Saturday 8 February 1941

A Westland Whirlwind (this is the first prototype, L6844) gets its first confirmed kill today.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Fighting continues around Tepelenë on 8 February 1941, but the Italian defenses there are holding firm. Things are quiet elsewhere on the battlefield, but much is going on behind it. The new Greek government takes a different approach than the Metaxas government and asks the British if they can talk some more about the size of British forces to be inserted on the Greek mainland. British Prime Minister Churchill is delighted at this sudden chance to achieve his dream and put British troops into action in the Balkans.

There is activity on the other side as well. The Bulgarian government signs an agreement granting permission to the Wehrmacht to set up its 12th Army on its territory for an attack into Greece. Undercover German troops have been scouting the frontier for some time for good locations. The weather is too rough for any operations at the moment, but the Wehrmacht has a large troop presence in Romania which can quickly slide into position in Bulgaria. The situation with Yugoslavia remains up in the air, as nobody knows if the Yugoslavs will decide to join the Tripartite Pact or continue their somewhat hostile attitude.
East African Campaign: At Keren, the 4th (Outram's)/6th Rajputana Rifles Indian troops begin the day holding an advanced position to the right of the Dongolaas Gorge which provides a narrow entryway through the mountains. However, this position is subject to fire from surrounding heights in three directions. This is dangerous both for the troops themselves and, more importantly in terms of sustainability, for those bringing up supplies from the rear. At 04:30, having run out of ammunition, the Indian troops evacuate the Acqua Col and retire to the less exposed positions in Happy Valley (Scescilembi Valley) where they began their attack This will be the last significant activity for a couple of days, as the Italians have now forced back attack on both sides of the Gorge and appear determined to hold it. The Indian troops regroup and take the time to plan a new strategy.

European Air Operations: Activities are light today. RAF Bomber Command sends 15 bombers to raid Mannheim during the night. The Luftwaffe, meanwhile, conducts only scattered missions against British shipping during the day, and light activity over York and the West Coast after dark.

RAF No. 263 Squadron, operating out of RAF Exeter, is at this time the only squadron using the Westland Whirlwind Mk 1 twin-engine fighter. Today, it gets its first confirmed kill, an Arado AR 196 floatplane, but in the process, the Whirlwind also crashes.

Bristol Blenheim Mark Is of RAF No. 62 Squadron at Tengah Airfield, Singapore, before flying north to their new base at Alor Star, in northern Malaya. Photo taken ca. 8 February 1941 (IWM  Photo No. K 135/Collection No.: 4700-10).

Battle of the Atlantic: At 08:30, German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sight a convoy on the horizon south of Greenland. It is Convoy HX-106. The lookouts inform Admiral Lütjens that battleship HMS Ramillies is among the escorts, and Lütjens, onboard the Gneisenau, follows orders not to fight capital ships and orders a retreat. However, in a rare bit of both initiative and disobedience by a Kriegsmarine commander, KzS Hoffmann of the Scharnhorst decides to make a run at the Ramillies to try to lure it away from the convoy so that the Gneisenau can attack it. He closes to within 23,000 meters - the extreme range of a battleship - before Lütjens restores order and orders Hoffmann away.

The two ships slip off to the northwest and are not pursued by the Ramillies, which continues escorting the convoy to the east. Lütjens believes that the convoy has spotted Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which would bring the entire Royal Navy after them. However, the British in fact only spotted the Scharnhorst, which the British lookout misidentifies as the Admiral Hipper (they do look almost identical). The problems of British military intelligence cascade here, as they have no idea of the whereabouts of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and, for all they know, the two ships are still in port. Since only one ship was seen, the Admiralty also assumes it was the Admiral Hipper, known to be a single raider on the loose, and the Admiralty reacts in a measured fashion.

Thus, the compounding British errors work to Scharnhorst and Gneisenau's advantage and they retire unmolested into the misty morning. The Royal Navy does dispatch a good part of the Home Fleet to the vicinity, but those ships are far away and the German ships have the entire ocean in which to hide.

British 5760-ton freighter Henri Jaspar hits a mine and is damaged off Sully Island. The crew quickly beaches the ship on the island, and, after temporary repairs, it is taken to Cardiff. There is one death.

British 5791-ton freighter Ramon De Larrinaga springs a leak off Delaware, United States. The crew swiftly beaches the ship near Lewes. The weather sinks the ship within a couple of days, but it is later refloated, repaired, and renamed Empire Mersey.

