Wednesday 26 February 1941

A No. 3 Squadron Hawker Hurricane. It is in a roofless hanger at Benina. Shown, from left to right, are Sergeant M. Quinton of Windsor, Corporal R. Stephen of Sydney, Corporal H. Thomas of Sydney, and Aircraftman I W.H. Heiler of Sydney. Note the wing of a downed Italian plane in the background (Photo by Frank Hurley, AWM 006487).

Italian/Greek Campaign: The Albanian front is quiet on 26 February 1941. Both sides are under pressure to make advances, the Italians to salvage some national pride after a terrible winter of military reverses, the Greeks to expel the Italians to free up forces to defend against an anticipated German invasion.

East African Campaign: The 11th African Division occupies Mogadishu in force today, with the 7th Field Brigade taking up billets in the Motor Transport Park. The troops find a city in crisis, full of shallow graves, unburied corpses, and generally unsanitary conditions. The 12th African Division, meanwhile, continues moving up the Juba River and gradually reduces remaining Italian columns. They Take the road junction at Tassin and take up positions at Modun and Brava. The British advance is hampered more by lack of adequate water and fuel supplies than anything the fleeing Italians are doing.

Focke Wulf Fw 200C Condor of 1.KG40-(F8+GH), Bordeaux, France, 1941.

European Air Operations: The RAF conducts a Circus operation over Calais. There are a dozen Blenheim bombers with a heavy fighter escort. The dogfights swing back and forth on both sides of the Channel. After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks 126 bombers against Cologne.

The Luftwaffe's activity during the day is light, with a few scattered bombs dropped in Kent and East Anglia. At night, the German attacks largely focus on towns in Wales, primarily Cardiff. The damage at Cardiff is fairly heavy, concentrated on the docks, St. Martin's Church, and parts of Violet Street. The railway lines nearby are not damaged. There are several deaths and two firemen fighting fires at the docks are injured.

The RAF is swapping out front-line units to give them a rest and refit. Today, RAF No. 65 flies north and trades its new Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIs for older Mk IAs at Kirton. The planes go to RAF No. 616 Squadron, which takes No. 65's place on the front lines at RAF Tangmere.

Werner Mölders, Kommodore of JG 51, continuing his recent roll of victories after a long vacation, claims No. 60 today during the operations over Calais. Fellow ace (experten) Hans-Karl Keitel (8 victories) perishes in the action.

Swedish freighter Göteborg, lost today with all hands (Photo courtesy of Sjöhistoriska Museet, Stockholm).

Battle of the Atlantic: The Germans have become active against the convoys again, and their efforts are producing results. Recently, OB-289 was devastated by U-boat attacks. While U-boats gain fame, the Luftwaffe also contributes greatly to the blockade effort at this point in the war, as they prove today.

Convoy OB 290 is heading west and is south of Iceland when the Germans attack. The convoy disperses after the first U-boat attacks, but that does not help its ships.

U-47 (Kptlt. Günther Prien) starts the ball rolling at 01:37. Prien goes to work as only he can:

• 5254-ton Belgian freighter Kasongo (sunk, 6 deaths)
• 3636-ton Norwegian freighter Borgland (sunk, all survive)
• 3197-ton Swedish freighter Rydboholm (sunk, 28 survivors)
• 8106-ton British freighter Diala (1 dead, damaged, makes port).

The Rydboholm becomes a flaming wreck, abandoned by its crew. The derelict eventually is sent to the bottom by the Luftwaffe. In all, Prien's U-47 helps to sink three ships of 12,087 tons.
Prien calls for help (he is a master at stage-managing convoy destructions). Help indeed is available, both from other U-boats (U-73, U-97, Italian submarines Michele Bianchi and Barbarigo) and the Luftwaffe.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors of I,/KG 40 first arrive around noontime. There are multiple attacks throughout the afternoon. The attacks are pressed home at wavetop level with great daring. This is a classic action, the type you think about when reflecting on Condor attacks at sea (if you ever do that sort of thing, like me).

The Condors get credit for sinking:

• 7181-ton British freighter Mahanada (three deaths)
• 4659-ton British freighter Swinburne (all survive)
• 4966-ton British freighter Llanwern (25 deaths)
• 4340-ton Greek freighter Kyriakoula (all survive)
• 2580-ton Norwegian freighter Solferino (3 deaths)
• 4368-ton Dutch freighter Beursplein (21 deaths, the ship sinks on the 27th after the crew finally abandons ships).

