Also in December 1939
7th: Jascha Heifetz gives the world premiere of Walton’s Violin Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodzinski. Due to the outbreak of World
War II, the composer is unable to travel to the US to hear his new work, described by Rodzinski as ‘absolutely one of the finest violin concertos ever written’. The British premiere will eventually follow in 1941.
8th: American composer, pianist and conductor Ernest Schelling, a pupil of the Polish pianist-composer Ignacy Paderewski, dies in New York aged 63. His compositions include various works for piano plus the 1923 symphonic poem A Victory Ball, dedicated to ‘the memory of an American soldier’.
15th: With a cast including Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’hara, Gone with the Wind is released in US cinemas. An adaptation of the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, it goes on to win eight Oscars, including best actress for Leigh, best director for Victor Fleming and best supporting actress for Hattie Mcdaniel as Mammy.
18th: British Wellington bombers flying to targets on the north coast of Germany are met by the Luftwaffe, leading to the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air engagement of World War II. Both sides claim a victory with differing reports – Germany claims to have shot down 38 bombers, while Britain says that it has lost 12 aircraft.
31st: In a radio address to the German people, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels describes 1939 as ‘the proudest and most important year of the National Socialist regime’ and ‘a German year in Europe’s history’. Repeatedly referring to Britain and ‘the warmongering clique’, he then goes on to warn that 1940 will be ‘a hard year, and we must be ready for it. Victory will not fall into our laps. We must earn it, and not only at the front, but at home as well.’