Minesweeper HMS Hebe is in a collision and has to return to Rosyth for minor repairs which last about two weeks.

German raider Kormoran continues its meeting with supply ship Nordmark off the Cape Verde Islands.

Convoy OB 283 departs from Liverpool, Convoy SC 22 departs from Halifax.

U-83 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus) is commissioned at Lübeck, U-602 is laid down.

USS Salt Lake City (CA 25), a Pensacola class heavy cruiser, February 1941 ( | Phil DeFer | Flickr).

Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, in charge of Operation Sunflower, prepares to begin shipping his forces across the Sicilian Strait to Tripoli. The first three transport ships for the journey are loaded in Naples and set sail. While not yet called the Afrika Corps, this can be said to be the first movement of that force to North Africa. At this point, the Germans cannot make use of Tunisia because they do not have permission from the Vichy French authorities there. Preparations are made to send the rest of the troops of the 5th Light Division across to Tripolitania within a few days. The Italian 5th Army has four divisions at Tripolitania, and a few thousand men have escaped from the disaster of the 10th Army. Events have shown that it does not matter how many Italian troops there are, they cannot fight effectively and should be easy prey for O'Connors hardened warriors.

If O'Connor had been able to send XIII Corps ahead quickly against no resistance, it is conceivable that he could occupy the entire Libyan coast before the Wehrmacht even arrives. However, without Wavell's approval, O'Connor is unable to do that. Whether O'Connor will ever get that approval is an open question, given Prime Minister Churchill's obsession with sending troops from North Africa to Greece to support the Greeks against an anticipated German invasion via Bulgaria.

The Italian fleet, led by battleships Veneto, Cesare, and Doria, puts to sea from La Spezia. They conduct a more-or-less routine patrol west of the Bonifacio Strait.

General Cunningham, operating north of Sardinia on Operation Grog (formerly Result), makes a feint toward Sardinia, then continues on toward Genoa. The ships, led by battleship Malaya and aircraft carrier Ark Royal, should be in a position to attack the city and nearby installations at dawn on the 9th.

Dutch 3359 ton tanker Adinda hits two mines at Tobruk Harbor, which has been hurriedly - apparently too hurriedly - cleared since its capture. There are 17 deaths. Another ship, 3220-ton former Italian freighter Rodi, also suffers damage from a mine in Tobruk Harbor.

At Malta, the Luftwaffe attacks Hal Far and Luqa airfields during the day, damaging both bases. The raids last into the night and also hit some civilian targets, including St. Vincent de Paule hospital and The Leper Hospital. There is one civilian death.

US/Anglo Relations: In an event of decisive importance to the conduct of World War II, the US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Bill, 265-165. In the end, the win is lopsided, contrary to the expectations of a close vote. The news rockets around the world, showing that Great Britain's financial issues now are at an end for the duration of the conflict.

Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's latest envoy, takes his leave of Great Britain.

A banner advertising a Benefit for Greek war victims in Hollywood, to be held on 8 February 1941. The stars receiving the most attention are Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, both big supporters of the war effort.

British Government: Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes a couple of appointments. Lord Moyne, Churchill's long-time friend and confidante, is made Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Duke of Norfolk becomes the Joint Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture. Churchill has a decided tendency to put his old cronies in positions where the occupants may have to rubber-stamp his own decisions.

Alfred Ernest Brown, Chairman of the National Liberal Party and Secretary of State for Scotland, becomes the Minister of Health. Brown is the more interesting choice. Previously he had served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health and many other positions in the government, but his leadership of the National Liberal Party becomes a disaster for that party during the 1940s. He is notorious for his loud voice and pretty much is a familiar face in governmental circles.

Vichy French Government: Relations between Premier Philippe Pétain and his former lieutenant Pierre Laval continue to thaw. Pétain offers Laval a seat in the cabinet again, but Laval holds out for something better.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his epic journey from Melbourne to London. He currently has broken his journey in North Africa for a while, and today is that takes place at recently captured Tobruk. He notes that it is so cold that the "R.A.F. men are wearing sheepskin overalls."

Canada: Malcolm MacDonald becomes the new British High Commissioner, replacing Sir Gerald Campbell. Campbell switches to become the British Consul General to the United States, a position he had held from 1931-38. Campbell is a sort of raconteur who gets on well with the Americans, and nothing is as important to the British war effort as the "special relationship" with the United States.

