Monday 26 February 1940

Soviet soldiers investigate a Finnish Vickers 6-ton tank.

Winter War: The Finns are preparing a new defensive line further west, the T Line, on 26 February 1940. Units already are being ordered to repair it.

Today is the Battle of Honkaniemi, the only Finnish tank attack of the Winter War.

Winter War Army Operations: Finns of the 23rd Division, II Corps have spent the night traveling to the little town of Heponotko, which is about 3 km from the train depot in Honkaniemi. By 04:00, they are in position. The 4th Armoured Company, composed of 13 Vickers 6-ton tanks, has traveled 50 km during the same time and meet them there 30 minutes later. During the journey, the 4th Armoured lost 5 of its 13 tanks due to engine failures and the like.

Captain I. Kunnas is in charge. He orders an artillery barrage and splits his remaining tanks between each flank. The artillery, though, aims short and hits the Finnish troops, causing 30 casualties.

The Finns advance, but are quickly stopped by the Soviet forces. The Finnish tanks prove completely ineffective, being targeted by much larger Soviet T-26 and T-28 tanks as well as 45 mm anti-tank guns. The Finnish tanks did make it to the Soviet line but were quickly knocked out there.

By 10:00, Captain Kunnas received orders to retreat. The Soviets reported to headquarters that they had destroyed six Finnish tanks with no losses to their own tank force.

Winter War Peace Talks: The Finnish Foreign Minister returns to Stockholm for more talks with Madame Kollontai.

Battle of the Atlantic: The 83,700-ton liner Queen Elizabeth departs Clydebank with minimal crew on a top-secret visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia and thence New York. She is one of the few ships to date fitted with a degaussing cable around her waterline to neutralize magnetic mines. Her greatest defense, though, her speed - large liners like her do not travel in convoys.

The British at Gibraltar detain US passenger liner Washington.

Convoy OB 99 departs from Liverpool, Convoy HX 23 departs from Halifax.

European Air Operations: Luftwaffe planes fly over Paris and attract anti-aircraft fire.

British Homefront: Due to naval bases being located in the north of Scotland, the British War Offices announces that commencing 1 March 1940, only those with special passes will be permitted north of the Caledonian Canal.

US Government: Sumner Welles visits with Mussolini and his son-in-law, Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano, in Rome.

US Military: The War Department creates the Air Defense Command as a component of the US First Army. Its mission is to defend the continental United States against attack.

A destroyed Finnish Vickers 6-ton tank; behind it is a Soviet T-26.

February 1940

February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2020

Sunday 25 February 1940

Sumner Welles' visit to European leaders is widely publicized. People throughout Europe believe that his trip is either a prelude to US entry into the war or concealing some sinister purpose to meddle in European affairs.

Winter War: The Finns on 25 February 1940 report that they knocked out 25 Soviet tanks over the weekend on the Karelian Isthmus, as well as 17 north of Lake Ladoga.

Winter War Army Operations: There was some fighting in the Salla area. Otherwise, the front is reasonably quiet as both sides recuperate from the recent battles and also deal with the nasty winter weather.

The two sides are locked in what military types call an "embrace" all along the front. The Finns may be in trouble in places, but so are many trapped Soviet forces in others. Elements of the Soviet 54th Rifle Division which have been holding out in the Kuhmo sector are eliminated by Finnish attacks. In the center of the line, though, the Soviets retain the initiative and the overwhelming preponderance of force.

Finnish II Corps is responsible for the area around Lake Näykkijärvi, just to the southeast of Viipuri. It is one of the most sensitive areas on the entire V-line. Its commander, General Harald Öhquist, issues orders which are passed along to front line units at 22:15: the 23rd Division, which has been recently reinforced with armor units, is to attack. Four infantry units, two artillery battalions and the 4th Tank Company set out by truck to Heponotko and travel through the night to a spot near a town called Honkaniemi.

Winter War Peace Talks: The Finns continue considering the Soviet peace offer, which expires on 1 March 1940.

European Air Operations: The first contingent of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) arrives in Britain. It is No. 110 Army Co-operation (Auxiliary) Squadron of the RCAF.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-63 (Oberleutnant zur See Günther Lorentz) is sunk by some combination of depth charges and torpedoes from HMS Escort, HMS Inglefield and HMS Imogen and the submarine HMS Narwhal south of Shetland. One crew member perishes, 24 survive after the U-boat surfaces after 2 hours of depth charges.