In addition, 5273-ton British freighter Melmore Head is damaged. The crew abandons ship, and it later is towed into Rothesay Bay and beached. Another victim is 4758-ton British freighter Leeds City, which eventually is towed into the Clyde. A third damaged ship, 7915-ton Dutch freighter Suriname, makes it into St. Michaels apparently under its own power. Swedish 4719 ton freighter Samuel Bakke is bombed and strafed (and also may have shot down a Condor), but is able to continue with the convoy to Halifax.

Also joining the attack on Convoy OB 290 is Italian submarine Michele Bianchi (Capitano di corvetta Adalberto Giovannini). Captain Giovanni makes the Bianchi one of the more aggressive Italian boats. Today, it sinks 6803-ton British freighter Baltistan. There are 51 deaths and 18 survivors from Baltistan. Some accounts place this sinking on the 27th.

U-70 (Kptlt. Joachim Matz) is operating south of Iceland on its first (and, as it turns out, only) patrol. Matz spots 820-ton Swedish freighter Göteborg and sends it to the bottom. All 23 men on board perish. Since there are no survivors, and also no survivors from U-70 when it is sunk later on this patrol, the encounter is likely based on the circumstances, but still, conjecture.

German E-boats have been active recently. Today, they patrol off Cromer in the North Sea and claim another victim. S-28 sinks 1123-ton British freighter Minorca. There are 19 deaths and three survivors. S-28 tries to take the ship in tow, but it sinks.

The Luftwaffe bombs and sinks 5655-ton Norwegian freighter Teneriffa at the mouth of Bristol Channel. All 37 men on board survive.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 8156-ton Dutch freighter Amstelland in the Northwest Approaches. The Amstelland is taken in tow but sinks on the way back to port.

The Luftwaffe bombs and damages 7744-ton British freighter Empire Steelhead. The ship is taken in tow but is a blazing inferno. While usually a damaged ship would be taken to the dock, the Empire Steelhead is watertight and is put at an anchorage off Invergordon to wait for the fires to abate.

British power barge Brackelier is towing barge Monarch at Hull when together they hit a mine. They both sink just off Alexandria Jetty near the dock. The mines were laid by IX Air Korps. There are three deaths.

German lugger Schaumburg-Lippe hist a mine and sinks in the Ems River.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Georgetown collides with another ship but makes it to the Clyde. It will be under repair in the Tyne for several months.

Three Royal Navy destroyers lay minefield JL in the English Channel. In another minelaying operation by RAF No. 812 Squadron, a Swordfish crashes, killing the crew.

Convoy WN91 departs from Gourock, Scotland,

Royal Navy corvette HMS Convolvulus (K45, Lt. Richard S. Connell), Flower-class, is commissioned.

U-85 and U-408 are launched.

The devastation after bombs hit Partridge Street, Cardiff in 1941 (Wales Online).

Battle of the Mediterranean: The British still occupy Kastellorizo, having invaded the island with about 200 commandos on the 25th. However, there have been several problems with Operation Abstention, such as poor communications and failure to land most of the planned troops for one reason or another. The Italians have a major base relatively nearby in Rhodes, and the Regia Aeronautica has been punishing the occupying British forces and the Royal Navy ships standing offshore. The situation remains relatively stable until shortly after sunset when Regia Marina torpedo boats Lince and Lupo land about 240 soldiers north of the port. They bring with them 99 mm artillery, which they use to shell the port and kill three and wound seven commandos. The Italian boats then evacuate some Italian civilians.

The British commandos are forced by the Italian bombardment to abandon the port and retreat to their landing point near Cape Nifti. They inform the destroyers Hereward and Decoy standing offshore about the Italian landings, but they are too far away to intervene until the Italian landings are over and the Italian ships have departed. Other British troops (Sherwood Foresters) are on armed yacht HMS Rosauro and could be landed to help the commandos, but due to the difficult situation onshore, those landings are canceled.

The operation rapidly descends into chaos for the British commandos. They never were intended or supplied to hold a position indefinitely; instead, the plan was for them to seize key facilities, then hand off to well-prepared and supplied static troops. As night falls, they are isolated without shelter or food and subject to bombardment by the Italian guns. They can do nothing but wait for evacuation.