China: At the continuing Battle of Southern Honen, the Japanese 11th Army continues its scorched-earth policy and retreats toward Hsinyang.

Future History: Nicholas King Nolte is born in Omaha, Nebraska. After finding that he does not like school, Nolte begins a career acting in various California regional theaters. He turns this into a modeling career in the late 1960s. He gets a big acting break when, in 1976, he is cast as a leading role in a television miniseries based on Irwin Shaw's "Rich Man, Poor Man." As one of the first big miniseries, "Rich Man, Poor Man" gets a lot of attention, and this leads to a new career as a Hollywood leading man. Some of his more successful films are "The Deep" (1977), "North Dallas Forty" (1979), "48 Hours" (1982) and "Prince of Tides" (1992). Nick Nolte remains a top Hollywood star, recently starring on Epix as President Richard Graves in "Graves."

8 February 1941: Shirley Temple with Frank Morgan, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Sam Goldwyn, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard & Myrna Loy on America Calling radio broadcast for Greek War Relief.

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

Thursday 6 February 1941

U-107 returning from a successful patrol, as evidenced by all the victory pennants. Today, 6 February 1941, it sinks its third ship on its very first patrol, the 3388-ton Canadian freighter Maplecourt.

Italian/Greek Campaign: Operations in Greece remain at a standstill on 6 February 1941. The weather is inhibiting both sides. The Greeks have captured the gateway to the strategic port of Valona, the Klisura Pass, but so far they have been unable to capitalize on this success. The Greeks are planning another attack for the middle of the month. At this point, the Greek hopes to capture Valona fast so that they can shift forces to the Bulgarian frontier to oppose an expected German invasion there  have been frustrated despite early indications of success. The RAF bombs Italian positions west of the Telepini Heights which the Greeks have recently recovered despite fierce resistance from Italian Blackshirts.

East African Campaign: At Keren, Eritrea, the British troops (the 11th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division) are supplemented by the arrival of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade. The Indian soldiers retain an exposed position to the left of the Dongolaas Gorge which controls entry to Keren proper, much like a drawbridge and gate control entrance to a castle. However, while the British are off to a good start, the Italians have heavily fortified positions in the surrounding heights and retain a tight grip on the gorge itself, which, because of the terrain, the British troops cannot bypass. The Indian troops rest after their march from Agordat and prepare for a major attack on the 7th.

European Air Operations: RAF Bomber Command attacks Boulogne with 25 bombers during the day, and Dunkirk with 24 bombers after dark. The Luftwaffe does little during the day or after dark.

German battlecruiser Scharnhorst in rough North Atlantic seas during Operation Berlin in February 1941. This picture was taken from the Gneisenau.

Battle of the Atlantic: German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refuel from tanker Schlettstadt south of Cape Farewell, Iceland and proceed south toward the shipping lanes. Admiral Lütjens, in command of Operation Berlin, decides to first attack the HX and SC convoys between Canada and Great Britain. He heads to the southwest, closer to the North American mainland than previous naval battles south of Greenland.

The Allies still have no idea where the German raiders are, though they are looking for them furiously. The Germans are under standing orders to avoid engagements with capital ships and certainly do not want to draw any attention until they strike a convoy. While most convoys have few escorts at all in the mid-Atlantic, and fewer still have battleship escorts, it is impossible to know in advance which do and which do not have protection, and what degree of protection they have. Thus, as much as anything, the two German ships are heading into the unknown.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau aren't the only German surface ships in operation. The Kriegsmarine 2nd MTB Flotilla makes a sortie against a convoy in the Ipswich area. S-30 sinks 501-ton British freighter Angularity. There are two deaths, and one crewman is picked up by the Germans and made prisoner.

U-107 (K.Kapt. Günther Hessler), on its first (and very successful) patrol, torpedoes and sinks 3388-ton Canadian freighter Maplecourt. It is traveling in Convoy SC 20 in the Northwest Approaches. Everybody on board perishes.

Battleship HMS King George V arrives back in Scapa Flow from its journey to America to deliver Lord Halifax to Washington.

Convoy WS (Winston Special) 6A forms off Liverpool. It includes more large troop transports bound for the Middle East.

Convoy HG 53 departs from Gibraltar, bound for Liverpool.

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Quantock (Lt. Commander David J. A. Heber-Percy) and minesweeping trawler HMS Coriolanus (W. D. Bishop) are commissioned.

U-556 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Wohlfarth) is commissioned, U-176 is laid down.

