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WWII On This Day: December 14

What happened on December 14 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1939 and 1941, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1939
Finnish ski troops moving through forest during the Winter War.
Imperial War Museums, HU 52936 · Public domain · Source
The Winter War

The League of Nations expels the Soviet Union

The League of Nations Assembly and Council acted on Finland's appeal after the Soviet invasion. On 14 December the Soviet Union's membership ended, making it the only state expelled from the League. The decision gave Finland diplomatic support and encouraged material aid, volunteers and discussion of a British-French expedition. Sweden and Norway remained central to the practical problem because any large western force required transit through Scandinavia. International pressure developed alongside the battlefield. Finnish leaders continued to seek weapons, aircraft and manpower while following the possibility of a negotiated peace…

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1941
Burmese refugees fleeing along the Prome Road toward India, 31 January 1942.
James Jarche / British Ministry of Information, Imperial War Museums JAR 1240 · Public domain (UK Government)
The Fall of Burma

Japanese troops take Victoria Point at the southern tip of Burma

Between 14 and 16 December 1941 (sources differ on the day) Japanese troops occupied Victoria Point, the southernmost town of Burma, and its airfield. The attacks on Thailand and Malaya had begun on 8 December, and the Fifteenth Army, formed that month under Lieutenant General Iida Shōjirō, was assembling in Thailand. Lieutenant General Thomas Hutton, commanding in Burma, had two divisions to hold the country, the 17th Indian Division and the 1st Burma Division. Victoria Point was the first of three airstrips on the Tenasserim coast, a strip of land…

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