This Day in the War in Europe: The Beginning

[Njaco]

January 29 Monday
NORTHERN EUROPE: The battle of Kuhmo begins. Finns encircle the Soviet 54th Division at Kuhmo, in the "waist" of the front. Heavy Soviet air raids target Finnish ports. At 5 AM, Colonel Siilasvuo's 9th division attacks Soviet 54th division, which has been moving slowly towards the road junction at Kuhmo. 54th division is stopped dead in its tracks, to be cut into mottis. Simultaneously, Red Army is preparing a massive assault on Finnish defenses.

A Soviet diplomatic note to the government of Sweden suggests that the Soviets are prepared to negotiate with the legitimate Finnish government and, implicitly, to abandon support for the puppet communist regime. The note states:

"The Soviet Union has no objection in principle to a possible agreement with the Ryti government."

Soviet air raids renewed over Finland, ten localities being attacked, including coast towns on Gulf of Bothia. At Hangoe about 50 people killed and 200 injured; at Turku, 28 killed and 46 injured. Soviet airmen dropped bombs on Red Cross hospital in Karelian Isthmus, killing 23 persons.

Rome stated that Germany had released Italian planes ordered by Finland before outbreak of hostilities and detained in the Reich during transit.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Widespread German air raids on Britain were attempted, extending from Shetlands to coast of Kent. At least 13 ships were attacked, two British lightships. Fighters engaged raiders at many points. German aircraft attacked the unarmed British lightship "East Dudgeon"; 7 crew members died as their lifeboat capsized later. SS 'Stanburn' (2,881t) was sunk SE of Flamborough Head, struck by three bombs from a German Stuka dive bomber which came suddenly out of cloud cover. Captain Lewis and twenty-five of her crew were killed in the attack, there were only three survivors.

German submarine U-51 torpedoed and sunk Norwegian ship "Eika", carring salt from Spain, at 1530 hours. 14 men were killed, while 2 (Harald Støle and Alfred Johansen) were rescued by U-51 who would be delivered to Wilhelmshaven on 8 Feb 1940. Støle turns 17 on the voyage to Wilhelmshaven.

EASTERN EUROPE: Germany renamed Reichsgau Posen, in occupied Poland, to Reichsgau Wartheland.

Official report of Polish Government estimated that about 18,000 Polish Leaders drawn from all classes, had been put to death in German-occupied Poland.

WESTERN FRONT: In France Premier Daladier delivers a stirring broadcast speech:

"Germany hopes to encompass our downfall by exploiting weakness at home..."

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[Wurger]

The Polish submarine ORP Wilk at a Royal Navy base, January 1940.

 

[Njaco]

January 30 Tuesday
GERMANY: On the 7th anniversary of the Nazi regime, Hitler speaks at the Berlin Sportpalast. He demands Lebensraum (living space) for Germans and ridicules Chamberlain, Churchill and Daladier. He says::

"For 300 years England pursued the aim of preventing a real consolidation of Europe, just as France sought for centuries to prevent a consolidation of Germany. …. since they started the war, ...they will get all the war they want."

Heydrich orders more expulsions of Jews from the Reich to Lublin in eastern Poland. Meanwhile, Himmler authorizes the deportation of 30,000 gypsies.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German aircraft bombed shipping in the English Channel and the North Sea, sinking British cargo steamers "Highwave", "Giralda", and "Bancrest" off the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland. British ship "Voreda" was badly damaged and beached near Winterton, England. RAF planes were active all along East coast, but were handicapped by poor visibility. A Heinkel He 111H-2 from 4./KG 26 crashed into the sea five miles east of Coquet Island, Northumberland after combat with Hurricanes of No 43 Squadron based at Acklington, at 12.45. Fw. H. Höfer, Uffz. R. Feist, Obergefr. A. Hain and Gefr. W. Korinsky were missing. Aircraft 1H+KM sank in the sea. Another approaching the Firth of Forth was disabled.

German submarine U-55 sank British tanker "Vaclite", part of convoy OA-80G, 50 miles off of Land's End in southwestern England at 0700 hours. The crew of 35 was rescued by Italian steamer "Pollenzo". At 1100 hours, U-55 sank Greek ship "Keramlai". Later that day, U-55 was found and depth charged by British (HMS "Whitshed", and HMS "Fowey") and French ("Valmy" and "Guépard") destroyers and a No. 228 Squadron RAF Sunderland aircraft – the first confirmed U-Boat kill by an aircraft. 41 of the German crew surrendered; Kapitänleutnant Werner Heidel chose to go down with his ship.

German torpedo boat "Iltis" misidentified German submarine U-15 as a hostile vessel and rammed her 50 miles north of Wilhelmshaven, Germany. U-15 sank, killing the entire crew of 25.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Helsinki claimed that Finnish fighters and anti-aircraft batteries had brought down one of the 200 Russian bombers which raided Finland on Monday.

New Finnish offensive launched north of Kuhmo, Central Finland, Russian 54th Division being attacked with marked success.

UNITED KINGDOM: War Office issued first list of army casualties, comprising 758 names.

A national campaign is launched today to utilize almost all of the 120 million tons of household waste that are disposed of every year. Scrap iron and steel as well as waste paper are singled out as being urgently required.

.

 

[Njaco]

January 31 Wednesday
WESTERN FRONT: Oblt. Heinz Schumann, Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 52 is transferred to I./JG 51.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-13 torpedoed and sank Norwegian steamer "Start" about halfway between Stavanger, Norway and Aberdeen, Scotland, killing the entire crew of 16. "Start" was carrying coal from Sunderland, northern England.

German submarine U-21 fired two torpedoes at Danish ship "Vidar", but both malfunctioned. A third torpedoed, however, struck "Vidar" 25 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland, killing 16 and rendering her dead in the water. Danish steamer "Disko" rescued 18 survivors while surviving a hit from another malfunctioning torpedo from U-21. "Vidar" would remain afloat until the next day.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Soviet forces gathered in the Summa sector in the Karelian Isthmus now grew to the size of 12 divisions and 400 heavy artillery pieces. Commander Timoshenko has spent 3 weeks preparing to assault the Mannerheim Line. He has 12 fresh divisions on the Karelian Isthmus and artillery lined up side by each. Opposite the Summa gap alone, he has 400 heavy artillery pieces (200 mm calibre or more) and innumerable smaller 75 and 45 mm guns, which are not camouflaged due to the Finns lack or artillery and attack aircraft. Soviet artillery has been pulverizing Finnish forts all month. Timoshenko is ready.

At least 150 bombs were dropped on Rovaniemi by Russian planes.

UNITED KINGDOM: Desperately short of aircraft, the British made a secret approach to Italy (not yet in the war) to buy fighters. The secret British military mission orders 300 Caproni Re2000 fighters. (German intervention in April effectively vetoes the deal and British attempts to obtain the fighters through a Portuguese intermediary fail with the Italian declaration of war on June 10th.)

Sir John Simon of Britain announced that food subsidies were running at £1,000,000 per week.

Mr. Chamberlain made a speech on the rising might of Britain.

At 06.15 a mine, washed up a mile N of Berwick, exploded and damaged a housing estate sewer at its point of entry into the sea.

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[parsifal]

31 January 1940
Known Losses
MV START (Nor 1,168 grt): Crew: 16 (16 dead - no survivors); Cargo: 1478 tons of coal : Route: Sunderland (29 Jan) - Oslo . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea north of Buckie, Aberdeenshire by U-13.

MV VIDAR (Den 1,353 grt): Crew: 34 (16 dead and 18 survivors): Cargo: Steel bars : Route: Grimsby - Tyne - Esbjerg. The cargo ship was torpedoed and damaged in the North Sea east of the Orkney Islands, United Kingdom by U-21. The unescorted and neutral VIDAR was hit aft by a G7e torpedo from U-21 about 100 miles east of the Moray Firth and sank the next day. Earlier in the evening , the U-boat had fired a G7a torpedo that became a surface runner and detonated near the ship, which stopped apparently surrendering as Denmark and Germany were supposed to have reached an understanding foir shipping used for a neutral purpose. Germany had decided to embark on unrestricted warfare by this, and gave little weight to the agreements she had made to the neutrals. A ship in the declared area was a target at this point.

A second torpedo had been fired two minutes later, but it also did not run due to an operating error. The Danish steam merchant DISKO, which picked up the survivors from VIDAR, was attacked with a G7e torpedo at 20.11 hours, but it also became a surface runner that detonated without damaging the ship.

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 48 sailed for a minelaying operation in accordance with Operations Order No. 22. News was received overland of supply operation under cover name "Moro". Everything went off according to plan. U 25 has now been ordered to make a surprise attack on French patrol vessels which have recently been reported several times off Vigo, so that the German steamers in Vigo will be able to sail on 6.2 as planned without difficulty. In itself this is not a suitable operation for a U-boat as the patrol consists of trawlers and destroyers, vessels which can act as S/M chasers but present a difficult target for the U-boat. In the ordinary way efforts must be made to operate U-boats in areas where there are no anti-S/M vessels, but in this case the principle has to be relaxed. It is very doubtful whether the operation will have the desired effect at all, i.e. that of drawing away the patrol vessels and it is possible that it will merely attract more such vessels. It will hardly come as a surprise, as it is known for certain that 4 German U-boats are believed to be in that area. Nevertheless, after consulting Naval War Staff, I decided to give the order, so that I shall at least have done everything possible to assist the sailing of the steamers.

Arrivals
Helgoland: U-10 , U-20

At Sea 31 January 1940
U-13, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-56, U-58, U-59.
16 boats at sea.

OPERATIONS
North Sea
CL GLASGOW and EDINBURGH departed Rosyth. DDs ESCAPADE and ENCOUNTER arrived at Rosyth. Sub STURGEON arrived at Blyth after patrol. Sub TRIDENT departed Rosyth on patrol. DD WAKEFUL attacked a submarine contact off Bull Point. CLA CAIRO departed Immingham on patrol. FN.83 departed Southend, escort sloops FLAMINGO and WESTON, also escorted by by ML PRINCESS VICTORIA, and arrived in the Tyne on 1 February. The sloops then escorted the ML to Rosyth.

Northern Waters
DD SIKH and MOHAWK arrived at Scapa

West Coast UK
BB RODNEY, BC REPULSE and their escorts arrived back in the Clyde after exercises. DD DARING arrived in the Clyde. AMC ASCANIA arrived at the Clyde.

Channel
CL AJAX, escort by DDs WHITSHED, ARDENT and ACASTA arrived at Plymouth.

