How do you know it was only those 39 books? Or less than those 39 books. How are you certain apart from the Talmud which the earlier version from Jerusalem dates to 300 AD and the later version from Babylon in 500 AD?
I think you'll find thatas early as AD 79, the Jews who survived the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 came together and confirmed their canon as the 39 books we have today.
Jesus only list the Law and The Prophets which excludes certain books of the 39 books.
When the Lord Jesus uses the term 'the law and the prophets' He is referencing the whole of the OT canon.
Many NT theological views come right out of these books I've mentioned. Even the Dead Sea scrolls has versions of them. To be more appropriate with your WWII reference I might certainly say you are referencing Winston Churchill if you said something to the effect "we will never ever surrender" in mentioning WWII. Not exactly a direct quote but certainly referencing his great speech as are the NT references of the Deuterocanonical books. Apart from the Talmud I see no other place where you can authoritatively say these 39 books. Certainly not from early Christian Tradition.
Let me put this as simply as I can. If you can find me somewhere in the NT where the Lord Jesus says,
"Have you never read....?" (e.g. Matthew 21:42) or
"As it is written....." (e.g. Mark 7:6); or where Paul says,
'For what does the Scripture say...….?' (e.g. Romans 4:3). Or where the writer to the Hebrews declares,
'Therefore as the Holy Spirit says' (e.g. Hebrews 3:7). If you can find me any such place or similar where the Speaker or writer goes on to quote Maccabees or Jesus the son of Sirach or any other writer of the apocrypha, I will concede your point. Otherwise you are whistling in the dark.
Not everything in the apocrypha is evil or wrong. Some of it is well worth reading (and some of it isn't). But it isn't Scripture.