WesWorld

Placeholder for notes on subjects that cannot be accounted for elsewhere.

Departed Germany on Thursday, 4 July 1940; arrived Bangkok Saturday, 3 August 1940

Chief of Mission: Heinrich Trettner, Oberst, Luftwaffe

Initial Composition:

Staff of mission: 10 officers and senior non-commissioned officers
Air Training Staff: 25 officers and non-commissioned officers
Air Maintenance Staff: 46 officers, non-commissioned officers and other enlisted personnel
Technical Staff: 41 civilian technicians and specialists

The goals of the Mission are:

• Assist Thai personnel in transitioning to new aircraft types and provide initial training to flight personnel
  
  
• Assist Thai personnel in maintaining new aircraft types and provide initial training to maintenance personnel
  
  
• Assess Thai industrial potential to locally produce spare parts required for new aircraft types
  
  
• Assess Thai needs for additional aviation facilities and make recommendations regarding same to the Thai Government
  
  
• Assess Thai needs for other industrial facilities required to support a modern air service and make recommendations regarding same to the Thai Government
  
  

Fw190A Fighter – Quantity ordered – 160 with option for an additional 40; Delivery schedule – 10 units per month commencing July 1940, increasing to 15 units per month in January 1941 – initial quantity complete in July 1941, with option quantity following if exercised.

Fw187C Zerstorer – Quantity ordered – 100 with option for an additional 20; Delivery schedule – 10 units per month commencing July 1940, increasing to 15 units per month in January 1941 – initial quantity complete in April 1941, with option quantity following if exercised.

Ju87B Dive Bomber – Quantity ordered – 20 with option for an additional 10; Delivery schedule – 5 units per month commencing July 1940 – initial quantity complete in October 1940, with option quantity following if exercised.

Dornier Do217E Bomber – Quantity ordered – 50 with an option for an additional 10; Delivery schedule – 10 units per month commencing July 1940 – initial quantity complete in December 1940, with option quantity following if exercised. Note: Requested torpedo carrying equipment is not immediately available – best estimated time for design and development is nine months, including pre-production trials. Initial delivery of torpedo carrying equipment is projected as March 1941.

Fw187R Reconnaissance Plane – Quantity ordered – 20 with an option for an additional 10; Delivery schedule – 10 units in August 1940, 10 units in October 1940; if option exercised, earliest date for option quantity is December 1940.

Fi156A Liaison Aircraft – Quantity ordered – 20 with an option for an additional 20; Delivery schedule – 10 units in September 1940, 10 units in December 1940; if option exercised, delivery estimates are 10 units in February 1941, 10 units in April 1941.

Ju52 Transport – Quantity ordered – 15 with an option for an additional 10; Delivery schedule – 5 units per month commencing July 1940 – initial quantity complete in September 1940, with option quantity following if exercised.


Do24C Reconnaissance Flying Boat – Quantity ordered – 35 with an option for an additional 10; Delivery schedule – 3 units per month commencing July 1940, increasing to 6 units per month in January 1941 – initial quantity complete March 1941, with option quantity following if exercised.

Ar196A Float Reconnaissance Aircraft – Quantity ordered – 20 with an option for an additional 15; Delivery schedule – 5 units per month commencing July 1940 – initial quantity complete October 1940, with option quantity following if exercised.

Bu181 Primary Trainer – Quantity ordered 50; Delivery schedule – 5 units per month commencing July 1940 – quantity complete April 1941.

Ar96 Basic Trainer – Quantity ordered 50; Delivery schedule – 5 units per month commencing July 1940 – quantity complete April 1941.

Si204 Crew Trainer – Quantity ordered 10; Delivery schedule – 2 units per month commencing July 1940 – quantity complete November 1940.

An agreement was negotiated with Brazil to supply it with 123 surplus vehicles of the specified type, plus spares, for a price of RM 1,500,000, to be paid for in deliveries of iron ore (93,750 tons).

An agreement was negotiated with Bulgaria to supply it with 100 surplus vehicles of the specified type, plus spares, for a price of RM 1,870,000, to be paid for in deliveries of wheat (13,000 tons).

An agreement was negotiated with Brazil to supply it with 500 surplus vehicles of the specified type, plus spares, for a price of RM 10,285,000, to be paid for in deliveries of iron ore (642,800 tons).

Order received from Brazil for 150 examples of the Bu181 "Bestmann" training aircraft at a unit price of RM 22,500 inclusive of engine, plus provision of 10% for spare parts - total contract RM 3,712,500. Contract calls for local assembly upon delivery.