Offshore, there are Italian and Royal Navy ships near the island, but for the most part they are just ships passing in the night. The British naval part of Operation Abstention is Operation Mar2, and there are several destroyers ready for action. HMS Hereward does see the Italian ships but loses contact before it can team up with HMS Decoy to mount an attack. Destroyer HMS Jaguar is fired upon by Italian destroyer Crispi, including two torpedoes which do not hit. The action is confused in the darkness, and the Crispi gets a lucky shot which puts out the Jaguar's searchlight, making her firing ineffective. Later, destroyers Jaguar, Nubian and Hasty sail toward Rhodes to find the Italian ships, but they are long gone.

In North Africa, the Australian 6th Infantry Division is designated for reassignment to Greece. Their replacement is the Australian 9th Infantry Division, a new formation assembled from a hodgepodge of random units. The 9th is training in Palestine and thus is not gaining experience with the extreme climate of Libya. There are skirmishes at Mescelit Pass as the British feel out the Italian defenses. The port of Benghazi basically is closed due to Luftwaffe attacks, forcing supplies to come by truck (over bad roads) from Tobruk and points further east such as Bardia. However, this sort of logistical issue is considered a mere inconvenience, not a potential real vulnerability against the Italians. The British still seem unclear that their true enemy in North Africa no longer is the Italians - it is the Germans.

The battle at Kufra in southwest Libya continues between the Free French under Colonel Leclerc and the besieged Italians in El Tag fortress. The French have been bombarding the fortress for days, and today they score a lucky hit. A shell hits the Italian ammunition dump and blows it up, igniting 250 cases of explosives.

The Luftwaffe makes another major raid on Malta after several weeks of scattered attacks. This time, 60 heavily escorted bombers (including Junkers Ju 87 Stukas) attack the RAF airfield at Luqa (British reports inflate this into a 100-plane raid, which, with escorts, may technically be true). The raid is damaging to both sides, but more so to the British. The RAF loses three Hawker Hurricane fighters and 13 Wellington bombers destroyed or damaged. The Stukas lose seven of their number, demonstrating once again that they are fearsome weapons of destruction both to their enemies and their pilots.

Spy Stuff: The Japanese Foreign Ministry is coordinating spying operations not only in Hawaii (Acting Consul General Okuda), but also in Canada. Today, they send instructions to their consulate in Vancouver:

Please wire reports covering the positions and movements also of the ships of Canada's Pacific Fleet. Please transmit to Ottawa and from that office ----- to the Naval Attaché.

New officers of the elite "Großdeutschland" Infantry Regiment are sworn in, 26 February 1941 (Ang, Federal Archives).

Spanish/German Relations: Generalissimo Francisco Franco continues his correspondence with Adolf Hitler. This is a somewhat tardy response to a lengthy 6 February 1941 letter from Hitler urging Franco to enter the war on his side - the time delay alone is an obvious tip-off to the contents. While it has been clear from the beginning that Franco was leery about declaring war on Great Britain, today he delivers some strong hints about his bottom line for joining the Axis military effort.

Franco begins by expressing the "confirmation of my loyalty." However, thereafter the tone quickly degenerates into reasons why Spain cannot join the war. He notes that "Germany has not fulfilled her offers of effective support [of grain] until very recently." He also sets forth his requirement for entry into the was as diplomatically as possible: "it is also necessary that that Suez Canal be closed." Failure to accomplish, he writes, would result in an "inordinately prolonged war" and make Spain's participation "extremely difficult." He concludes that the discussions that he and Hitler had at Hendaye in October now are "outmoded." While he never comes right out and says it, Franco basically tells Hitler that they have no deal for Spanish entry into the war, and won't until the Germans capture Cairo. This letter concludes their correspondence for the time being.

Franco's letter really just confirms the obvious: that Italy's disastrous downfall in North Africa and Albania had devastating strategic consequences for the Axis emanating far from those battlefields. However... there is someone who might just pull off the capture of Cairo and satisfy Franco's condition, a new face on the scene in North Africa: General Erwin Rommel of the Afrika Korps.

Anglo/Turkish Relations: While Franco is turning down Hitler, the Turkish President, İsmet İnönü, is doing the same to the British. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS Sir John Dill are in Ankara to try to cajole the Turks to join the Allies. However, just as on the other end of the Mediterranean to Hitler, the answer is a very diplomatic "No." The leaders of both Turkey and Spain, incidentally, both will be ruling long after the current leaders of Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and the United States have departed the scene, so they simply being shrewd.