Nth Atlantic
HX.18 departed Halifax escort RCN DDs SAGUENAY and SKEENA, which detached on 1 February. Ocean escort was BB ROYAL SOVEREIGN which left on the 8th. Escort consisted of DD WINCHELSEA and sloop ROCHESTER from convoy OB.89 from the 13th to 16th, when the convoy arrived in Liverpool.

Med- Biscay
CL DELHI left Portsmouth for the Med, arrived at Gib on 3 February, departed next day and reached Malta on the 8th. OA.80G departed Southend on the 27th with DD WHITSHED and sloop FOWEY, and OB.80G left Liverpool on the 28th with destroyers WALPOLE and WITHERINGTON. They merged as convoy OG.16 on the 31st with 37 ships, escorts were (at various times) DDs WALPOLE, WITHERINGTON, WHITSHED, Fr DDr VALMY and patrol ship VIKING. Convoy arrived at Gibraltar on 5th


Indian Ocean
CL GLOUCESTER departed Colombo after refitting, called at Mogadishu on 8 February and was at Mombasa from the 9th to 11th.

 

[parsifal]

Summary Of Losses January 1940
Allied
Allied Warships
ASW trawler KINGSTON CORNELIAN (RN 449 grt), Aux sloop BARSAC (Fr 1145 grt), Sub SEAHORSE (RN 730 grt), Sub UNDINE (RN 630 grt), Sub STARFISH (RN 730 grt), ASW yacht PRINCESS (RN 730 grt), Patrol trawler VALDORA (RN 251 grt), DD GRENVILLE (RN 1350 grt), DD EXMOUTH (RN 1475 grt)

(6395 (RN) 1145 (Fr) grt; Total 7490 grt Naval Tonnage)

Allied Shipping
MV ARDONGORM (UK 5200 grt). Steamer ROTHESAY CASTLE (UK 7016 grt), MV BELTHINGE (UK 3500 GRT (est)), Tkr BRITISH LIBERTY (UK 8485 grt), MV ETA (UK 81 grt), SS GLOREDA (AUS 250 grt (est)), MV CEDRINGTON COURT(UK 5160 grt), MV TOWNELEY (UK 2475 grt), MV ATLANTIC SCOUT(UK 4533 grt), Steamer TYNEHOME (UK 628 grt), Liner DUNBAR CASTLE(UK 10002 GRT), MV OAKGROVE (UK 1985 grt), Coastal Steamer GOWRIE (UK 689 grt), Collier MONTAUBAN (Fr 4,191 grt), Trawler CROXTON (195 grt), Steamer KEYNES (UK 1706 grt), Trawler LUCIDA (UK 251 GRT), Steamer LEONARD PEARCE (UK 1571 grt), Tkr EL OSO (UK 7267 grt), Trawler WILLIAM IVEY (UK 202 grt), MV GRANTA (UK 2719 grt), MV FIRE KING (UK 500 grt(est)), Trawler ST LUCIA (UK 300 grt (est)), MV HULLGATE (UK 409 grt), Trawler NEW HAVEN (UK 162 grt), Tkr INVERDARGLE (UK 9,456 grt), MV POLZELLA (UK 4,751 grt), MV CAIRNROSS (UK 5,494 grt), Lightship BRAKE (UK 250 grt (est)), MV QUIBERON (Fr 1,296 grt), Steamer MILE END (UK 859 grt), Ex-Cargo Liner DURHAM CASTLE (UK 8240 grt), Tkr CARONI RIVER (UK 7,807 grt), MV PROTESLAUS (UK 9,577 grt), Collier FERRYHILL (UK 1,086 grt), Steamer KIRKPOOL (UK 4842 grt), MV BALTANGLIA (UK 1,523 grt), MV ALSACIEN (Fr 3,819 grt), MV TOURNY (Fr 2769 grt), MV GLENEDEN (UK 4772 grt), Drifter RIANT (UK 95 grt), Trawler CAERPHILLY CASTLE (UK 374 grt)), steamer VOREDA (UK 7216 grt), MV ESTON (UK 1487 grt), steamer HIGH WAVE (UK 1178 grt), MV STANBURN (UK 2981 grt), EAST DUDGEON LIGHTSHIP (UK 200 grt(est)), MV BADJESTAN (UK 5573grt), Steamer BANCREST (UK 4450 grt), Steamer GIRALDA (UK 2178 grt), Steamer VACLITE (UK 5026 grt)

Allied Tonnage Sunk or captured: 171633 tons (7490 Naval, 12073 Fr, 151820 UK, 250 (Aus))

Prize Vessels:
Steamer PHAEDRA (Ger 619 grt)

Neutral
Neutral Warships
S-2 (SU 840 grt), MSW LOCOTENANT LEPRI REMUS ( Romanian Naval Forces 374 GRT), Escort Vessel AURA II (FN Navy (Merivoimat) 446 grt), Troop Transport VALAMON LUOSTARI (Fn 133 grt), DD LJUBJANA (Yug 1685 grt)

(2479 grt Naval Tonnage)

Neutral Shipping
MV LARS MAGNUS TROZELLI (Sd 1,951 grt), MV LEO (FN 1243 grt), MV TURKAN (Tu 1500 grt(est)), Tkr MOTORINA (Gk 2355 grt), Steamer SVARTON (SD 2574 grt), Steamer IRIS FAULBAUMS (Latvia 1675 grt), Steamer KIRUNA (Sd 5484 grt), MV MAIGUE (Eire 5400 grt (est)), FENRIS (SD 484 grt), MV DICIDO (SD 1475 grt), Steamer UPMINSTER (Ne 1013 grt), Coastal Steamer TRUIDA (Ne 350 GRT (EST)), Steamer TONIA CHANDRIS (Gk 3161 grt), MV HERTHA (Nor 1500 grt (est)), MV TRAVIATA (Italy 5123 grt). Steamer FREDVILLE (Nor 1150 grt), MV KASTOR (Est 1000 grt (est)), Tkr DANMARK (Den 10,517 grt), MV SYLVIA (Sd 1,524 grt), MV MEUSE (Be 1500 grt (est)), PANACHANDROS (Gk 4661 grt), MV FAGERHEIM (Nor 1590 grt), MV ARENDSKERK (Ne 7,906 grt), MV PELINAION (Gk 4261 grt), MV MANDROS (Gk 3500 grt(est)), MV JOSEPHINE CHARLOTTE (Be 3422 grt), MV CHILE (Den 1500 grt (est)), MV ENID (Nor 1,140 grt), MV FLANDRIA (SD 1,179 grt), MV FOXEN (SD 1,304 grt), MV CANADIAN REEFER (Den 1,831 grt), MV PAJALA (SD 6,873 grt), MV TELNES (Nor 1,694 grt), Steamer PATRIA (Gk 1188 grt), MV KAIJA (FN 398 grt), Steamer NAUTIC (Est 2050 grt), MV MIRANDA (Nor 1328 grt), MV EKATONTARCHOS DRACOULIS (Gk 5,329 grt), Collier TEKLA (Den 1,469 grt), MV RYNANNA (Eire 1500 grt (est)), Liner ORAZIO (It 11,669 grt), Steamer ANDALUSIA (SD 1357 grt), MV SYDFOLD (Nor 2,434 grt), MV SONGA (Nor 2,589 grt), MV SEGOVIA (Nor 1,387 grt), MV GOTHIA (Sd 1,640 grt), MV ITA (Nor 1500 grt (est)), MV VARILD (Nor 1085 grt), MV ONTO (FN 1333 grt), MV PLUTO (Nor 1,598 grt), MV BISP (Nor 1000 grt), Steamer NOTUNG (FN 1278 grt), MV GUDVEIG (Nor 1300 grt), MV EVERENE (Lat 4,434 grt), Steamer BIARRITZ (Nor 1752 grt), Steamer KESSU (Est 295 grt), MV HOSANGER (Nor 1591 grt), MV ENGLAND (Den 2319 grt), MV FREDENSBURG (Den 2094 grt), MV FARO (Nor 844 grt), Liner PRESIDENT QUEZON (Filipino 14187 grt), MV ADAMANTIOS J PITHIS (Gk 4537 grt), MV FLORA NOMICOS (Gk 2,980 grt), MV ELENI STATATOU (Gk 5,625 grt), MV BAUTA (Nor 1657 grt), MV EIKA (Nor 1,503 grt), Coastal steamer SKUDE (Nor 481 grt), Coastal steamer NORA (Ne 298 grt), Steamer KERAMIAI (Gk 5085 grt), MV VIDAR (Den 1,353 grt), MV START (Nor 1,168 grt), MV FU YUANG (Nor 3359 grt)

Neutral Shipping sunk 143496 (2491 Naval 141017 Mercantile tons 30352 (Nor), 4922(Be), 24205 (SD), 38420 (Gk), 20985 (Den), 8204 (Ne), 2974 (FN), , 16792 (Italy), 3050 (Est), 6104 (Latvian), 1500 (Tu), 6900 (Eire), 14187(Filipino,

Combined Allied and Neutral Shipping Sunk 315129 grt

Prize Vessels
DKM Supply ship TACOMA (DKM 8268 grt)

Axis
Axis Warships
MSW R-5 (DKM 60 grt), ASW Trawler AXEL (DKM 373 grt), U-15 Type IIB Uboat (DKM 324 grt), U-55 Type VIIB Uboat (DKM 843 grt)

(1600 grt Naval Tonnage)

Axis Shipping
Steamer JOHANN SCHULTE (Ger 5254 grt) , DKM Supply ship TACOMA (DKM 8268 grt), Steamer FRANKENWALD (Ger 5062 grt), Steamer BAHIA BLANCA (Ger 8558 grt), Trawler DIETRICH HASSELDIECK (Ger 172 grt), Steamer PHAEDRA (Ge 619 grt), Steamer ALBERT JANUS (Ger 1598 grt), Steamer GRATIA (Ger 2068 grt), Steamer AUGUST THYSSEN (Ger 2342 grt), Trawler MULHAUSEN (Ger 327 grt)

Captured
Steamer KESSU (Est 295 grt)

Tonnage Sunk or captured: 35868 (1600 Naval, 34268 Ger)

 

[Wurger]

The February 1940... Maj. Henryk Dobrzański "Hubal" was keeping on his fighting against the Nazi German invaders.

Mjr. Hubal ( the man wearing the scarf ) and members of his squad.....

The soldiers of the Hubal's troop , the February 1940 ...