Abstracted from the Declaration of London, 1909

The London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War is an international code of maritime law, especially as it relates to wartime activities, proposed in 1909 at the London Naval Conference by the leading European naval powers, as well as the United States and Japan, after a multinational conference that occurred in 1908 in London. Although it dealt with many controversial points, including blockades, contraband and prize, it largely reiterated existing law, although it showed greater regard to the rights of neutral entities. The declaration was ratified by the United States Senate, but not by many other powers; it never went into effect officially.

Contraband of War

Art. 22. The following articles may, without notice, be treated as contraband of war, under the name of absolute contraband:

1. Arms of all kinds, including arms for sporting purposes, and their distinctive component parts.
2. Projectiles, charges, and cartridges of all kinds, and their distinctive component parts.
3. Powder and explosives specially prepared for use in war.
4. Gun-mountings, limber boxes, limbers, military waggons, field forges, and their distinctive component parts.
5. Clothing and equipment of a distinctively military character.
6. All kinds of harness of a distinctively military character.
7. Saddle, draught, and pack animals suitable for use in war.
8. Articles of camp equipment, and their distinctive component parts.
9. Armour plates.
10. Warships, including boats, and their distinctive component parts of such a nature that they can only be used on a vessel of war.
11. Implements and apparatus designed exclusively for the manufacture of munitions of war, for the manufacture or repair of arms, or war material for use on land or sea.

Art. 23. Articles exclusively used for war may be added to the list of absolute contraband by a declaration, which must be notified.

Such notification must be addressed to the Governments of other Powers, or to their representatives accredited to the Power making the declaration. A notification made after the outbreak of hostilities is addressed only to neutral Powers.

Art. 24. The following articles, susceptible of use in war as well as for purposes of peace, may, without notice, be treated as contraband of war, under the name of conditional contraband:

1. Foodstuffs
2. Forage and grain, suitable for feeding animals
3. Clothing, fabrics for clothing, and boots and shoes, suitable for use in war
4. Gold and silver in coin or bullion; paper money
5. Vehicles of all kinds available for use in war, and their component parts
6. Vessels, craft, and boats of all kinds; floating docks, parts of docks and their component parts
7. Railway material, both fixed and rolling-stock, and material for telegraphs, wireless telegraphs, and telephones
8. Balloons and flying machines and their distinctive component parts, together with accessories and articles recognizable as intended for use in connection with balloons and flying machines
9. Fuel; lubricants
10. Powder and explosives not specially prepared for use in war
11. Barbed wire and implements for fixing and cutting the same
12. Horseshoes and shoeing materials
13. Harness and saddlery
14. Field glasses, telescopes, chronometers, and all kinds of nautical instruments

Art. 25. Articles susceptive of use in war as well as for purposes of peace, other than those enumerated in Articles 22 and 24, may be added to the list of conditional contraband by a declaration, which must be notified in the manner provided for in the second paragraph of Article 23.

Art. 26. If a Power waives, so far as it is concerned, the right to treat as contraband of war an article comprised in any of the classes enumerated in Articles 22 and 24, such intention shall be announced by a declaration, which must be notified in the manner provided for in the second paragraph of Article 23.

Art. 27. Articles which are not susceptible of use in war may not be declared contraband of war.

Art. 28. The following may not be declared contraband of war:

1. Raw cotton, wool, silk, jute, flax, hemp, and other raw materials of the textile industries, and yarns of the same
2. Oil seeds and nuts; copra
3. Rubber, resins, gums, and lacs; hops
4. Raw hides and horns, bones, and ivory
5. Natural and artificial manures, including nitrates and phosphates for agricultural purposes
6. Metallic ores
7. Earths, clays, lime, chalk, stone, including marble, bricks, slates, and tiles
8. Chinaware and glass
9. Paper and paper-making materials
10. Soap, paint and colours, including articles exclusively used in their manufacture, and varnish
11. Bleaching powder, soda ash, caustic soda, salt cake, ammonia, sulphate of ammonia, and sulphate of copper
12. Agricultural, mining, textile, and printing machinery
13. Precious and semi-precious stones, pearls, mother-of-pearl, and coral
14. Clocks and watches, other than chronometers
15. Fashion and fancy goods
16. Feathers of all kinds, hairs, and bristles
17. Articles of household furniture and decoration; office furniture and requisites

Art. 29. Likewise the following may not be treated as contraband of war:

1. Articles serving exclusively to aid the sick and wounded. They can, however, in case of urgent military necessity and subject to the payment of compensation, be requisitioned, if their destination is that specified in Article 30
2. Articles intended for the use of the vessel in which they are found, as well as those intended for the use of her crew and passengers during the voyage

Art. 30. Absolute contraband is liable to capture if it is shown to be destined to territory belonging to or occupied by the enemy, or to the armed forces of the enemy. It is immaterial whether the carriage of the goods is direct or entails transhipment or a subsequent transport by land.