Australian/Dutch Relations: The Dutch government-in-exile discusses moving from London to Australia with Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. With extensive naval forces remaining in the Dutch East Indies, the Dutch government would have more direct influence over events there than in England.

An Aerojet JATO flight of an ERCO Ercoupe, using a JATO GALCIT booster. This is in March Field, California on 23 August 1941 (Courtesy Rocketdyne).

US Military: An Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) Ercoupe enters service with the US Army Air Corps, with designation YO-55 (415-C, Serial Number 41-18875). It is a short-field takeoff plane that is being used to test Rocket-Assisted (RATO) flights (it already has made the first jet-assisted take-off (JATO) flight in history).

Aircraft markings change, with the national insignia (a star) placed on both sides of the rear fuselage and deleted from the right upper and lower left wing. There are other changes as well, such as removal of rudder stripes and changes to the colors of all markings except the National Star Insignia. This change will be implemented over time, so the old markings will be seen in some units well into 1941.

Australian Military: At Garbutt airfield, the military sets up a high-frequency direction finding (HFDF) station.

Dutch Homefront: The General Strike in Holland by 300,000 people continues, but already it has past its peak. Largely organized by the Communist Party of the Netherlands, it originally was intended for only two days. Nobody really expected the massive outpouring of support for resistance organized by an outlawed - and largely reviled - political organization. There are 78 deaths as the SS shoots the strikers without mercy, and others are sent to camps, where they invariably disappear.

American Homefront: An Eastern Airlines Flight 21, a Douglas DST-318A crashes at Atlanta Municipal Airport in Georgia. There are 8 deaths, including Maryland Congressman William D. Byron. Among the six survivors is World War I aviation hero (and head of the company) Eddie Rickenbacker (who has a very rough time riding airplanes during World War II, as we will see). Rickenback is soaked in fuel and trapped in the wreckage. However, he coordinates efforts of the other survivors from his immobile position. The press announces his passing, and in fact (according to his vivid autobiography) the emergency ambulances at first leave him behind for dead. When Rickenbacker finally arrived at the hospital, the Emergency Room people left him for dead. Eventually, they attend to him, and despite extensive injuries (including loss of his left eyeball), Eddie Rickenbacker eventually achieves a reasonably full recovery (to the extent possible considering his missing parts).

The DC-3 crash near Atlanta on 26 February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020

Tuesday 25 February 1941

Captain Topp salutes the battle flag at the commissioning of the Tirpitz in Wilhelmshaven, 25 February 1941.

Italian/Greek Campaign: British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and CIGS General Sir John Dill, in the eastern Mediterranean to arrange British protection for Greece, travel on 25 February 1941 from Athens to Ankara for talks.

East African Campaign: Operation Canvas is turning into a roaring success. South African and colonial troops have been advancing toward the main objective of Mogadishu for about two weeks. The Italians briefly made a stand on the Juba River line, but when that fell, their entire strategic position in Italian Somaliland collapsed. There remains little resistance anywhere. Today, The Italians declare Mogadishu an open city, and Nigerian troops capture nearby Afgoi with enormous stockpiles of supplies. Facing virtually no opposition, East African armored cars of the British 11th African Division drive 20 miles into Mogadishu, unmolested, during the day. Three specialist South African field security policemen parachute into the port to secure important communications equipment such as the telephone exchange.

The official handover of the city will be tomorrow, but today is when it actually changes hands. The capital of Italian Somaliland, Mogadishu is important for several reasons, not least the support that it can give to naval operations in the Indian Ocean. In addition, the Italians have 400,000 gallons of fuel oil in the port.

Another British force, the 12th African Division, continues pushing up the Juba River. Its aim is to clear all Italian opposition to the Abyssinian border, with the objective being the border town of Dolo. In Eritrea, the South Africans continue advancing south of Cub Cub, supported by the South African Air Force.

European Air Operations: During the day, the RAF conducts a Circus sweep over the opposite shore, attacking the submarine pens at Flushing. RAF Bomber Command attacks Dusseldorf after dark with 80 planes.

The Luftwaffe bombs Hull again, this time with 25 bombers beginning at 17:50 and lasting until just before midnight. The docks are hit, as well as railway lines. While daylight operations are light, JG 51 Kommodore Major Mölders shoots downs a Spitfire of RAF No. 611 Squadron. It is his fifty-ninth kill and second in about a week after a long lull.