A Hubal's cavalryman , Corporal Franciszek Głowacz alias "Lis" ( Fox) ... February 1940 ...

A receipt issued by the Hubal's HQ for a heifer with the Mjr. Hubal's sign ...

 

[Njaco]

February 1 Thursday
GERMANY: Several changes occur within the Luftwaffe. The Stab of JG 54 is formed and Hptm. Martin Mettig, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 21 is transferred to become its first Kommodore. Hptm. Fritz Ultsch becomes Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 21 in place of Hptm. Mettig. Oblt. Johannes Steinhoff is appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 52 taking the place of Oblt. Heinz Schumann who is transferred to JG 2. A new Gruppe, II./JG 3 is formed and based at Zerbst with Hptm. Erich von Selle from JG 27 as Gruppenkommandeur and Hptm. Walter Andres is made Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 27 in von Selle's place. Hptm. von Selle was a Gruppenkommandeur at JG 27 for only a month having been promoted to that unit on 1 January, 1940. Major Richard Kraut is made Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 76 in place of Hptm. Wilfried Müller-Rienzburg.

Hans-Joachim Marseille was awarded the Pilot's Badge.

NORTHERN EUROPE: After weeks of artillery bombardment, Red Army begins the first phase of its renewed attack on the Summa sector of the Karelian Isthmus, where Timoshenko has concentrated most of his forces. This 12 mile stretch of open land, unencumbered by lakes and rivers, leads directly to Viipuri, Finland's second city. A massive artillery barrage drops 300,000 shells in 24 hours on the Mannerheim Line around Summa. The Finnish 3rd Division, holding the line in the Summa area, takes much of the weight. The Soviet 7th and 13th Armies have 14 divisions and six tank brigades in the advance, with strong reserves. However, only regiment-sized probing forces are sent forward to test the effectiveness of new Soviet tank/infantry close-support tactics. This is only a dress-rehearsal of the expected main assault by the Soviets. During this round of attacks (which continues until February 8th) there is no attempt at a breakthrough by the Soviets but almost continuous heavy pressure is maintained.

Russian planes bombed Rovaniemi and Kemi, on Lapland front.

It was announced that both British and American aircraft had reached Finland and been in use for past fortnight.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-13 torpedoed and sank Swedish steamer "Fram" in the Aberdour Bay, Scotland at 0143 hours. 9 were killed and 14 were rescued by destroyer HMS "Khartoum" and armed trawler HMS "Viking Deeps".

German submarine U-59 torpedoed and sank British coaler "Ellen" M. 20 miles east of Southwold, Suffolk, England, killing the entire crew of 9.

SS 'Creofield' (638t) tanker, Southend to Middlesbrough was sunk, believed torpedoed by U 59 off Great Yarmouth. All sixteen of her crew were lost.

EASTERN EUROPE: In Russia the noted stage director, Vsevolod Meyerhold, having been tortured into confessing that he was the leader of an anti-soviet Trotskyite, was convicted in camera, and was executed on the following day.

SS-Reichsführer Himmler ordered inspections of potential sites for a planned concentration camp. Among those inspected was the camp at Oswiecim, Poland, known in German as Auschwitz.

Balkan Entente conference opened in Belgrade, Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece meeting to discuss questions of Balkan policy.

UNITED KINGDOM: In Britain, the Admiralty took over the responsibility for the building and repair of merchant shipping and concluded an arrangement to buy old cargo ships from the United States.

In the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declined to accept a suggestion by Herbert Morrison that a Minister of War Economy should be appointed on the grounds that such a post would do nothing which was not already being done.

ASIA: A record budget is presented to the Japanese Diet. Almost half is to be devoted to military expenditure. Meanwhile, Japan makes a diplomatic protest to Britain concerning the removal of 21 German nationals from the liner "Asama Maru" by British forces of the HMS "Gloucester" and demands they be returned. (The "Asama Maru" incident of January 21st.)

The Chinese Communist Mao Tse-tung calls for the US to stand firm against Japan.

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[Njaco]

February 2 Friday
GERMANY: Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring presides over a conference to consider the acceleration of the armament programme. Attending are Oberstgeneral Keitel, Oberstgeneral Milch and Reichsminister Funk. Results of the meeting are that due to shortage of raw materials there should be a ban on new aircraft designs. The main task of the German aircraft industry now is to produce the existing front-line aircraft and improve those on the priority list. This serves to hamper the Luftwaffe's ability to keep pace with the Allies on new, modern aircraft.

Major Ernst Burgaller of II./JG 51 is killed in a crash on the shores of Lake Constantine. Major Burgaller was a former member of the 'Richthofen' Geschwader during World War I. His place as Gruppenkommandeur is taken by Hptm. Günther Matthes.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Soviet troops continued to assert pressure on Finnish defensive positions on the Karelian Isthmus. Soviet shelling, aerial bombing and small unit combined infantry/armour attacks continue on the Isthmus, designed to wear down the Finnish defenders rather than penetrate the fortified defensive line. Meanwhile, Finnish 9th Division continued their attempt to encircle troops of the Soviet 54th Division near Kuhmo. In a rare example of reinforcing the trapped Red Army units, Siberian ski battalion under Colonel Vyatsheslav Dmitrievitsh Dolin is sent in to help 54th division at Viipuri Bay, but were disrupted by Finnish aircraft.

Twenty places bombed in Southern Finland, including Helsinki and Sortavala. Helsinki announced that at least five enemy planes were shot down in the Isthmus.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-59 torpedoed and sank British steamer "Creofield" at 0624 hours 20 miles off of Lowestoft, Suffolk, England, killing 9. At 2040 hours, in the same general area, she torpedoed and sank British steamer "Portelet", killing 2 with 9 survivors rescued by Finnish steamer "Oscar Midling".

British tanker 'British Councillor' sunk by enemy action in North Sea. It is possible that she struck a mine.

SS 'Portelet' (1,064t) sank on a voyage from Ipswich to Sunderland with the loss of two of her crew.

EASTERN EUROPE: The Balkan Entente Conference begins and includes a proclamation by the neutral states of Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania and Turkey declaring a common interest in maintaining peace in southeastern Europe and the renewal of the pact.

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[parsifal]

1 February 1940
Known Reinforcements
Fr Chamois class MSW Annamite

Known Losses
Coaster ELLEN M (UK 498 grt): Crew: 9 (9 dead - no survivors): Cargo: Coal : Route: Immingham (1 Feb) - London : the unescorted vessel was hit in the foreship by one G7e torpedo from U-59 and sank in a few minutes northeast of Lowestoft.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

MV FRAM (Sd 2,491 grt):Crew: 23 (9 dead and 14 survivors): Cargo: Ballast : Route: Stockholm - Hartlepool . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off New Aberdour, Morayshire, by U-13. The survivors were rescued by DD KHARTOUM and ASW Trawler VIKING DEEPS

Tkr PICARDIE (Fr 8298 grt): The tanker struck a submerged object in the Atlantic Ocean 450 nautical miles (830 km) north west of the Azores, Portugal and broke in two. The bow section sank. The stern section was towed to Oran, Algeria. Surviving wartime damage, it was sold to Norway in 1949, a new bow section was built and she returned to service as SIREFJEL

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

The Fuehrer's latest decision not to attack ships still under construction remains in force* Chief, Naval Ordnance Division stated at the time that no decisive results could be obtained by attacking vessels while still on the slips, as they were not at a sufficiently
advanced stage of construction* On the other hand, attacks made on ships in dock, which are almost completed, promise considerable success. But at present an R.A.F,. counterattack on Wilhelmshaven would be even more unfortunate for us than the loss of a few battleships would be for the enemy.

A telephone conversation with Chief of Staff, Group West revealed that Commander, Naval Air, »Vest apparently believes that aerial
mine laying operations are at present impossible, even with Naval Air Force planes, as he is restricted by instructions from the
Commander in Chief, Air Force, temporarily forbidding the use of aerial mines. Naval Staff has not received any such directive either from the Fuehrer or the Armed Forces High Command nor an order to this effect from the Commander in Chief, Air Force.
Instructions to date lay it down that aerial minelaying operations by the Naval Air Force are determined solely by the requirements
of naval warfare and the orders of Naval Staff, unless an express directive is received from the Fuehrer. As Naval Staff is
convinced that after the first aerial minelaying off the east coast of England similar operations must be resumed and intensified as
soon as possible, the permission to employ the aerial mine off the east coast still stands. Group V/est has been informed to this
effect.

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 26 and U 37 sailed for operations in accordance with Operations Orders No. 23 and 21. U 31 reported that she was returning

.

At Sea 1 February 1940
U-13, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-56, U-58, U-59.
16 boats at sea

OPERATIONS

Northern Patrol
The Northern Patrol sighted 49 eastbound merchant ships from the 1st to 14th and sent 21 into Kirkwall for inspection. CA BERWICK and AMCs TRANSYLVANIA and CARINTHIA arrived at the Clyde after Northern Patrol duties.

North Sea
DDs were transferred to the Rosyth Command to assist in ASW patrols. BRAZEN and BOREAS of DesFlot 19 arrived at Rosyth from Harwich on the 1st. GRIFFIN was delayed in her departure due to DG fitting, but both she and GALLANT of the DesFlot 1 departed Harwich on the 2nd and arrived at Rosyth on the 3rd. INTREPID and IVANHOE of DesFlot 20 arrived on the 8th. DDs JACKAL and JAVELIN arrived at Rosyth escorting tkr ATHOLLKNIGHT (8940grt). CL SOUTHAMPTON departed the Tyne for Scapa after her refit.
Sloop FLAMINGO arrived at Rosyth escorting ML PRINCESS VICTORIA, which had departed Immingham at 0200/1st and joined FN.83, escorted by FLAMINGO and sloop WESTON. DDs KASHMIR and KHARTOUM departed Rosyth, escorting SARDIS (970grt) to Aberdeen, where steamer CYPRIAN PRINCE was to join for the passage to Scapa. However, because of bad weather, CYPRIAN PRINCE was unable to join. DD JUNO, escorting HN.9B, made an attack on a submarine contact.