Art. 31. Proof of the destination specified in Article 30 is complete in the following cases:

1. When the goods are documented for discharge in an enemy port, or for delivery to the armed forces of the enemy
2. When the vessel is to call at enemy ports only, or when she is to touch at a enemy port or meet the armed forces of the enemy before reaching the neutral port for which the goods in question are documented

Art. 32. Where a vessel is carrying absolute contraband, her papers are conclusive proof as to the voyage on which she is engaged, unless she is found clearly out of the course indicated by her papers, and unable to give adequate reasons to justify such deviation.

Art. 33. Conditional contraband is liable to capture if it is shown to be destined for the use of the armed forces or of a government department of the enemy State, unless in this latter case the circumstances show that the goods cannot in fact be used for the purposes of the war in progress. This latter exception does not apply to a consignment coming under Article 24 (4).

Art. 34. The destination referred to in Article 33 is presumed to exist if the goods are consigned to enemy authorities, or to a contractor established in the enemy country who, as a matter of common knowledge, supplies articles of this kind to the enemy. A similar presumption arises if the goods are consigned to a fortified place belonging to the enemy, or other place serving as a base for the armed forces of the enemy. No such presumption, however, arises in the case of a merchant vessel bound for one of these places if it is sought to prove that she herself is contraband.

In cases where the above presumptions do not arise, the destination is presumed to be innocent.

The presumptions set up by this Article may be rebutted.

Art. 35. Conditional contraband is not liable to capture, except when found on board a vessel bound for territory belonging to or occupied by the enemy, or for the armed forces of the enemy, and when it is not to be discharged in an intervening neutral port.

The ship's papers are conclusive proof both as to the voyage on which the vessel is engaged and as to the port of discharge of the goods, unless she is found clearly out of the course indicated by her papers, and unable to give adequate reasons to justify such deviation.

Art. 36. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 35, conditional contraband, if shown to have the destination referred to in Article 33, is liable to capture in cases where the enemy country has no seaboard.

Art. 37. A vessel carrying goods liable to capture as absolute or conditional contraband may be captured on the high seas or in the territorial waters of the belligerents throughout the whole of her voyage, even if she is to touch at a port of call before reaching the hostile destination.

Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War (Hague XIII); October 18, 1907

XIII - CONVENTION CONCERNING THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF NEUTRAL POWERS IN NAVAL WAR

With a view to harmonizing the divergent views which, in the event of naval war, are still held on the relations between neutral Powers and belligerent Powers, and to anticipating the difficulties to which such divergence of views might give rise;

Seeing that, even if it is not possible at present to concert measures applicable to all circumstances which may in practice occur, it is nevertheless undeniably advantageous to frame, as far as possible, rules of general application to meet the case where war has unfortunately broken out;

Seeing that, in cases not covered by the present Convention, it is expedient to take into consideration the general principles of the law of nations;

Seeing that it is desirable that the Powers should issue detailed enactments to regulate the results of the attitude of neutrality when adopted by them;

Seeing that it is, for neutral Powers, an admitted duty to apply these rules impartially to the several belligerents;

Seeing that, in this category of ideas, these rules should not, in principle, be altered, in the course of the war, by a neutral Power, except in a case where experience has shown the necessity for such change for the protection of the rights of that Power;

Have agreed to observe the following common rules, which cannot however modify provisions laid down in existing general treaties, and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, namely:

(List of Plenipotentiaries)

Who, after having deposited their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following provisions:

Article 1

Belligerents are bound to respect the sovereign rights of neutral Powers and to abstain, in neutral territory or neutral waters, from any act which would, if knowingly permitted by any Power, constitute a violation of neutrality.

Art. 2

Any act of hostility, including capture and the exercise of the right of search, committed by belligerent war-ships in the territorial waters of a neutral Power, constitutes a violation of neutrality and is strictly forbidden.

Art. 3

When a ship has been captured in the territorial waters of a neutral Power, this Power must employ, if the prize is still within its jurisdiction, the means at its disposal to release the prize with its officers and crew, and to intern the prize crew.

If the prize is not in the jurisdiction of the neutral Power, the captor Government, on the demand of that Power, must liberate the prize with its officers and crew.

Art. 4

A prize court cannot be set up by a belligerent on neutral territory or on a vessel in neutral waters.

Art. 5

Belligerents are forbidden to use neutral ports and waters as a base of naval operations against their adversaries, and in particular to erect wireless telegraphy stations or any apparatus for the purpose of communicating with the belligerent forces on land or sea.

