it. The area probably would be patrolled by naval vessels of the US and other North and South American countries.
Photo courtesy of newspapers.com and the Bloomsburg Morning Press.

10/03/2026

Sergeant First Class Randall D. Shughart grew up in Newville, Pennsylvania. He was part of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command in Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 3, 1993 when soldiers and airmen launched a raid against a Somali warlord. During the action, a Blackhawk helicopter was shot down. Shughart and his sniper team leader, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, volunteered to secure the crash site alone, facing certain death. Gordon and Shughart formed a defensive perimeter around the wounded helicopter crew, protecting the survivors until their am******on was gone. Gordon and Shughart were killed in the action, but as a result of their selfless service the Blackhawk pilot survived. Gordon and Shughart received the Medal of Honor in 1994.

10/01/2026

Today is International Coffee Day! Anyone who has ever worn a military uniform knows one undeniable truth: the armed forces run on caffeine. This tradition goes all the way back to 1776, with soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen consuming countless cups of “joe” through the ages. During the Civil War, it was said that whenever troops paused on a march, they’d immediately kneel down to brew a quick cup. In WWI, the Salvation Army and YMCA brought steaming pots of coffee right up to the front lines. In WWII, it was rare to spot a sailor or Marine without a watch mug filled with strong, black Navy coffee aboard ship. Even today, our servicemen and women stay alert and watchful thanks to that familiar coffee cup in hand. Make sure you enjoy a cup or two of that faithful brewed beverage today!

09/30/2026

Weekly World War II News
September 24th – September 30th, 1939
The Times, Gettysburg
Early in the week it was reported that the Western Front had sprung into action as a major accompaniment to German conflict with Britain and France on the sea and in the air. French troops struck at German positions in the Haardt mountains trying to find a weak spot in the Siegfried Line, and German and French artillery exchanged shells across the Rhine. Swiss reports declared British or French warplanes had put out of commission one of Germany’s main aircraft factories in a raid Sunday night in Friedrichshafen. The German high command denied such a raid had taken place. A German communique said a British destroyer had been sunk and eight French planes downed.
On the Eastern Front, the German government announced that operations had started against Warsaw “after all efforts failed at convincing the Polish commander of the gruesomeness and uselessness of resistance.” Warsaw had been besieged for 18 days while German and Soviet forces had taken over almost all of Poland. The communique said “2,000 prisoners were taken” in a pocket southeast of the capital, and Russian troops had neared the agreed demarcation line splitting Poland between the two powers as German troops fell back toward the new border. A survey had estimated Poland had lost between 600 and 700 planes since fighting had begun on 1 September.
The Royal Air Force had flown over Germany on Sunday to drop propaganda leaflets warning Germans that many of their vital war supply reserves were “almost gone” because of British-French maritime activity. The surrender of Warsaw on 28 September had raised expectations that its capitulation would bring a new “peace offensive” from Adolf Hi**er, backed by the threat of a German-Soviet military alliance. Great Britain and France appeared preparing to rebuff the peace maneuver, but Italy stood by Germany and the USSR. Turkey, caught between ties with Russia and the west, was reported to have notified Britain and France that mutual assistance agreements to them would be annulled if they went to war with the Soviet Union. The next step of the new Moscow-Berlin axis was expected to be a search for a neutral power which would mediate among the combatants. The United States was mentioned in some circles, but a request that it serve as an intermediary was considered unlikely because Germany and Soviet Russia were believed to fear a rebuff by Washington.
By the end of the week fighting had lagged on the Western Front with no noteworthy recent activities.

Photo courtesy of newspapers.com and the Gettysburg Times.

09/29/2026

The Pennsylvania Military Museum is seeking a Museum Educator II to join our team! We're looking for someone with a strong background military history or education who can conduct academic research and develop classes, tours, exhibits, lectures, and various other programs in support of our mission of education and preservation. If you're passionate about history and want to make a meaningful contribution to preserving the heritage and legacy of Pennsylvania's service men and women, the Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard, and our Commonwealth's contributions to America's military history, come join us! Click here for details on how to apply:

Trouble logging in? Call 855.524.5627. Do NOT create more than one account.  Creating multiple accounts may cause problems in the review and scoring of your application and could delay you being considered for employment opportunities.

09/26/2026

09/23/2026

On this day in 1779, the U.S. Ship Bonhomme Richard battled HMS Serapis off the coast of England in one of the fiercest naval engagements of the Revolutionary War. The Bonhomme Richard was commanded by John Paul Jones, a sailor born in Scotland who received his commission in the Continental Navy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this legendary four‑hour battle, Jones and his crew were outgunned by the larger and better-armed Serapis, but ultimately out-fought the British crew in close combat. When asked to surrender, Jones famously replied, “I have not yet begun to fight!” John Paul Jones became a celebrated hero in both France and the United States for his leadership during this hard‑fought battle, which remains one of the most iconic naval actions of the American Revolution.