At the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wing B, 2nd Floor, Gallery 18A, an exhibit opens today called “French Fashions, 1800-1900.” It runs from February 6 to March 26, 1941 (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art.) This is such a timeless historical picture; while taken in 1941, it could just as easily have been taken at a similar exhibit last week. Roughly speaking, this exhibit in 1941 showed a period which is about as far back in time as World War II is as I write this.

Battle of the Mediterranean: Many histories place today as when the British capture Benghazi. That, however, seems a bit premature. The Italians are evacuating the city, but it remains in their hands as the day ends. In any event, the actual date of the "fall" of the city is of little moment, as the Italians have no intention to defend it.

South of Benghazi, in the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italian 10th Army is trapped on the main road (the Italo Balbo) between the Australian 6th Infantry Division behind them and the Combe Force in front of them. The retreating Italian column is strung out along 7 miles of the road. The Italians have new tanks and a 4:1 advantage in numbers, but their tanks - though new - are inferior and the Italian tactical situation dire.

Lieutenant-General Annibale Bergonzoli in command of the XX Motorised corps tries to break out first thing in the morning, making a diversionary frontal attack while sending the Babini Group (mainly tanks) through the desert to try to get behind Combe Force. However, the British have brought up 32 cruiser tanks and 42 light tanks, and the Italians make little progress. The Australians, meanwhile, reach Benghazi and attack it from the north.

The Italians continue evacuating Benghazi, sending a greater force to the southwest, but the British block on the main road to the south holds. Italian M13 tanks arrive from the city, but many are quickly knocked out - the Italians quickly lose 40 tanks. The Italian artillery proves effective against the British cruiser tanks, though, and Italian vehicles manage to make some progress over rough terrain to the south. A running battle develops, with some Italian vehicles making a run for Tripoli, others surrendering, and more British armor arriving. In confused actions, the Italians make some progress, but the mass of British armor remains intact and draws a tighter cordon around the Italians.

While Operation Compass is an astounding success, it also has imposed a huge strain on the British forces. While the Italians are not much of an obstacle, the climate and terrain are. The desert air becomes loaded with sand at regular intervals, playing havoc with aircraft and other engines. The Middle East Command's RAF headquarters wires Whitehall today, noting that problems are developing with engine maintenance. Simply operating in the desert without adequate engine filters and equipment specially designed for such conditions is softening the British up for a possible counterstroke by fresh Axis forces.

Erwin Rommel already is a legend in February 1941. A hero of two world wars, if he never does another thing, his place in history still would be secure. However, fate now leads him to entirely new challenges.

In Germany, events of far-reaching significance for the war in Africa take place today which in fact promises just such a counterstroke. Having watched the continuing collapse of Italian resistance despite good defensive possibilities, the German high command - Hitler - issues an order to deploy German troops to North Africa. This is Operation Sonnenblume - “Sunflower.” Chosen to command Operation Sunflower is General Erwin Rommel, the hero of the Battle of France while leading the 7th Panzer "Ghost" Division.

The Operation Sunflower force is envisaged as a supplement to the Sperrverband (blocking detachment) previously authorized in Fuhrer Directive No. 22 of 11 January 1941. This is just a couple of divisions, the 5th Light Afrika Division (Generalmajor Johann von Ravenstein) and elements of the 15th Panzer Division (Oberst Maximilian von Herff). None of those troops have reached North Africa yet, but the 5th Light Division is almost ready to go. The North African Wehrmacht force (later named Afrika Korps (DAK)) is not intended as a war-winning effort by itself, but simply as a way of stiffening Italian troops already there so that the Italian position can be maintained and the Italians perhaps encouraged to fight better.

Rommel apparently is not Hitler's first choice to lead this new operation. Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus, deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I), later recalls that he was offered the position first, but turned it down. However, when discussing it with his wife, she apparently says that being a secondary theater, North Africa is not a place where a General could ever make a name for himself. Russia - that was the place for a German General to really succeed.

Force H out of Gibraltar departs for another attempt to launch Operation Result (now Grog), the bombardment of Genoa. The Force (Group 1) is lead by battleship HMS Malaya, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and battlecruiser HMS Renown. The operation will include a feint toward Sardinia, the scene of the recent aerial attack on a dam which failed and presumably the Italians may believe will be repeated.