Subs URSULA and H.34 departed Rosyth for Blyth and were escorted as far as the Longstones by DD ENCOUNTER. The subs arrived at Blyth on the 2nd and ENCOUNTER back at Rosyth also on the 2nd. FN.84 departed Southend, escort DD VIVIEN and sloop. FS.84 departed Methil for the Thames escorted by escort vessel/destroyer WHITLEY and sloop EGRET. The convoy consisted of 27 ships, but 2 more joined at Middlesborough and 9 more in the Humber. Off Blea Wyke Point on the 2nd, a submarine contact was made at 0820 by EGRET. WHITLEY dropped DCs and was later relieved at the scene by DD GLOWWORM and WESTMINSTER, both of which attacked the contact. DD GREYHOUND also joined the hunt, but the search was abandoned at 1400. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 3rd. Convoy MT.1 departed Methil, escort DD WESTMINSTER and sloop STORK, and arrived in the Tyne on the 2nd. PELICAN, and arrived in the Tyne on the 2nd

Channel
Fr DD OURAGAN was damaged in a collision with Fr PV LOUISE MARIE which was lightly damaged. OURAGAN was temporarily repaired at Boulogne, departed on the 14th, and arrived at Brest on the 25th for completion of repairs.

UK - France
DD BASILISK departed Dover for Boulogne with Lord Gort, and came back later that day carrying the Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Imperial General Staff and other staff members.

SW Approaches
DDs VETERAN and VESPER, on an ASW sweep, attacked a submarine contact west of Scilly Island.

Central Atlantic
SL.19 departed Freetown escort AMC PRETORIA CASTLE from the 1st to 16th, merged with SLF.19 on the 16th, and the two convoys arrived at Liverpool on the 20th.

Med- Biscay
CL CARLISLE lost two Royal Marines overboard, en route to Gibraltar to work up. HG.17 departed Gib with 20 ships, escort DDs VIDETTE, the Fr CHACAL and Fr PV CAPITAINE ARMANDE. CHACAL later detached and arrived in Brest on the 9th and the patrol vessel on the 10th. The convoy was escorted in Home Waters by DD VIMY from the 8th to 11th when the convoy arrived.

 

[parsifal]

2 February 1940
Known Reinforcements
Allied
RCN Corvette MATAPEDIA
HMCS MATAPEDIA | Ships of the Canadian Navy

Known Losses
Tkr BRITISH COUNCILLOR (UK 7048 grt) struck a mine laid by U.26 off Withernsea. DDs GALLANT and GRIFFIN stood by and took off the survivors. Forty three survivors were picked up by destroyer WHITLEY. Tug YORKSHIREMAN was dispatched to assist, but the tanker sank the next day.
New Image Source: http://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum Ships/Old Ships B/slides/British Councellor-01.jpg

Tkr CREOFIELD (UK 838 grt): Crew:17 (17 dead - no survivors) : Cargo: Creosote : Route: London - Middlesbrough . The un-escorted coastal tanker was hit by a single G7e torpedo fired by U-59 and sank almost immediately in the North Sea off Lowestoft, Suffolk.

MV PORTELET (UK 1,064 grt): Crew: 11 (2 dead and 9 survivors): Cargo: Ballast : Route: Ipswich - Sunderland . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk by U-59 . The survivors were rescued by steamer OSCAR MIDLING (FN).

MV TERESA (Sp 931 grt): The coaster ran aground at Azemmour, Morocco and was wrecked.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

A speech by the Japanese Foreign Minister Arita summarized the aims of Japanese policy as follows: Settlement of the conflict with China, improvement of relations with Russia, desire for settlement of the trade conflict with America, maintenance of
good relations with the "Ant i- Comintern Powers". Mr. Chamberlain has announced the formation of a special committee for the increase of exports. Up to now he has been unwilling to create a co-ordinated ministry to deal with economic questions. According to special reports, General Weygand has made a forceful demand for offensive action in the Balkans by the Western Powers. This demand and its corollary requesting preparations for the operation are said to be directly opposed to the view of General Gamelin, who, it is stated, has denounced such an action in the Balkans as a mere adventure, particularly in view of the
resultant supply difficulties.
The following is a reasonably reliable estimate of the troops brought across to date by the Western Powers:
From Britain to France :

First wave: 160,000 men, Second wave: 150,000 men, Third wave: 250,000 men
(No exact details of this third wave are available, but it must be taken for granted that it has reached France. A fourth wave is in
training in Great Britain,)

From Canada to Europe: 15,000 men to Great Britain, 7,000 men to France.
From South Africa : None.
From Australia : 6,000 men on the way at present
From India : 20,000 men to Egypt.
From Mo-roc co : 60,000 men to France.
From Indo-China : 15,000 men to France ?, 50,000 men to Syria.

The number of troops in reserve in Syria is estimated at 120,000. It would take two months to transfer this army to the Balkans and
the transfer operation would be discovered in plenty of time. 150,000 men are said to be still in North Africa.

Special Reports on the Enemy .
Atlantic . Great Britain :
Bearings taken during the last few days show that there are some vessels in the waters between Iceland and North Scotland,, At
0815 the British steamer CHELSEA reported a suspicious vessel in grid square 3374, 230 miles south of Iceland. Possibly this was
the supply ship ALTMARK.

In the South Atlantic a newly formed Task' Force "Y" has appeared, to replace the former Task Force "X" (HERMES, VALIANT, NEPTUNE and the French destroyer) which has already been dissolved. It will probably consist of an old French battleship, two French cruisers, one British cruiser, three French destroyers and four French submarines* (According to the Intelligence Center, Spain the BRETAGNE, TOURVILLE, ALGERIE and about five destroyers passed Gibraltar on westward passage about a week ago.) All the French vessels lying off the Spanish coast are obviously under a single Commander. The intensive patrolling of the coast
continues; some units have been relieved,,

Radiogram to the ALTMARK:
"British steamer reported having sighted a suspicious vessel in AL 3374 at 0815 on 2 Feb."

By order of the Fuehrer the submarine operation "Halifax" planned by Naval Staff is not to take place for the time being because of possible political repercussions in the United States,

New Russian offensive on the Karelian Isthmus, no striking successes so far. From a report on the trade negotiations in Moscow it is clear that the Russians are insisting on very short clearing dates. The German delegation is having great difficulty in conducting
the negotiations. The conclusion of the treaty has therefore been delayed. Up to 22 Jan. Russia deliverecTa total of 21,500 tons of corn and mineral oils, i.e. only a small percentage of the amounts promised.

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

Nothing to Report

Departures
Wilhelmshaven: U-53

At Sea 2 February 1940
U-13, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-53 , U-56, U-58, U-59.
17 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
CL MANCHESTER departed Scapa and AMCs CORFU and WORCESTERSHIRE from the Clyde, all for Northern Patrol. CA DEVONSHIRE and AMC ANDANIA arrived in the Clyde, and AMC PATROCLUS at Liverpool, all from Northern Patrol.

North Sea
DDs BOREAS and BRAZEN departed Rosyth for ASW ops off Kinnaird Head. Sub SHARK arrived at Sheerness to refit, and completed on 26 March. Sub L.23 arrived at Blyth after patrol. Sub THISTLE arrived at Rosyth after patrol. OA.84 departed Southend escort DD VERITY from the 2nd to 4th, and also DD ANTELOPE from the 2nd to 5th, when she joined HXF.18. SA.28 of 2 steamers departed Southampton on the 2nd and travelled with OA.82 until the 3rd, when it detached without escort and arrived at Brest on the 4th.

Convoys MT.2 and MT.3 departed the Methil. Weather had delayed sailing and the number of ships was too large for one convoy. DDs ESCAPADE and JACKAL escorted the convoys, which arrived in the Tyne on the 3rd. FN.85 departed Southend, escort DD VIVIEN and sloop PELICAN, and arrived in the Tyne on the 3rd. FS.85 departed the Tyne, escort DD WESTMINISTER and sloop STORK, and with submarines UNITY and H.34 in company. Destroyer VEGA replaced WESTMINSTER shortly after sailing, and on the 3rd, He111's of German KG26 (X Air Corps) attacked the convoy, but were driven off by VEGA. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 4th. (Note: German X Air Corps flew He111's of KG26, Ju88's of KG30, and two reconnaissance squadrons flying He59's or Do17's).

Northern Waters
DDs FAULKNOR, FEARLESS, FURY, FOXHOUND, FAME, FORTUNE, FORESIGHT, FIREDRAKE, DELIGHT, DARING and DIANA departed Greenock for an ASW sweep towards the Mull of Kintyre, before joining Canadian troop convoy TC 3 in the Western Approaches. DELIGHT was diverted after sailing to escort ON.10 and was replaced by DDs KINGSTON and KELVIN. The convoy of five liners had been escorted across the Atlantic by BB VALIANT, which had completed working up the Caribbean, and supported in the Western Approaches by BC HOOD. The convoy was met on the 5th. CL ENTERPRISE had already been detached and arrived back at Halifax on the 4th. Convoy TC 3, battleships VALIANT and MALAYA and DDs FAULKNOR, FEARLESS, FORESIGHT, FIREDRAKE, FOXHOUND, FORTUNE, FAME, FURY, DIANA, DARING, KELVIN, KINGSTON and HUNTER arrived in the Clyde without event on the 7th.

CL SOUTHAMPTON arrived at Scapa, and departed the same day for North Cape in Operation WR to intercept German merchant ships attempting to return to Germany. She was ordered to return to Scapa at daylight on the 6th if no contact had been made.

West Coast UK
DD ILEX departed Liverpool for Rosyth after refitting. ASW trawler KINGSTON CHRYSOBERYL (448grt) attacked a submarine contact off Owers Light Vessel.

Channel
AMC VOLTAIRE arrived at Gib from Portsmouth, sailed the same day for Malta and arriving, was in a collision with steamer JENNY (Den 843 grt).

SW Approaches
DDs VISCOUNT and WREN attacked a sub contact south of the Scilly Island

Nth Atlantic
Having previously arrived from Halifax, steamers LEOPOLD LD (Fr 5267 grt, carrying 47 aircraft for shipment to France), OREGON (Fr 7706 grt, carrying 34) and SAN PEDRO (Fr 5947 grt, carrying 26) left New York, escorted by CAs DUPLEIX and FOCH (Force X) for Bermuda, departing there on the 5th. Meanwhile, on the 4th, Contre Torpilleur DD MAILLE BREZE sailed from Algiers and on the 6th VAUTOUR and ALBATROS from Oran, arriving at Casablanca on the 6th and 7th respectively. The DDs then left on the 11th to meet the convoy mid ocean. DDs FORTUNE, SIMOUN and BASQUE departed Casablanca on the 12th also to meet the convoy. Late on the 15th, MAILLE BREZE, FORTUNE, BASQUE were detached to Casablanca with the merchant ships, arriving on the 16th. The other warships, DUPLEIX, FOCH, VAUTOUR, ALBATROS and SIMOUN, proceeded to the Med with SIMOUN later detaching to Casablanca and the other ships to Oran, arriving on the 16th. The cruisers carried on to Toulon reaching there on the 18th, while MAILLE BREZE arrived there on the 23rd after escorting a steamer from Casablanca.