Art. 6

The supply, in any manner, directly or indirectly, by a neutral Power to a belligerent Power, of war-ships, ammunition, or war material of any kind whatever, is forbidden.
Art. 7

A neutral Power is not bound to prevent the export or transit, for the use of either belligerent, of arms, ammunition, or, in general, of anything which could be of use to an army or fleet.

Art. 8

A neutral Government is bound to employ the means at its disposal to prevent the fitting out or arming of any vessel within its jurisdiction which it has reason to believe is intended to cruise, or engage in hostile operations, against a Power with which that Government is at peace. It is also bound to display the same vigilance to prevent the departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel intended to cruise, or engage in hostile operations, which had been adapted entirely or partly within the said jurisdiction for use in war.

Art. 9

A neutral Power must apply impartially to the two belligerents the conditions, restrictions, or prohibitions made by it in regard to the admission into its ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters, of belligerent war-ships or of their prizes.

Nevertheless, a neutral Power may forbid a belligerent vessel which has failed to conform to the orders and regulations made by it, or which has violated neutrality, to enter its ports or roadsteads.

Art. 10

The neutrality of a Power is not affected by the mere passage through its territorial waters of war-ships or prizes belonging to belligerents.

Art. 11

A neutral Power may allow belligerent war-ships to employ its licensed pilots.

Art. 12

In the absence of special provisions to the contrary in the legislation of a neutral Power, belligerent war-ships are not permitted to remain in the ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters of the said Power for more than twenty-four hours, except in the cases covered by the present Convention.

Art. 13

If a Power which has been informed of the outbreak of hostilities learns that a belligerent war-ship is in one of its ports or roadsteads, or in its territorial waters, it must notify the said ship to depart within twenty-four hours or within the time prescribed by local regulations.

Art. 14

A belligerent war-ship may not prolong its stay in a neutral port beyond the permissible time except on account of damage or stress of weather. It must depart as soon as the cause of the delay is at an end.

The regulations as to the question of the length of time which these vessels may remain in neutral ports, roadsteads, or waters, do not apply to war-ships devoted exclusively to religious, scientific, or philanthropic purposes.

Art. 15

In the absence of special provisions to the contrary in the legislation of a neutral Power, the maximum number of warships belonging to a belligerent which may be in one of the ports or roadsteads of that Power simultaneously shall be three.

Art. 16

When war-ships belonging to both belligerents are present simultaneously in a neutral port or roadstead, a period of not less than twenty-four hours must elapse between the departure of the ship belonging to one belligerent and the departure of the ship belonging to the other.

The order of departure is determined by the order of arrival, unless the ship which arrived first is so circumstanced that an extension of its stay is permissible.

A belligerent war-ship may not leave a neutral port or roadstead until twenty-four hours after the departure of a merchant ship flying the flag of its adversary.

Art. 17

In neutral ports and roadsteads belligerent war-ships may only carry out such repairs as are absolutely necessary to render them seaworthy, and may not add in any manner whatsoever to their fighting force. The local authorities of the neutral Power shall decide what repairs are necessary, and these must be carried out with the least possible delay.

Art. 18

Belligerent war-ships may not make use of neutral ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters for replenishing or increasing their supplies of war material or their armament, or for completing their crews.

Art. 19

Belligerent war-ships may only revictual in neutral ports or roadsteads to bring up their supplies to the peace standard.

Similarly these vessels may only ship sufficient fuel to enable them to reach the nearest port in their own country. They may, on the other hand, fill up their bunkers built to carry fuel, when in neutral countries which have adopted this method of determining the amount of fuel to be supplied.

If, in accordance with the law of the neutral Power, the ships are not supplied with coal within twenty-four hours of their arrival, the permissible duration of their stay is extended by twenty-four hours.

Art. 20

Belligerent war-ships which have shipped fuel in a port belonging to a neutral Power may not within the succeeding three months replenish their supply in a port of the same Power.

Art. 21

A prize may only be brought into a neutral port on account of unseaworthiness, stress of weather, or want of fuel or provisions.

It must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entry are at an end. If it does not, the neutral Power must order it to leave at once; should it fail to obey, the neutral Power must employ the means at its disposal to release it with its officers and crew and to intern the prize crew.

Art. 22

A neutral Power must, similarly, release a prize brought into one of its ports under circumstances other than those referred to in Article 21.

Art. 23

A neutral Power may allow prizes to enter its ports and roadsteads, whether under convoy or not, when they are brought there to be sequestrated pending the decision of a Prize Court. It may have the prize taken to another of its ports.