The Tirpitz during its commissioning ceremony, 25 February 1941. This view is from the quarterdeck, the crew is lined up in parade formation.

Battle of the Atlantic: While the Kriegsmarine's surface fleet never gets much respect, today it makes all the news with positive developments - though none strikingly important. While in a distinctly inferior position, the Kriegsmarine does have its days.

German battleship Tirpitz is commissioned. Its first skipper is Kapitän zur See Friedrich Karl Topp. The Kriegsmarine now has two true battleships commissioned, the Tirpitz and Bismarck, but the former will require extensive working-up and equipping. Despite being commissioned, it is not yet ready for combat. Topp (no relation to Erich) is an officer in the Kriegsmarine's shipbuilding department and not really suited to the command of a battleship. However, he does have combat experience: during World War I, he served as the first officer of SM UC-67 under the command of Martin Niemöller - a name you may recognize, but, if not, not really germane to this day's events. Two men who took vastly different paths in life after working together.

The Royal Navy abandons its search for German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer in the Indian Ocean. Captain Krancke has disappeared into the vastness of the ocean to the southeast. After a long and very successful cruise, Captain Krancke is instructed to return to Germany via the Denmark Strait and Norway.

German E-boats attack Convoy FN 417 off the Lizard. S-30 sinks Royal Navy destroyer HMS Exmoor off Lowestoft. There are 104 deaths, including skipper Lt Cdr R. T. Lampard, and 32 survivors rescued by a patrol sloop and trawler. There is confusion about whether S-30 sank the Exmoor, or if it hit a mine, but it sinks one way or the other.

Norwegian 423 ton freighter MV Torgeir I hits a submerged object about 10 nautical miles off the Groningen Light House in the Skagerrak.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill sends a congratulatory note to the Import Executive for their success in salvaging damaged ships. He notes that there now are 30 salvage organizations, as opposed to 10 in August 1940. He also states that, while 340,000 gross tons of shipping were built in the final five months of 1940, 370,000 was recovered by salvage operations. He urges an increase in repair facilities.

British 54 ton sailing barge Globe hits a mine and sinks in the Thames Estuary off Garrison Point, Sheerness. There are two deaths.

German torpedo boats (Jaguar and Iltis) lay minefield Augsburg off Eastbourne.

Convoy OG 54 departs from Liverpool, bound for Gibraltar.

Royal Navy corvette HMS Nigella (K-19, Lt. Thomas W. Coyne) is commissioned, submarines HMS United and Unruffled are laid down.

U-180 is laid down.

The battle ensign and pennant are hoisted above the Tirpitz at its commissioning, 25 February 1941.

Battle of the Mediterranean: British submarines have been lying in wait along the convoy lanes east of Tunisia between Naples and Tripoli, but with only middling success. There have been several unsuccessful attacks, a few minor sinkings, but nothing really significant. Today, though, they finally claim a major victim. HMS Upright (Lt. Edward Dudley Norman, DSC, RN) spots Italian light cruiser "Armando Diaz" east of Sfax (off the Kerkennah Islands) at 03:43 and sinks it. There are 464 deaths and 147 survivors. However, the silver lining for the Axis is that the vital transports that the cruiser was escorting, loaded with reinforcements for the Afrika Korps, continue on their way without interference.

About 200 British Commandos of Operation Abstention, the subjugation and occupation of the island of Kastellorizo in the southeast Mediterranean, are at sea as the day begins. The Commandos land at dawn and quickly ambush an Italian patrol between Capt Nifti and the port. This landing operation is Operation Mar2, a naval support operation from Suda Bay involving destroyers HMS Decoy and Hereward. The landing is botched, as there actually are 500 men on board, but eight of the ten boats from Hereward get lost in the darkness and return to Decoy. They eventually land after daylight.

The commandos successfully occupy the port and take the Italian radio station there. The Italians manage to get off a radio message to Rhodes before surrendering, however. This draws airstrikes by the Regia Aeronautica within a few hours. The Italians bomb gunboat HMS Ladybird, damaging it, wounding three sailors, and forcing it to retreat to Famagusta, Cyprus along with its 24 Marines. Armed boarding vessel HMS Rosaura, operating out of Alexandria, arrives late and is unable to land the troops it carries due to Italian air attacks. Light cruisers HMS Bonaventure and Gloucester patrol offshore but can offer little assistance to the shore party.