 

[parsifal]

3 February 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
T-3 Type 1935 TB

Known Losses

MV ARMANISTAN (UK 6,805 grt):Crew: 54 (0 dead and 54 survivors) : Cargo: Full load sugar, zinc, chemical products and iron rails Route or Convoy: Antwerp - Basrah Convoy OG 16 . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk off the mouth of the Tagus, Portugal by U-25 . All crew were rescued by MONTE ABRIL (Sp).

MV PALLAS (Nor 556 grt): The coaster collided in the North Sea off Haugesund, Rogaland with MV WIPUNEN (Fn) and sank.

Coaster REET (Est 815 grt):Crew: 18 (18 dead - no survivors): Cargo: Unknown Route or Convoy: Methil (31 Jan) - Gothenburg The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea east of the Orkney Islands, United Kingdom by U-58.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Air Attacks By FliegerKorps X
MSW SPHINX (RN 785 grt), operating as part of MSWFlot 5, whilst undertaking mine clearance ops with MSW SPEEDWELL, was bombed and badly damaged by He111's of KG26 15 miles north of Kinnaird Head in a daylight attack. Three ratings were killed immediately, with forty five were missing, and one died of wounds. These crewman were no found (48 casualties out of a crew of 80). 3 crew members were rescued with serious wounds. SPEEDWELL attempted top take the stricken SPHINX in tow, but the tow line parted at 1045, and she was unable to regain the tow for a time. After an unsuccessful joint attempt to tow was made by MSWs SPEEDWELL and HARRIER, DD BOREAS went alongside and took off survivors but sustained light damage as she did to her hull forward in the process. SPHINX capsized in heavy weather early on the 4th and went ashore a total loss. DDs BOREAS and BRAZEN, minesweepers SKIPJACK, SPEEDWELL, HARRIER and tug WATERMEYER arrived at Invergordon on the 4th. The damage to BOREAS was repaired at Aberdeen completing on the 7th.

MV TEMPO (Nor 629 grt): The cargo ship was bombed and sunk in the North Sea off St Abb's Head, Berwickshire, by Heinkel He 111 aircraft of KG26, Luftwaffe, with the loss of five of her 14 crew. The survivors were rescued by the tug Brahmam

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

While he was in Kiel, the Chief, Naval Staff inspected the auxiliary cruiser, Ship "16 n (Captain Rogge). He was impressed with the efficient condition of the ship and paid tribute to the work of Deschimag in getting her ready. The equipment of the ship is excellent* Before sailing the ship is to have 14 days 1 training in home waters* The tour of inspection of the Minelaying Experimental Command confirmed their excellent achievements* Their labors towards creating a very effective minelaying arm have been untiring*

Chief, Operations Branch submitted the operational orders for the LUETZOW and the auxiliary cruiser Ship "16". Chief, Naval Staff gave his fundamental approval. Group V/est has ordered the proposed minelaying operations by destroyers in the river Thames (ground mines) and in the Haisbro lightship area (ground mines and EMC mines) to be carried out in the February new moon period*

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 31 entered Heligoland.

At Sea 3 February 1940
U-13, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-41, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-53 , U-56, U-58, U-59.
17 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
AMCs DERBYSHIRE and CIRCASSIA arrived in the Clyde from Northern Patrol.

North Sea
DD JAGUAR arrived at Rosyth from Scapa. DD ISIS departed Rosyth for the Clyde. DD KANDAHAR was to have sailed in company, but had so many sick cases on board she was unable to leave. ON.10 was to have sailed, but was delayed 24 hours and then another 24, and did not sail until the 5th. TM, with an escort of the 1st Anti-Submarine Group, departed Newcastle, and arrived at Methil on the 4th escorted by the trawlers of the Gp and DDs ESCAPADE and JACKAL. FS.86, escort sloops FLAMINGO and WESTON, departed the Tyne supported by DD JUNO, but was forced to anchor in heavy fog. FS.88 joined them, FLAMINGO and WESTON proceeded to Rosyth and left DD WOOLSTON and sloop GRIMSBY to escort both convoys. WOOLSTON later had to detach to Sheerness as she was short of fuel. Both convoys arrived at Southend on the 9th. Steamer LAERTES (Ne 5825 grt) was damaged by mining off Royal Sovereign Light Vessel and tug BUCCANEER was to sent to assist.

U.26 recorded in her log that she made an unsuccessful attack on a steamer in the North Sea.

Shipping strike by KG26 damaged the following ships

Steamer KILDALE (3877 grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of German KG26 (X Air Corps). DD JACKAL was able to drive off further attacks, Aux MSW trawler ST DONATS (349grt) took off the crew and she was towed to the Humber by tug YORKSHIREMAN.

Steamer YEWDALE (823 grt) was bombed and damaged by aircraft of German X Air Corps (He111's of KG26 or Ju88's of KG30) four miles NNE of Scarborough.

The YEWTREE (pictured) is believed to be a near sister to the YEWDALE

Steamer BEECHWOOD (4897grt) was bombed and damaged by He111's of German KG26 (X Air Corps) three miles east of Smiths Knoll Light Vessel.

Steamer HARLEY (400grt) was bombed and damaged by aircraft of German X Air Corps (He111's of KG26 or Ju88's of KG30) eight miles SSE of Flamborough Head.

Steamer NEW MINSTER (967grt) was damaged by German bombing.

Trawler ROSE OF ENGLAND (223grt) was bombed and damaged by aircraft of German X Air Corps (He111's of KG26 or Ju88's of KG30) five to six miles east of Scarborough Castle.

Trawler NAIRANA (225grt) was bombed and damaged by aircraft of German X Air Corps (He111's of KG26 or Ju88's of KG30)

Greek steamer ALEXANDRA (4355grt) was attacked and bombed by aircraft of German X Air Corps (He111's of KG26 or Ju88's of KG30) six miles off Longstone, but was not damaged.

Greek steamer NICOLAOU ZOGRAFIA (7050grt) was bombed and attacked by aircraft of German X Air Corps (He111's of KG26 or Ju88's of KG30) but not damaged.

Northern Waters
DDs KHARTOUM and KASHMIR arrived in the Clyde. MSW trawler FIREFLY (392 grt) was damaged when a mine being hoisted inboard exploded near Dundee. Temporary Lt A. M Maclean RNVR died of wounds on the 18th. 13 crew members were wounded but survived. She was towed to Leith by Aux MSW trawler WARDOUR (335grt) and arrived at Rosyth on the 4th.

Channel
CL PENELOPE departed Portland for Rosyth to arrive on the 5th, but was delayed by fog and did not arrive until the 7th.

UK - France

Western Approaches
Sloop DEPTFORD, escorting OB.84, collided with steamer ANTIGUA (US 6982 grt). The sloop sustained only slight damage.

Med- Biscay
OA.83GF sailed from Southend on 30 January, escort DDs BROKE and WHITEHALL. OB.83GF cleared Liverpool on the 1st with DDs VERSATILE and WINCHELSEA. On the 3rd, the two convoys merged as OG.17F with thirty ships, escorted by BROKE, VERSATILE, WINCHELSEA on the 3rd and sloop ENCHANTRESS from the 3rd to 7th. All four escorts detached to HG.17F. OG.17F was escorted by DD VELOX from the 5th to 8th, and DD HERO from the 7th to 8th, on which day it arrived at Gib. CL DELHI arrived at Gib from Portsmouth to join the Med Flt, and departed on the 4th, arriving at Malta on the 6th to relieve CL GALATEA as flagship Vice Admiral Destroyers, Mediterranean. DDs DECOY and DEFENDER departed Gib to carry out an ASW patrol off the Portuguese coast. At 2310, DEFENDER was detached to stand by steamer OREGON which had broken down. DECOY arrived back at Gib on the 8th.
Fr CA TOURVILLE and DDs VAUBAN and AIGLE arrived at Malta at 0700 from Beirut carrying out a contraband patrol in the Aegean en route, and departed Malta the next day for Toulon. Fr DDs FORTUNE, SIMOUN and sub PROTÉE departed Oran for Casablanca, passed Gib on the 4th, and were sent to investigate an explosion near the steamer JAVA (Den 8681 grt).

 

[Njaco]

February 3 Saturday
GERMANY: The night-fighting unit of JG 2, 10(Nacht)./JG 2, is increased to Gruppe strength and re-formed as IV(N)./JG 2 combining with 10(N)./JG 26 and 11(NJ)./LG 2 to create the new Gruppe. Based at Jever, the Gruppe is led by Hptm. Blumensaat who takes the place of Oblt. Müller who led the unit since 1 September, 1939. The unit uses Ar 68F and Bf 109Ds for its night operations.

UNITED KINGDOM: Reports of a British convoy bound from Sweden send bombers of 2./KG 26, (Löwen Geschwader), into the air. At approximately 0630 hours, Heinkel 111 bombers of KG 26 lifted off from their temporary base in Schleswig, North Germany, and flew due west. They took off in pairs and at three minute intervals; their task was to locate a British convoy which was southbound from Sweden and believed to be down the north-east coast of England. As the raiders flew out over the forbidding greyness of the North Sea, three Hurricanes of 'B' Flight, RAF No. 43 Squadron led by FlLt. P. W. Townsend, took off from Acklington, Northumberland, the only aerodrome in the north-east sector not snowbound. The Hurricanes arrived to discover He 111, W.Nr. 3232, which they attacked, killing Leushacke and mortally wounding Meyer, and disabling the starboard engine. The German pilot Wilms banked into the clouds for protection, and the stricken Heinkel, now trailing smoke, swooped low over the rooftops of Whitby with the Hurricanes in pursuit, causing locals to rush out of their homes. Mrs. Ruth Smailes, at home at Bannial Flatt Farm, heard the engines and looked out in time to see the doomed Heinkel snap through the telegraph wires suspended in its path and narrowly miss the roof of a barn. Then it was down, its undercarriage collapsing as the aircraft's weight settled upon it. The Heinkel crash-landed at Bannial Flatt Farm two miles to the west of Whitby, becoming the first German aircraft to crash on English soil (the first German bomber [the 'Humbie Heinkel'] crashed in October on Scottish soil). The crew set fire to the bomber but it was put out and captured damaged. Two crewmembers are killed and Fw. H. Wilms is captured. Uffz. K. Missy suffers such serious injuries that he loses a leg and later in October 1943 is returned to Germany in an exchange of POWs. Another Heinkel He 111 was shot down by Hurricanes of No 43 Squadron flying from Acklington, and crashed into the sea fifteen miles E of Tynemouth at 1115 hours. Three crewmen captured and two killed, the body of one of them was recovered from the sea and is buried at Grimsby. The aircraft was lost. A third Heinkel He 111 was shot down by Hurricanes of No 43 Squadron, and crashed into the sea at Druridge Bay near Amble at 09.30. Three bodies were recovered from the sea and are buried at Chevington, the other crewman and the plane were lost. Meanwhile the remaining German bombers attacked British minesweepers "Sphinx", "Speedwell", and "Skipjack" at 0930 hours near the mouth of the Moray Firth in northern Scotland. "Sphinx" was struck by a bomb on the aft deck, killing many including the captain. Survivors were taken to HMS "Speedwell", and "Sphinx" capsized 19 hours later. Frigate HMS "Boreas", summoned along with other Royal Navy vessels to provide assistance, rescues crewmembers from the foundering ship and from the sea but a total 54 lives are lost. The raid succeeds in sinking the HMS "Alexandria" east of Longstone Island, Farnes.