The British lose two more ships due to the German mining of the Suez Canal. The ships, 1500 ton hoppers No. 34 and No. 39, compound the problems the British are facing in clearing the Canal, which remains blocked from earlier sinkings. There are two deaths on No. 39.

Anglo/US Relations: President Roosevelt nominates John Gilbert "Gil" Winant as Joseph Kennedy's Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Winant is publicly on record as supporting Roosevelt's own view that Great Britain constitutes the "front lines" against Hitler, and its war effort should be supported wholeheartedly without any thought of negotiation or the possibility of Great Britain losing. This is directly contrary to Kennedy's view that England was sure to lose to Germany and should be negotiating, not fighting.

German/Spanish Relations: Adolf Hitler already basically has given up on Operation Felix due to the logistical requirements of preparing for the upcoming Operation Barbarossa. However, today he sends another lesson to Caudillo Francisco Franco. In it, Hitler says that England has no intention of helping Spain, while German already has promised 100,000 tons of grain. He concludes that "the British power in Europe is broken," and that the Wehrmacht is "the mightiest military machine in the world."

Anglo/Japanese Relations: The War Cabinet minutes for today mention a report by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden about Japan. According to Eden, the Japanese government has told its Embassy staff in London to be ready to "leave the country at short notice," and that Washington has been apprised of this information. A separate diary entry by Sir Alexander Cadogan addresses this more bluntly: "Some more very bad-looking Jap telephone conversations, from which it appears they have decided to attack us."

104th Medical Battalion, 29th Infantry Division as it moves to its new post at Fort Meade, 6 February 1941. The 104th later landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

German Military: Adolf Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 23, "Directions For Operations Against The English War Economy." It begins "Contrary to our former view" - apparently meaning that the Luftwaffe bombing command on English factories has failed - "the heaviest effect of our operations against the English war economy has lain in the high losses in merchant shipping." The order candidly confesses that:

The least effect of all (as far as we can see) has been made upon the morale and will to resist of the English people.

Thus, those who supported the switch to terror bombing on 7 September 1940 are recognized as having been wrong - and disastrously so, though that will not become apparent for some time.

The "consequences" of all these mistakes in the aerial campaign against Great Britain are:

More focused air attacks against British shipping assets;
An increased orientation on stopping British imports.

The striking thing about this Directive is how pessimistic it is and how low a priority Great Britain is to become. Operations are to be continued "by such forces as remain available for operations against England." It also gets into minutiae of target priorities, showing that the high command feels the Luftwaffe needs special guidance to attack the right places. The order may not be an actual slap in the face of Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (who opposes Operation Barbarossa), but it certainly comes close.

Grooms and stablehands at Santa Anita Park vote to strike, 6 February 1941 (LA Times).

British Military: The RAF establishes the Directorate of Air Sea Rescue aka Air Sea Rescue Services (ASRS) aka the RAF Search and Rescue Force. This force operates closely with Coastal Command.

British Government: The British House of Commons votes for a£1,600,000,000 war credit, money which the country essentially does not have.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill continues his war against the British press. He sends a memorandum to Information Minister Alfred Duff Cooper noting a recent BBC report that apparently gave hints as to future British strategy in North Africa. He tells Duff Cooper to "clean up your arrangements and tone up your men."

US Government: Charles Lindbergh testifies before Congress again today. This time, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he opposes the Lend-Lease Bill, saying that it will only deplete US defenses.

Australian Government: Prime Minister Robert Menzies continues his long journey from Melbourne to London. Today, he is in Cairo. Menzies has dinner with British Middle East Commander General Wavell and RAF chief Longmore, among others. Menzies notes in his diary that his talk "seems encouraging to these Generals & Marshals." His words of encouragement are probably very welcome by the Middle East command team, as London has been far from encouraging recently with all of its talk about the supposedly inefficient "tooth to tail ratio" and switching forces to Greece.

Norway: The Bishops of Norway begin to resist the German occupying forces.

China: The Chinese 5th War Area takes possession of Nanyang, burnt to the ground by the departed Japanese 11th Army.

Future History: Gigi Perreau is born in Los Angeles, California. Gigi goes on to become a child actress in films such as "Madame Curie" (1943). She remains popular until she is too old for her child roles, and in 1959 turns to television. Gigi Perreau remains active in the industry, doing voice work in "Time Again" (2011) and other recent films. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is or was a member of the board of directors of both the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts and the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.

Babe Ruth cuts the cake in his New York City apartment at the Ansonia on his 46th birthday, 6 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