09/21/2026

Weekly World War II News
September 17th – September 23rd, 1939
The Press, Pittsburgh
On Sunday, an ultimatum by the Germans to surrender Warsaw was defied by Poland, and the N***s announced in retaliation that the capital city would be bombed into submission at 9:10 AM Pittsburgh time. The ultimatum gave the Polish Army 12 hours to surrender and the civilian population of Warsaw an additional 12 hours to get out of the city before bombing began, but the first 12-hour period had expired the evening before. Reports also said that Soviet troops would cross the Polish border at 6 AM Moscow time, for the purpose of “keeping order after the collapse of the Polish government.” About that time German aircraft had attacked Vilna, dropping at least 400 bombs on that city in northeastern Poland, and radio broadcasts from Germany warned the Poles that a similar fate was in store for their capital. The next day it was announced that Germany and the USSR would join forces in central Poland and that the two invading authoritarian regimes would divide up Poland between them. By the end of the week the Polish Army had essentially collapsed and the partition had been defined.
Also on Tuesday the British aircraft carrier Courageous was sunk off the English coast by a German submarine, which had apparently itself been sunk by British destroyers. The fate of the crew of 1,200 was initially unknown. In eastern France, French troops claimed to have repulsed a night attack by German forces that had been preceded by an artillery barrage from German guns in Siegfried Line forts. Leaders of the Polish government were enroute to France to establish a government in exile there.
Midweek Adolf Hi**er offered Europe peace on his own terms, but warned Great Britain and France that Germany was prepared to fight six years for victory. Germany wanted to create a “lasting peace” in Europe, the N**i Chancellor told a madly cheering throng in the city of Danzig. “I have no war aims against either France or England,” Hi**er told the world in charging that British “war mongers” had sought foolishly and in vain to destroy the N**i regime. In response, Great Britain and France promised Poland and the world that they would fight to the end against Hi**erism regardless of Germany’s triumph in Eastern Europe with the “cynical” aid of Russia. In addition, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said that the British policy was to crush German warships and prevent the enemy from getting supplies from overseas. Meanwhile in the skies over England the first aerial dogfight of the war was fought between British and German planes, and heavy aerial fighting took place near the mouth of the River Thames.
In the Americas that week delegates from 20 Latin American countries and the United States were assembling in Panama to weld a common front against repercussions of the European war. The best opinion among the delegates was that the pe*******on of N**i ideology in Latin America had been exaggerated. In Washington a few weeks before President Roosevelt had signed a neutrality proclamation, and he was now ready to place an embargo on arms to belligerents. In Italy, Premier Benito Mussolini declared that the moment had arrived to end hostilities in Europe. He also said that Italy had no reason to alter its decision to remain neutral and take no military initiative in the European conflict, and he ordered party leaders to roundup rumor mongers, describing Masonic and Jewish elements as riffraff and foreign anti-Fascist sympathizers.
Photo courtesy of newspapers.com and the Pittsburgh Press.

09/16/2026

The Pennsylvania Military Museum is pleased to announce a new weekly series of history articles. Dr. Andrew Vavreck, a volunteer with the museum for over a decade, will be writing a weekly summary of the front pages of Pennsylvania daily newspapers, tracing World War II from the invasion of Poland in September 1939 to V-J Day in September 1945 as it was seen on the homefront.

Weekly World War II News
September 10th – September 17th, 1939
Centre Daily Times, State College
On September 13th, an article announced that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had told Parliament that “Great Britain and France are determined to put an end once and for all to the menace of Hi**erism.” The British and French were carrying out what their alliance with Poland required, which currently included the British attacking German submarines, the French invading the German state of Saarland, and both laying mines in the English Channel as part of a blockade of Germany. It was said that the French Army’s methodical advance into German territory had straightened out their line and had been “completely successful.” Indeed, so successful were the French operations thought to be that large scale French action against points of the German West Wall might be expected in the near future. Things seemed to be going well for the western allies elsewhere as well: Polish troops were reported to have broken through German lines west of Warsaw and were forcing German armies to retreat into the Warta Valley. Meanwhile, to Poland’s east, the Soviet newspaper Pravda laid the groundwork for possible Soviet approval of establishment of two separate states in what was then Polish territory. An article provided for establishment of separate Ukrainian and White Russian republics which might be incorporated into the USSR.
President Franklin Roosevelt indicated late in the week that the administration’s special congressional session program would be limited to revision of the neutrality law. The administration desired to eliminate the neutrality act provision that provided for mandatory embargo of arms shipments to belligerent nations. The US was quite eager to open the door to sales of arms to warring nations, including no restriction on the activities of war profiteers.
Japan and Russia had declared a truce on the Manchukuo Outer Mongolia frontier and had agreed to appoint a commission to limit the boundary. Troops would remain in their positions for representatives of the two countries to supervise control of the border situation.
In Paris, dress designers were working on a new outfit – the air raid shelter suit. Since many women during the first air raid alarms ran into shelters only half clothed, there was a high demand for practical suits. One Parisian designer showed a suit that was a cross between mechanics’ overalls and beach pajamas. New handbags had also been designed, to hold first aid kits as well as powder puffs and lipstick.
Photo courtesy of newspapers.com and the Centre Daily Times.