SS 'Tempo' (629t) a Norwegian ship, was sunk by German aircraft off St Abbs Head. A boat containing the captain and some of the crew landed safely at Eyemouth, but another boat containing six crew members drifted further south and unfortunately ended up on the wrong side of the pier at Berwick upon Tweed. It hit the rocks and capsized before coming ashore. Four of the six were dead and a fifth died later in the Harbour Master's house.

The British Air Ministry issued specification E.28/39 to the Gloster Aircraft Company to prepare an airframe for flight testing the pioneering W.1 gas turbine designed by Frank Whittle and built by Power Jets Ltd.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-25 torpedoed and sank British steamer "Armanistan" at 1432 hours about 100 miles west of Lisbon, Portugal. The entire crew was rescued by Spanish vessel "Monte Abril" and brought to the island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands.

German submarine U-58 chased Estonian vessel "Reet" for 13 hours, sinking her with torpedoes in the North Sea halfway between Stavanger, Norway and Aberdeen, Scotland, killing 18.

ASIA: Japanese 26th Division captured Wuyuan, Suiyuan Province, China.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Fighting was intense at Summa in Karelian Isthmus, this being third day of new Russian offensive. Four fierce attacks were repulsed by Finns.

Mass Soviet air raids on Finland, the worst being at Kupio. Attack went as far west as Pori, on Bothnian coast. Army communiqué stated that Finns had brought down at least 13 planes over Isthmus.


.

 

[parsifal]

4 February 1940
Known Losses

MV FLORES (Ne 650 grt (est)) The coaster struck a mine and sank in the North Sea east of Burnham on Crouch, Essex.

MV HOP (Nor 1374 grt): Crew: 17 (17 dead - no survivors): Cargo: Ballast. Route: Bergen (3 Feb) - Middlesbrough . The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-37 with the loss of all 17 crew.

MV LEO DAWSON (UK 4330 grt): Crew: 5 (35 dead - no survivors) : Cargo: Iron Ore : Route: Narvik (29 Jan) - Immingham . At 21.25 hours on 4 Feb 1940 the unescorted vessel was hit aft by one torpedo from U-37 about 15 miles east of Bressay, Shetlands.. The ship had been missed by a first torpedo at 21.11 hours

MV VID (Yug 3547 grt): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-21 with all hands lost.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

Conclusion of the Balkan Conference a For official communique see Foreign Press Report. The firm resolve of the four Balkan Pact countries to continue their peaceful policy in the European conflict and their common interest in maintaining peace and security in the Balkans were especially emphasized. The Balkan Pact was extended to seven years, '..'illingness for friendly co-operation with Hungary and Bulgaria was stressed.
France:
Patrolling of the Spanish coast continues; the destroyer GUEPARD has been ordered to operate to the limit of her fuel reserves.
Two destroyers lying some 60 miles west of Cape Finisterre have been ordered to reconnoiter to a point south of Cape St. Vincent
&nd proceed to Casablanca on 6 Feb. On the evening of 3 Feb.

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 31 left Heligoland for her operations area in accordance with Operations Order No. 23. She had to turn back in the evening as her gyro was out of order. Ice conditions this winter make it clear that a base for U-boats in Heligoland is essential. It is therefore particularly gratifying to B.d.U. that steps were already taken in peacetime so that there are now some facilities, though limited. The use of Heligoland and the adjacent exercise area at present are limited by the following conditions:

1) There are only mediocre berths for U-boats in the harbor. The structure of the harbor makes supply and refueling difficult. There are at present no facilities for extensive repairs, docking etc. It is difficult to get spare parts, as ice conditions make communication with the island difficult and subject to delays. Specialist personnel have to be sent with them from Wilhelmshaven.
2) The sea area around the island is not free of enemy activity. S/M hunts cannot be carried out in the U-boats training areas. Danger from the air has to be accepted without it being possible to call on local defense forces. There are not enough S/M chasers and patrol vessels.

U 31 entered Wilhelmshaven from Heligoland after a passage lasting 10 hours. She carried out her minelaying operation off Loch Ewe well. Conditions during the whole patrol undoubtedly made it easier for her. She did not encounter any patrol by sea or air the whole time.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-31

Departures
Helgoland: U-20

At Sea 4 February 1940
U-13, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-34, U-37, U-41, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-53, U-56, U-58, U-59.
16 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
CL AURORA arrived at Scapa and AMCs ASTURIAS and CALIFORNIA in the Clyde, all from Northern Patrol. CL NEWCASTLE sailed from Scapa, and AMC CARINTHIA from the Clyde, both on Northern Patrol.

North Sea
CLA CAIRO collided with steamer LULONGA (821grt) while entering the Humber. CAIRO was not damaged, but the steamer was beached to prevent her sinking. DDs EXPRESS, IVANHOE, INTREPID, ESK arrived in the Humber at 1255 after Minelaying Operation JB in the North Sea. The minelaying was screened by MTBs Boats 22, 24, 25 recently transferred to the Humber. Subs SEAL and NARWHAL exercised in the Firth of Forth. Afterwards SEAL set off on patrol, while NARWHAL was to have joined convoy ON.10. When the convoy was delayed, NARWHAL returned to Rosyth. DD BRAZEN departed Invergordon to hunt for a submarine off Lossiemouth reported by aircraft, but was later recalled. DD JERVIS and JUPITER departed Rosyth on the 4th, patrolled in the vicinity of Farne Island and then proceeded to the Humber. DD WOOLSTON and sloop GRIMSBY, waiting for convoy FS.87, also patrolled the area.

DD COSSACK departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow, where she arrived on the 5th. DD KANDAHAR departed Rosyth for the Clyde, where she arrived on the 5th. DDs KIPLING and KIMBERLEY departed Greenock for Scapa with steamers KYLE FISHER (520grt) and FLORISTAN (5478grt). FLORISTAN arrived at Scapa on the 6th.

Steamer BARON RUTHVEN (3178grt) ran aground off the Tees. Norwegian steamer JERNFJELD (1369grt) ran aground off Whitby Bay.
Fr collier MARIE DAWN (2157grt) was damaged by a mine six miles NE of the Sunk with one crewman killed. She was abandoned by the survivors who reached Harwich, but then towed in by tugs.

Channel
DDs BASILISK, carrying the Prime Minister, the War Cabinet and the Chiefs of Staff, and BRILLIANT departed Dover for Boulogne. Both ships returned to Dover that evening. Subs UNITY and H.34 accompanied FS.85 on the 3rd and 4th, when they arrived in the Nore. They were then escorted by patrol sloop PUFFIN on to Portsmouth on the 7th.

SW Approaches
DDs WOLSEY, WINCHELSEA and sloop SANDWICH, escorting SLF.18 west of Ushant attacked a submarine contact.
.
Med- Biscay
DDs WHITSHED, HAVANT, ARDENT departed Plymouth for a position 40 miles 270° from Cape Finisterre.

 

[parsifal]

5 February 1940
Known Losses
U.41, on her third war patrol, attacked convoy OB.84 south of Ireland and sank steamer BEAVERBURN (UK 9874 grt) Crew: 40 (1 dead and 39 survivors): Cargo: General cargo : Route:London - St. John, New Brunswick. In a second attack she badly damaged tkr CERONIA (Ne 8096 grt). Tkr NARRAGANSET (US 10,389 grt) rescued the survivors. Soon after the second attack the escorts achieved a combat solution. DD ANTELOPE escorting the convoy was able to sink the Type IX A U.41 (DKM 1135 grt) with the loss of all 49 crew. The convoy escort also claimed to have sunk a second submarine, although U.41 was the only one in the area. The second attack was at 1125 and was later determined to be the wreck of tkr SAN ALBERTO lost in December.

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

It Is reported that conferences took place on 4 Feb, between British, French, Belgian and Dutch officers on the subject of joint operations in the event of a German attack on Holland and Belgium,

British press propaganda is trying to exploit German air attacks on merchant shipping by branding them as infringements of inter-
national law on the part of the German war leaders. In particular the sinking of British unarmed lightships is strongly denounced.

The Scandinavian press again denounces German methods of naval warfare very strongly and maintains that neutral merchant traffic is impossible because of the sinking of neutral shipping without warning. The large number of neutral lives lost is heavily
stressed.

The Naval Attache in Rome has reported that Admiral Cavagnari, Under-Secretary of the Italian Navy, takes the following view
of German naval warfare up to the present and its prospects. "While acknowledging German achievements in naval warfare, Admiralty"

Cavagnari and his supporters are of the opinion that the methods we employ can have no decisive effect on the war. It is true
that the British merchant fleet has suffered heavy losses, but not of the type to make Britain sue for peace. To achieve that,
roughly half a million tons of British merchant shipping would have to be sunk per month. At the present rate of sinkings the British
could continue the war for years and to a certain extent even replace the lost ships by new constructions and new acquisitions*
Germany will have to intensify her methods in naval and air operations and probably will even have to force the issue on land
and against France. Moreover the Deputy Chief of the Italian Naval Staff, Admiral Somigli, is taking up a very hesitant attitude towards Immediate practical co-operation with the German Naval Staff. Apparently he is waiting for a large-scale German offensive before throwing Italy's military weight into the balance. In a letter* to the Naval Attache Somigli explained that the situation upon which the decisions of the Friedrichshafen conference were -based was changed by the course of the European conflict, and that in particular the war 'broke out long before the expiry of the period which the Friedrichshafen conference considered necessary for essential military preparations'. If the Italian Navy is to co-operate with the German Navy in the war in Europe both the general and detailed arrangements must first of all be revised and suited to the new geographical and strategic situation and the relative strength of the opposing forces in the various theaters. The main lines of the Friedrichshafen agreements would, however, still hold good."