If the prize is convoyed by a war-ship, the prize crew may go on board the convoying ship.

If the prize is not under convoy, the prize crew are left at liberty.

Art. 24

If, notwithstanding the notification of the neutral Power, a belligerent ship of war does not leave a port where it is not entitled to remain, the neutral Power is entitled to take such measures as it considers necessary to render the ship incapable of taking the sea during the war, and the commanding officer of the ship must facilitate the execution of such measures.

When a belligerent ship is detained by a neutral Power, the officers and crew are likewise detained.
The officers and crew thus detained may be left in the ship or kept either on another vessel or on land, and may be subjected to the measures of restriction which it may appear necessary to impose upon them. A sufficient number of men for looking after the vessel must, however, be always left on board.

The officers may be left at liberty on giving their word not to quit the neutral territory without permission.

Art. 25

A neutral Power is bound to exercise such surveillance as the means at its disposal allow to prevent any violation of the provisions of the above Articles occurring in its ports or roadsteads or in its waters.

Art. 26

The exercise by a neutral Power of the rights laid down in the present Convention can under no circumstances be considered as an unfriendly act by one or other belligerent who has accepted the articles relating thereto.

Art. 27

The Contracting Powers shall communicate to each other in due course all laws, proclamations, and other enactments regulating in their respective countries the status of belligerent war-ships in their ports and waters, by means of a communication addressed to the Government of the Netherlands, and forwarded immediately by that Government to the other Contracting Powers.

Art. 28

The provisions of the present Convention do not apply except between Contracting Powers, and then only if all the belligerents are parties to the Convention.

Art. 29

The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible. The ratifications shall be deposited at The Hague.

The first deposit of ratifications shall be recorded in a procès-verbal signed by the representatives of the Powers which take part therein and by the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The subsequent deposits of ratifications shall be made by means of a written notification addressed to the Netherlands Government and accompanied by the instrument of ratification.

A duly certified copy of the process-verbal relative to the first deposit of ratifications, of the ratifications mentioned in the preceding paragraph, as well as of the instruments of ratification, shall be at once sent by the Netherlands Government, through the diplomatic channel, to the Powers invited to the Second Peace Conference, as well as to the other Powers which have adhered to the Convention. In the cases contemplated in the preceding paragraph, the said Government shall inform them at the same time of the date on which it received the notification.

Art. 30

Non-Signatory Powers may adhere to the present Convention. The Power which desires to adhere notifies in writing its intention to the Netherlands Government, forwarding to it the act of adhesion, which shall be deposited in the archives of the said Government.

That Government shall at once transmit to all the other Powers a duly certified copy of the notification as well as of the act of adhesion, mentioning the date on which it received the notification.

Art. 31

The present Convention shall come into force in the case of the Powers which were a party to the first deposit of the ratifications, sixty days after the date of the procès-verbal of that deposit, and, in the case of the Powers who ratify subsequently or who adhere, sixty days after the notification of their ratification or of their decision has been received by the Netherlands Government.



Art. 32

In the event of one of the Contracting Powers wishing to denounce the present Convention, the denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Netherlands Government, who shall at once communicate a duly certified copy of the notification to all the other Powers, informing them of the date on which it was received.

The denunciation shall only have effect in regard to the notifying Power, and one year after the notification has been made to the Netherlands Government.

Art. 33

A register kept by the Netherlands Ministry for Foreign Affairs shall give the date of the deposit of ratifications made by Article 29, paragraphs 3 and 4, as well as the date on which the notifications of adhesion (Article 30, paragraph 2) or of denunciation (Article 32, paragraph 1) have been received.

Each Contracting Power is entitled to have access to this register and to be supplied with duly certified extracts.

In faith whereof the Plenipotentiaries have appended their signatures to the present Convention.

Done at The Hague, 18 October 1907, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Netherlands Government, and duly certified copies of which shall be sent, through the diplomatic channel, to the Powers which have been invited to the Second Peace Conference.

(German Development Service)

The German Development Service was recently established by the German Government as an independent organisation dedicated to the improvement of economic conditions in partner nations at the local level. It places advisors and technical specialists abroad on the basis of framework agreements with local host nations. These individuals are experienced in planning, training and advising local civil organisations, or in providing technical skills not available in the host nation. Limited financial support for development projects is also provided where required. The German Development Service also offers qualified university graduates the opportunity to gain personal and professional experience during a one-year stay in a partner country. In its operations abroad the German Development Service is primarily involved in rural development and the conservation of resources, supporting the production, processing and marketing of agricultural and forestry products for the benefit of the local population and in water resource management.