US freighter Exochorda is detained by the British briefly at Gibraltar, then allowed to proceed. US freighter West Camargo is stopped briefly on the high seas by an unidentified French warship, but then allowed to proceed as well.

Convoy HG 20 departs from Gibraltar.

British/Norwegian Relations: Norway proposes international arbitration over the Altmark Incident if Great Britain wishes to continue its diplomatic protest.

US Government: Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles arrives in Naples to begin his fact-finding/peace mission for President Roosevelt.

Soviet dead in Finland, February 1940.

February 1940

February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2020

Saturday 17 February 1940

Philip Vian's HMS Cossack returns with its cargo of British sailors released from the Altmark.

Winter War: The Soviets advance on 17 February 1940 through the Mannerheim Line and draw up upon the V-Line. The Finns are behind this second line of defense. The Finnish 23rd Division has been brought up from reserve to fill a hole in the line, but its arrival is slowed by air attacks. The Red Army has 35 divisions, many fresh or reinforced, under the overall command of General Semyon Timoshenko.

The Finns have 15 divisions, almost all battered from their beating on the Mannerheim Line. There is no chance for the Finns to make a stand ahead of their prepared position because they are no match for Soviet armor on open ground. The Finns start digging in, but the Soviets are right behind them.

The Soviets are not invincible. They try to take Suursaari Island on Lake Muolaanjarvi but are beaten back.

Marshal Mannerheim tells his officers:

“The whole future of our people hangs in the balance. Only our loyalty and endurance can save the day. I am sure every officer will do his duty.” 

Some 158 American volunteers step off a ship at Oulu.

Western Front: General von Manstein meets with Hitler at a required dinner for new Corps commanders, and Hitler aid Colonel Schmundt makes sure to have Manstein near him. They talk about Manstein's Fall Gelb plan for an armored thrust through the Ardennes to circumvent the Maginot Line and the BEF.

The plan, unlike the rote, head-on plan drafted by the OKH (Army Command), would create the possibility of separating the BEF manning the line in the north from the French army to the south. Hitler has had similar ideas and now must find a way for the OKW (Command of all German armed forces) and OKH to come to a similar conclusion and draw up the appropriate plans.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-10 (Oberleutnant zur See Joachim Preuss) torpedoes and sinks 1,819-ton Norwegian freighter Kvernaas about four miles northwest of Schouwen Bank, Holland at 02:10. All 20 crew either survive or perish, reports are conflicting.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) torpedoes and sinks 7,418-ton British freighter Pyrrhus northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain at 16:00. The Pyrrhus has been traveling with Convoy OG-18, and there are 77 survivors while 8 perish.

U-48 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Schultze) torpedoes and sinks 3,396-ton Finnish freighter Wilja south of Bishop Rock in southwest England at 20:36. All 35 crew survive, but they are picked up by a southbound steamer and wind up in Havana, Cuba.

British freighter Baron Ailsa hits a mine and sinks.

German freighter Baldur is scuttled by its crew to avoid capture by Royal Navy patrols.

The British at Gibraltar detain the US freighter Exhibitor.

Convoy OB 93 departs from Liverpool, and Convoy HG 19 departs from Gibraltar.

Special Ops: The men rescued from the Altmark are landed from Captain Vian's HMS Cossack at Leith to great acclaim as the government issues a public announcement. Meanwhile, the Germans in Norway stage an elaborate funeral procession for their dead from the incident.

The British, Germans, and Norwegians all protest vigorously to each other about the Altmark Incident, but it is a fait accompli and the diplomatic protests are meaningless. As Hermann Goering liked to say, "Let the cannon speak!"

US Government: President Roosevelt appoints Myron C. Taylor as his "personal representative" to the Vatican.

US Homefront: The United States Lines sells the passenger liner President Harding and seven cargo ships to a Belgian company. This has become a standard practice by US shipowners who still need to do business with Europe. This is covert defiance of President Roosevelt's trade restrictions imposed under the Neutrality Act as amended.

British Homefront: The government draws up a new plan to evacuate the 400,000 children who have returned to London and other large cities.

Marshal Mannerheim in 1940.

February 1940

February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a Bunker
February 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle

2019