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 34 entered Heligoland. U 28 and U 33 left Wilhelmshaven for Heligoland to make trial runs etc., and will proceed from there to their operations areas.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-13

Departures
Heligoland: U-10
Wilhelmshaven: U-9, U-33

At Sea 5 February 1940
U-9, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-33, U-34, U-37, U-44, U-48, U-51, U-53 , U-56, U-58, U-59.
16 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
North Sea
ON.10 of 7 British, 10 Norwegian, 7 Swedish, 4 Finnish and 1 Estonian ship departed Methil escort DDs IMOGEN, IMPERIAL, ILEX, DELIGHT, TARTAR and sub NARWHAL. DELIGHT was ordered to Scapa on the 6th, and TARTAR was relieved by DD KIMBERLEY at sea. On the 7th , DELIGHT attacked a contact east of South Ronaldsay, and was joined by DDs GALLANT and GRIFFIN. ON.10 arrived safely at Bergen on the 8th. FS.88 departed the Tyne, escort DD WOOLSTON and sloop GRIMSBY, but before arrival, WOOLSTON was detached to Sheerness to refuel. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 9th with FS.86 after being considerably delayed by heavy fog. Convoy MT.4 departed Methil, escort DDs JACKAL, JAGUAR, sloop LONDONDERRY, and ASW trawlers of the 3rd Anti-Submarine Group, and arrived in the Tyne on the 6th. ML PRINCESS VICTORIA, escort DDs ECHO and ECLIPSE, was to have departed Aberdeen on the 4th for minelaying operation LD 1 during the night of the 4th/5th, but was delayed by fog. The operation was finally conducted on the 6th/7th when 48 mines were laid. OA.86 departed Southend and was dispersed on the 8th. No escorts are listed.

West Coast UK
DD VANOC attacked a submarine contact near Morecambe Bay (North of Blackpool).

Channel
Armed patrol yacht SHEMARA (588grt) made an attack on a submarine contact off Portland Bill

Central Atlantic
SLF.19 departed Freetown escort AMC MOOLTAN. Convoys SL.19 and SLF.19 merged on the 16th and SL.19's escort, AMC PRETORIA CASTLE joined MOOLTAN. DDs VERITY, VIMY, WALPOLE and sloop SANDWICH relieved the AMCs on the 17th and took the convoys on to their destination on the 20th.

Med- Biscay
CLA CARLISLE arrived at Gib from Devonport to work up after conversion to AA ship, departed on the 8th for Malta, and arrived on the 10th. Sloop FOLKESTONE arrived at Gib from Malta. MSW FERMOY departed Port Said to relieve MSW GOSSAMER at Gib.

Fr CA TOURVILLE and DD VAUBAN and AIGLE departed Malta for Toulon. Fr AMC EL D'JEZAIR stopped steamer GUINE (Pt 2648 grt) in the North Atlantic and detained a German citizen. Steamer OREGON (6008 grt), which had broken down on the 2nd with boiler problems, was located off Caesces, Portugal by DD DEFENDER. She had been attacked on 30 January while sailing with convoy SL.17. DEFENDER stood by and Danish salvage tug VALKYRIAN arrived to take her in tow. DEFENDER was relieved by DD VORTIGERN on the 8th, and OREGON arrived at Lisbon on the 10th.

 

[Njaco]

February 4 Sunday
NORTHERN EUROPE: Consistent with Timoshenko's small unit tactics, Soviet artillery, aircraft and tanks bombard Finnish positions in the Summa gap but Red infantry only advance on Summa village. Above Lake Lagoda, Colonel Dolin's Siberian ski battalion arrives near the village of Kuhmo and counterattacks Finnish 9th division. After a week of pressure, Finnish IV Corps completes the destruction of West Lemetti motti, capturing 4 field guns, 2 antitank guns, 1 mortar, 32 tanks, 6 machineguns, 120 rifles and 26 trucks. Orders for the attack are notable for the first official use of the term "motti". Helsinki stated that Russians had attacked positions newly occupied by Finns in Kuhmo sector, but had been repulsed.

Fourteen are killed and 179 injured in heavy Soviet air raids on Helsinki and the surrounding area. A total of 141 targets (towns, rail junctions, harbors) are attacked. Vilpuri suffered severe bombing raids, with some loss of life and much material damage. Other attacks were made at Ekenaes, Aabo, and Rovaniemi. Finnish communique claimed that 22 more enemy planes had been brought down.

EASTERN EUROPE: Members of the Balkan Entente (Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Turkey) declared neutrality.

Reported that German arms were being sent by sea to Russian forces at Persamo and Murmansk.

ASIA: Japanese 26th Division captured Linhe, Suiyuan Province, China.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0417 hours, U-37 torpedoes Norwegian steamer SS "Hop" 100 miles South of the Shetland Islands (all 17 hands lost). About the same time 100 further miles South in the mouth of Moray Firth, HMS "Sphinx" finally sinks in heavy seas after being damaged by bombs on Feb 3.

At 2125 hours, U-37 sinks British steamer SS "Leo Dawson" 15 miles east of Bressay, Shetlands, after missing with the first torpedo (all 35 hands lost).

UNITED KINGDOM: The Grimsby Marine ARP Party went out to sea at 11.00 and brought in a British seaman and three German airmen. These men had been picked up by the trawler 'Harlech Castle' after yesterday's attacks on shipping. The airmen are reported to be the crew of the aircraft brought down off the mouth of the Tyne.


.

 

[Wurger]

The Winter War in Finland ...

The Finnish Fokker D.XXI on skis ...

A Hawker Hurricane Mk.I in Finland ...

A shot of the Turku town in Finland taken by the Russian reconnaissance aircraft in 1940 ...

The burning Tampere town, Finland after the Russian VVS air raid ...

The Soviet Tupolev SB-3 "Red4" and Iljushin DB-3 "Red14" bombers shot down over Finland ..

The Tea time break for Finnish soldiers ...

 

[parsifal]

Breaking the Mannerheim Line 4-15 February 1940:

Timoshenko was from a peasant family in Bessarabia, a region today split between Ukraine and Moldova. In 1915 he was conscripted into a Russian cavalry regiment to fight in the First World War. When the Russian Revolution began he joined the Bolsheviks. He commanded a cavalry division in the Civil War, fighting at Tsaritsyn where he met Josef Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov, and later served with General Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army.
As a faithful ally of Josef Stalin (their children were married in 1944), Timoshenko was soon promoted to positions of senior military command, as well as a seat on the Central Committee of the Communist Party. During the Finnish-Soviet 'Winter War' of 1939-40, Timoshenko replaced the inept Vorishilov as Minister of Defence. Where his predecessor had overseen a string of humiliating reverses, Timoshenko forced a victorious end to the war. He also began much-needed reform of the Red Army.

Timoshenko could never be described as inspired, but he was trained and methodical, in contrast to the ineptitude displayed by Voroshilov

The process of the Soviet comeback was fitful and uneven. Outside Karelia, the Soviets continued to lose badly, such as at Lemetti, East of Ladoga.

On the main front, where the Soviets had focussed most of their build up. The Soviet artillery preparations in this critical sector was one of the largest in history, it is claimed it was only smaller than the Verdun artillery battle. Later battles such as Berlin did eclipse the efforts along the Mannerheim line. The artillery barrage was of a size and ferocity as to completely daze the Finns. It had proceeded for days previous, commencing on the 4th, with the assaults not beginning until the 9th, forcing the Finns to emerge by night to repair damage, and endure the massive bombardments by day, preventing them from any proper rest periods. Exhaustion rapidly set in under these conditions. The Finns had rotated forces only the day previous, and the rotated troops were not as combat experienced as those they replaced. They included Swede volunteers, which presented serious C&C and language problems for the Finn HQs. The Swedish volunteers lacked combat experience of any kind

The assaulting Soviet Infantry groups quickly captured the ruins of the Sj4 "Poppious" Bunker. This position was defended by a company under Lt Malm. In the firefight for the position, Malm's company lost over 80% of his defending troops, in just one day of fighting. Once Sj4 had fallen, Soviet armour/Infantry teams pressed hard to exploit and pushed up to the bunker at Sj6 (Torsu" Command Bunker). Soviet troops surrounded the bunker and threatened to blow it up. As the bunker was by then only occupied by wounded soldiers, the Finnish Medics made the decision to surrender.

On the right flank the "millionaire Bunker held out until the 13 Feb. Soviet attacks forced the Finns back from the trenches south of this bunker and made it to the roof of the casemate, closer to the lake, which then made it possible for Infantry elements to mount the roof of the main bunker and begin tossing rocks, and grenades down the casemate walls. They used heavy boulders to block the doors of the bunker, making it impossible for the Finns to sally out to clear the roof. .

The soviet offensive across the Soursuo swamp commenced 11 Feb. it was preceded by a massive artillery preparation three Bns of the 24th Rifle Div pushed steadily forward across the frozen swampland on skis. These troops were properly attired in winter whites, making it harder for the Finn snipers to spot them. These troops advanced behind the cover 9often being towed along on tow llnes) behind Soviet Tanks, taking cover as needed behind armoured shields carried by the Infantry (dubbed "LBT" by the Infantry) These elite advanced elements moved forward steadily, capturing a critical section of the Finnish Trench system in the vicinity of the "K3" position , defended at that stage by the platoon under command of 2nd Lt Savinen, of the 9 company, 2nd Infantry Bde. This brigade mounted strong counte4rattacks as the position was critical to the whole Summa defensive position. Virtually the entire 2nd Brigade reserve was committed to the counterattack, but it was repulsed with heavy losses.

On the 12th February the offensive continued. 24th Div brought forward a fresh Infantry regt, as well as further tanks in support. The renewed attacks passed through the currently defended lines captured the previous day these attacks managed to reach the shallow secondary trenches of the defence positions known as L1 and L2. Reaching these trenches, the tanks fanned out, firing both their main guns and mgs to cut off and pin the defending Finnish Infantry. Soviet supporting Infantry entered the trenches, where the position was bitterly contested.