The situation for the British grows worse throughout the day, as the commandos lose radio communications and are punished by the airstrikes. Italian torpedo boats arrive after dark and attack the Royal Navy ships, but neither side manages any hits. With the Admiralty uncertain about the situation on the island, a secondary landing from Cyprus is canceled and diverted to Alexandria.

At Tobruk, the Luftwaffe continues its incessant attacks. The Germans bomb and damage 5856-ton British tanker Tynefield. One man is lost. The ship is badly damaged, losing its forecastle, and eventually heads to Alexandria.

The German success at mining the Suez Canal claims another victim. Royal Navy 268 ton Narval whaler HMS Sarna hits a mine while engaged in minesweeping operations and forces skipper C. Sarel RNR to run it ashore to keep from sinking. This at least keeps the channel from having to be closed. There are one death and one man wounded.

The Free French attack on the Italian fort of El Tag at Kufra Oasis continues. The French are shelling the fortress with a 75mm field piece and several mortars. The Italians in the fort, though numerous, do not respond with any effectiveness - though they have four 20mm cannon, 53 machine guns and over two dozen trucks in parked in the fort.

There is an air raid on Malta at 09:30 by the Luftwaffe. The Germans lose two Dornier Do 215s (similar to the Do 17, only for export), while the British lose a Hawker Hurricane offshore to "engine trouble," according to RAF sources. Oblt. Müncheberg of 7./JG 26 takes credit for the downed plane.

The RAF raids Tripoli.

Italian cruiser Armando Diaz, sunk off Tunisia today by HMS Upright.

Battle of the Indian Ocean: German raider Orion gets supplies from captured supply ship Ole Jacob and heads from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

Anglo/Australian Relations: Churchill confides in a telegram to Middle East Commander General Wavell that the "Australian and New Zealand Governments have already been informed as was necessary" about the plans for an expedition to Greece. This buttresses the impression that Australian Prime Minister Menzies was not informed about the project in any detail until his arrival in London - at which point he was not enthusiastic about it.

Japanese/US/Anglo/Australian Relations: Japanese Foreign Matsuoka is reported by United Press as calling for:

the white race to cede Oceania - the vastly more than thousand mile square region South Pacific - to the Asiatics.

The press reports today are full of other bombastic statements from obscure Japanese sources. One, from a bellicose editorial in "Nichi Nichi," calls US and British efforts to strengthen their positions in the Pacific an "unwarrantable challenge to Japan" and that Japan could easily conquer Singapore and Guam in the event of a conflict. The Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Ohashi also denies that Matsuoka ever offered to mediate an end to the European conflict, instead claiming that it was simply an expression of love for peace, as indicated by Japanese mediation of the Indochina border war.

US Military: One in a long series of conferences is held in the Office of the Chief of Staff (George Marshall) at 10:00 in Washington, D.C. The topic is the status of the fleet in Hawaii and its potential vulnerability to attack. Besides Marshall, in attendance are General Delos Emmons, General "Hap" Arnold, General Brett, General Spaatz, General Gerow, Colonel McNarney, Colonel Anderson, and Colonel Twaddle. Marshall begins the meeting by stating, "In view of the Japanese situation the Navy is concerned with the security of the fleet in Hawaii." Marshall notes that Admiral Kimmel at CINCPAC is worried that "the sea power of the United States might be jeopardized" due to "a surprise or trick attack." Marshall is concerned that there is not "a single squadron of modern planes in the Philippines" or in Panama. He also is concerned about the P-40 fighter planes, which "have some engine trouble which makes them dangerous flying over water."

Marshall's concerns, along with some others, are quite prescient. However, that is all they are - concerns. Marshall ticks off some plans to send some P-36 fighters to Hawaii but notes that delivery of other planes is delayed. Lieutenant General Emmons then ticks off several reasons why "We have little means to accomplish our plans in GHQ Air Force." These include officer shortages, plane shortages, and shortages of spare parts. He downplays the shortage of pursuit planes in Hawaii due to the "peculiar situation in Hawaii," where night attacks are effective due to "phosphorescence in the water." He concludes the conference by stating:

They will have no warning service until they get detectors and pursuit would be useless. I would have long range bombers and not send pursuit, but bombers.

The conference is striking in the way that everyone makes excuses for the Hawaiian islands not having sufficient fighters or other planes. The issue of aerial surveillance of the waters around Hawaii does not even come up.