The commander of the 2nd Brigade committed his final reserves, a 37mm ATG to try and contain the developing crisis, and temporarily at least, this manoeuvre worked. The Soviet advance was halted, but it could not halt the vicious trench clearing that was being carried out by the Soviet Regiment. By days end, 2nd brigade was in a very dangerous situation, with many of its troops fully engaged isolated and encircled, and no further reserves to redress the situation .

 

[Njaco]

February 5 Monday
ATLANTIC OCEAN: German submarine U-41 damaged Dutch tanker "Ceronia" at 0330 hours. At 1310 hours, she torpedoed and sank Canadian Pacific steamer "Beaverburn" 150 miles south of Ireland, killing 1, with the remaining 76 rescued by British tanker "Narragansett". Shortly after, U-41 was sunk by British destroyer HMS "Antelope", killing all 49 aboard; it was the first time a lone British destroyer destroyed a German submarine, and Lieutenant Commander White of "Antelope" was awarded the DSO award.

M. Pampunchi, French Minister of Marine, stated that 40 of Germany's 55 submarines at sea in September had been sunk.

WESTERN FRONT: Allied Supreme War Council meets in Paris. France enthusiastic agrees to send British troops to Finland via landings at Narvik, seizing Swedish iron ore mines and the port of Luleå en route, despite the declared neutrality of Norway and Sweden! However, the operation is assigned only 2 British divisions, which only exist on paper and will have to be diverted from BEF in France. British Chief of Staff General Sir Edmund Ironside notes in his diary; "….everyone purring with pleasure", unaware of detailed German plans to invade Norway with much larger forces. The plan is subject to Finland officially requesting assistance, and for Norway and Sweden to grant permission to cross their territories. BEF's Chief of Staff General Henry Pownall is furious, recording in his diary;

"For five months we have been struggling to make fit for action in the Spring a force that was dangerously under-equipped and untrained. There were signs that we were getting some reasonable way to our goal. If this business [the invasion of Norway] goes through, we shall be cut by 30%. Of all the harebrained projects I have heard of, this is the most foolish."

By comparison with the contemporary, meticulous German plans, these Allied preparations are vague and irresolute. The pretext of going to help Finland is unconvincing and it is the obvious intention to devote most effort to stopping the Swedish iron ore reaching Germany.

General Reynders, the Dutch commander-in-chief, resigns over the lack of military preparedness in Holland.

NORTHERN EUROPE: Russians have gotten nearer to the Mannerheim defenses and are now 29 miles from Vilpuri. Finns have gained another big victory of which the Russian 18th Division, operating north-east of Lake Ladoga, was almost annihilated.

Russian air raids continued; objectives included churches and ambulances. Island monastery of Valamo on Lake Ladoga bombed and set on fire.

NORTH AMERICA: The US Maritime Commission announces that Britain and France are buying 113,000 tonnes of old American cargo ships.

.

 

[parsifal]

6 February 1940
Known Reinforcements
Axis
AMC PINGUIN

PINGUIN as disguised as the Greek Cargo ship Kassios and as converted. She had several identitiesAs

Known Losses
MV ANU (Est 1474 grt): Crew: 19 passengers and crew (7 dead and 12 survivors) : Cargo: General Cargo : Route: Gothenburg - Aberdeen - Dundee . The cargo ship struck a mine laid on 12 Dec 1939, by U-13 off the mouth of the Tay, Scotland and sank with the loss of seven of the 19 people on board. 6 people on board were lost, and the ships cook died later from burns in Dundee hospital.

MV DELFINA (Sp 3037 grt): The cargo ship ran aground at Bonanza, Spain and was wrecked.

Steamer HIGHCLIFFE (UK 3247 grt) went ashore on Fitful Head in the Shetlands, and one of her lifeboats went adrift. DDs GALLANT and GRIFFIN searched unsuccessfully for the boat.

Fr Aux MSW VETERAN (Fr 253 grt) was sunk in an accidental collision with British cable ship ALERT off Calais near Cape Griz Nez E. There were no casualties and ALERT's bow was only slightly damaged.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

Steamer VERBORMILIA (UK 3275 grt) went ashore west of Fast Castle Point, Berwickshire.

Coaster WIRGO (Sd 709 grt): Attacked by a pair of Soviet SB-2 Bombers from Soviet Naval Aviation whilst awaiting a channel to be made by a Finnish Icebreaker near the island of Abo. The crew were resting on the island at the time of the attack. swedish sources state the ship was damaged by splinters from near misses, heeled over and then capsized.

[NO IMAGE FOUND]

DKM War diary
Selected Extracts

1. The Fuehrer has decided that operations by the Air Force against merchant shipping are to be extended to all shipping in the "War Channel" (original text. Tr.N. ) as far as the Thames. The only exception will be those ships marked clearly with a Maltese cross , which are obviously Danish treaty ships. By order of the Fuehrer the friendly neutrals will be given another emphatic warning.
2. Operation Halifax was temporarily postponed by the Fuehrer for political reasons. The German Foreign Minister has no basic objections to the execution of the operation and it is intended to approach the Fuehrer again. Chief, Naval Staff has ordered
that all preparations for the proposed operation be continued.
4. Group West has informed us by teletype that a sufficient number of submarines will not be available until 14- Feb. For this reason the operation by the battleships is to be postponed till then, especially as the next convoy is not expected to put out until that date. The fresh postponement of the battleship operation until the date when the next convoy is due to sail is an unavoidable
necessity. Naval Staff however still considers it a mistake to time the operation according to the date when an adequate number of submarines will be ready, as battleship operations must not be made to depend on simultaneous submarine activity. To wait for an adequate number of submarines is a dangerous policy, which may lead to the- battleships missing outstandingly favorable opportunities for action which may never recur. Moreover Naval Staff's view is that this battleship operation should not be regarded and prepared as a single large-scale action but that every effort should be made to exploit the present extremely accurate radio monitoring reports, so that such sweeps into the northern area become a permanent activity constituting an effective threat to Britain's northern trade routes.

Items of Political Importance ,
It can be taken as fairly certain that the ASAMA MARU Incident will be settled by a compromise. Great Britain is said to have
declared that she is prepared to make partial compensation by handing over nine Germans unfit for military service out of the
21 detained. Tokyo is said to have promised London not to transport any belligerent nationals liable for military service
aboard Japanese ships. This solution would indicate far-reaching Japanese concessions. ,

According to a report from. Washington the Government has decided to refrain from sending further sharply worded notes to Britain on the neutrality question. In future all differences will be settled by personal discussions in Washington and London* The reason given for this decision was that Germany might draw false .conclusions regarding U.S. policy from such official exchanges of notes.

France :
Patrolling off the Spanish coast continues. Some of the destroyers have been relieved. According to a report from the Attache in Madrid, 1 destroyer, 1 submarine and 1 patrol vessel are lying off Vigo. Every night a French tug lies at the narrowest point of the entrance to Vigo Bay. Other destroyers are patrolling the sea area some 60 miles west of the coast.

Submarine U "41" has been ordered to make "hit and run" attacks on the French patrol forces off Vigo from 7 Feb. onwards, as far as possible in the evenings. She was informed at the same time of the proposed sailing of
the German steamers.

UBOATS
Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

U 50 and U 53 sailed in accordance with Operations Order No. 23. U 50 turned back towards evening owing to a trace of oil due to a burst pipe. U 34 entered Wilhelmshaven. She carried out her minelaying operation off Falmouth well and quickly. She also sank a steamer of 12,000 tons. West of North Channel she sighted 2 battleships and a cruiser steering for the North Channel, but she had no torpedoes left and would not in any case have reached firing range. Several U-boats have observed 2 battleships in company in the area west and north of Scotland. It seems probable that there is a permanent patrol here by a battle group of heavy ships, covering the approach to the North Sea from the Atlantic.

A S/M alarm on 5.2 immediately off Heligoland made it necessary to take decisive measures for boats training there.

U 29 sailed for Heligoland.

Arrivals
Wilhelmshaven: U-34

Departures
Heligoland: U-50
Wilhelmshaven: U-29

At Sea 6 February 1940
U-9, U-17, U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-29, U-33, U-37, U-44, U-48, U-50, U-51, U-53, U-56, U-58, U-59.
17 boats at sea

OPERATIONS
Northern Patrol
AMCs CALIFORNIA and AURANIA escort DD GURKHA, arrived in the Clyde after Northern Patrol.

North Sea
CL SHEFFIELD departed Scapa, arrived at Rosyth on the 5th, then began repairs at South Shields on the 6th. These were completed on 15 March and she returned to duties with CruSqn18 from that date. CLs AURORA and EDINBURGH sailed from Scapa from Rosyth respectively, and rendezvoused to cover ON.10 at sea enroute to Norway.

Heavy fog disrupted the east coast convoys. FN.86, FS.88 and FN.87 were postponed for 24 hours, and FS.89 and FN.88 cancelled. The escort for FN.88 was to proceed to Rosyth, unless required to augment FN.89.

West Coast UK
BC REPULSE and DDs ISIS, KASHMIR, KHARTOUM and KANDAHAR departed the Clyde for Devonport. ISIS called in at Falmouth for refitting, while REPULSE arrived at Plymouth for repairs and degaussing.
Image acknowledgement ROYAL NAVY CROISEURS DE BATAILLE CLASSE RENOWN

REPULSE as she appeared just prior to her loss

UK - France
DD BOADICEA (D 19) carrying the PM, the First Lord, the First Sea Lord and other important persons, departed Dover escorted by DD BEAGLE for Boulogne. The two ships returned to Dover that evening. BC.25 departed Barry with steamers BARON CARNEGIE and BATNA escort DD MONTROSE, and arrived safely in the Loire.

Med- Biscay
OG.17 was formed just from the 23 ships of convoy OA.85G, escort DDs WOLVERINE and AMAZON. The escort was relieved off the Lizard by DD VIMY and sloop SCARBOROUGH, while the escort from the 6th to 13th was Fr DD TIGRE and escort ship MINERVE. The convoy arrived on the 14th.

HG.18F departed Gib with 33 ships. In the escort force was MSW GOSSAMER and sub OTWAY which were returning to England for service in Home Waters. Both continued with the convoy until the 13th with OTWAY reaching Portsmouth on the 14th. DD VORTIGERN escorted from the 6th to 8th, sloop FOLKESTONE from the 6th to 14th, sloop ENCHANTRESS from the 8th to 15th after detaching from OG.17F, and DD VERSATILE from the 12th to 15th after detaching from OG.18F. The convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 15th, by which time FOLKESTONE had reached Portsmouth.