Soviet Military: Viktor Abakumov, who returned to Moscow NKVD headquarters on 12 February for reassignment, officially becomes a deputy to Lavrentiy Beria, the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs.

Italian Government: Wild rumors circulate on Malta that Mussolini has placed Marshal Graziani, the former commander of Libya, under house arrest. However, the information on the island is the product of speculation and assumptions, not facts. Graziani remains free, though he has not been the commander in Libya since January - something the British do not yet know.

Regent Street, February 1941. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies comments that "traffic is almost normal." © IWM (D 2107).

British Government: Australian Prime Minister Menzies spends an hour with the Queen. He finds her "as wise as possible, and has the shrewdest estimate of all the Cabinet." She agrees with Menzies about Churchill surrounding himself with "Yes-men," which no doubt confirms her intelligence to him. Menzies also confides to his diary that the Duke of Kent confides to him that Churchill "has 6 ideas a day; they can't all be right."

Sir Basil Newton, British Ambassador to Baghdad, sends Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden a letter about developments in the Arab world. Newton states that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is prepared to initiate a rebellion in Iraq in support of Germany. His condition is that Germany issue a declaration against Zionism, specifically any Jewish homeland in Palestine, and in favor of a pan-Arab state. There have been some low-level contacts between the Mufti and German Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop, and the Mufti is preparing an office in Berlin to conduct propaganda and espionage operations.

Dutch tram cars such as this one sit in their terminals, 25 February 1941.

Dutch Homefront: Today, pursuant to decisions made at an open-air meeting in Amsterdam on the 24th, a general strike begins. This is in response to a list of grievances by the local community, including the creation of a Jewish Ghetto in Amsterdam and the taking by the Germans of hundreds of Jewish hostages. The hostages, all males between the ages of 20-35, have been sent to concentration camps. Amsterdam tram drivers begin the strike, and it quickly spreads to government, companies, and schools. The strike also spreads beyond Amsterdam to Utrecht, Zaanstad and other cities. Local SS Chief Hanns Albin Rauter, repeating similar tactics adopted in Prague in 1939, orders his men to open fire on the strikers: 11 men perish. This is the only direct action against the German treatment of Jews in Occupied Europe during World War II. The strike is in full effect when the day ends.

British Homefront: The American Junior Red Cross has sent 10,000 boxes of gifts to British children suffering as a result of the Blitz. Today, film star Mary Clare hands out some of the gifs to children at the Regal Cinema in Streatham.

American Homefront: Paramount Pictures releases "The Lady Eve," written and directed by Preston Sturges. Starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, "The Lady Eve" is about romance on an ocean liner.  In 1994, the film will be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Columbia Pictures releases "Meet Boston Blackie," directed by Robert Florey and starring silent film star Chester Morris and Rochelle Hudson. While largely forgotten by the 1950s, the character of "Boston Blackie" is a popular cinematic jewel thief with, you guessed it, a heart of gold. This B movie proves strikingly successful with audiences, if not with critics, and leads to a long string (14) of "Boston Blackie" films that stretches throughout the 1940s.

Strike notices distributed by the outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands in Amsterdam, 25 February 1941.

February 1941

February 1, 1941: US Military Reorganization
February 2, 1941: Wehrmacht Supermen
February 3, 1941: World Will Hold Its Breath
February 4, 1941: USO Forms
February 5, 1941: Hitler Thanks Irish Woman
February 6, 1941: Operation Sunflower
February 7, 1941: Fox Killed in the Open
February 8, 1941: Lend Lease Passes House
February 9, 1941: Give Us The Tools
February 10, 1941: Operation Colossus
February 11, 1941: Afrika Korps
February 12, 1941: Rommel in Africa
February 13, 1941: Operation Composition
February 14, 1941: Nomura in Washington
February 15, 1941: Churchill's Warning
February 16, 1941: Operation Adolphus
February 17, 1941: Invade Ireland?
February 18, 1941: Panzerwaffe Upgrade
February 19, 1941: Three Nights Blitz
February 20, 1941: Prien's Farewell
February 21, 1941: Swansea Blitz Ends
February 22, 1941: Amsterdam Pogrom
February 23, 1941: OB-288 Convoy Destruction
February 24, 1941: Okuda Spies
February 25, 1941: Mogadishu Taken
February 26, 1941: OB-290 Convoy Destruction
February 27, 1941: Operation Abstention
February 28, 1941: Ariets Warns Stalin

2020