Thursday 8 February 1940

The bridge connecting the two separate sections of the Lodz Ghetto (Federal Archive).

Winter War: The Finnish government announces on 8 February 1940 that a Swedish brigade of 6,000 men is manning part of the line on the Salla front.

Winter War Army Operations: Attacks at Summa continue without much change aside from the gradual attrition of the Finnish defenders. Soviet tanks continue dragging armored sleds full of explosives that are detonated near Finnish fortifications.

At 10:15, the Soviets open an attack at Taipale. Two Soviet Divisions shell the Kirvesmäki Cape and attack across the River Taipale. The Soviets take two Finnish strongholds at Terenttilä at the extreme East end of the Mannerheim Line where the River Taipale empties into Lake Ladoga. Finnish casualties are extreme for them: 219 men, with 32 killed.

Further north, the Finnish 9th Division finishes its work around Kuhmo. It destroys the 1500 Soviet soldiers of the Soviet 54th Division that have been surrounded near Kuhmo in separate mottis (logs).

Winter War Peace Talks: Discussions continue in Stockholm, but the Soviets show no inclination to bargain. The Soviets require an island in the Gulf of Finland to serve as a Soviet naval base.

Western Front: Two French soldiers capture a German patrol in Forbach Woods.

Battle of the Atlantic: It is one of the quieter days of the war in the endless war on the high seas.

US freighter Scottsburg is detained by the British at Gibraltar.

Convoy OA 88GF departs from Southend.

Spies: Double agent William Sebold, a German native born in Mulheim, Germany, arrives in New York City as "Harry Sawyer." Sebold is a spy for the Reich, but in actuality is a double agent working for the FBI. He sets up a short-wave radio transmitter with FBI help and begins transmitting reports (prepared by the FBI) to Berlin.

Separately, the Paris police raid the Soviet Press Agency. They discover that it is being used as a cover for German propaganda.

Canada: The third contingent of Canadian soldiers arrives in England at a west coast port.

New Zealand: It is the 100th anniversary of the founding of New Zealand with the Anglo-Maori Treaty of Waitangi.

Palestine: Chaim Weizmann meets with President Roosevelt to discuss issues regarding the Jewish/Arab conflict in Palestine.

Holocaust: Orders are given for the establishment of a Jewish Ghetto in Lodz.

China: Japanese planes attack Mengzi. Three Chinese Hawk 75 fighters intercept them and a dogfight ensues for more than an hour, with one Chinese pilot, Yang Tzu-fan, injured after crash-landing.

The Shangtung Operation continues as the Japanese occupy the Shangtung Peninsula.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese capture Wuning north of Nanning after several days of battle.

Future History:  One of the soldiers captured in the Forbach Woods, Joseph Darnand, later heads the Vichy French secret police.

Double-agent William Sebold.

February 1940

February 1, 1940: Second Battle of Summa
February 2, 1940: Soviet Assaults at Summa 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

Tuesday 6 February 1940

Winter War Army Operations: Soviet shelling of the Mannerheim Line continues on 6 February 1940. There are probing infantry and tank attacks on Summa village and Marjapellonmäki in the nearby Karhula sector (Hill 38).

The Soviets send a tank landing party behind the Mannerheim Line in an effort to turn it. The 335th Rifle Regiment task force includes five T-28 tanks which tow armored infantry sleds, three flame-thrower tanks, 105 men with four heavy machine guns, and two mortars. The men in charge ae Senior Lieutenant Lobodin and Commissar Chausov.

The mission is a disaster from the start: Finnish artillery and mortar shells pound the landing force immediately, and the tanks run out of control and almost run over the armored infantry sledges. When the men in the sleds run to a ditch to take cover, one of the tanks mistakes them for Finns and opens fire on them. The Finns destroy all five tanks, and the unit is withdrawn to its original starting point.

Further north, the Finnish 9th Division continues cutting the trapped Soviet 54th Division into mottis (logs).

Winter War Peace Talks: The Finnish Foreign Minister returns to Helsinki from Stockholm with the Soviet proposals.

Battle of the Atlantic: The government publishes notes exchanged between Japan and the UK regarding the 21 January 1940 Asama Maru incident as a White Paper.

The 1,421-ton Estonian freighter Anu hits a mine 30 miles from its destination and sinks. The mine had been laid by U-13 on 12 December 1939 near the entrance to the River Tay. Seven crew perish, including the Captain, his wife, and the cook.

German freighter Konsul Horn completes a successful dash across the Atlantic from Aruba to Norway begun on 7 January 1940, either avoiding US Neutrality Patrols or successfully convincing them that it was a neutral vessel.

Convoy HG 18F departs from Gibraltar and Convoy OG 17 forms at Gibraltar.

British Government: The Admiralty, concerned about the impression in the public that the U-boats are winning, imposes strict restrictions on BBC reporting of ship sinkings. For instance, small ships may only be mentioned once in a single broadcast. Larger ships may be mentioned in consecutive bulletins.

Dutch Military: General Henri Winkelman comes out of retirement to command Dutch military forces upon the resignation of General Reynders.

British Homefront: A nationwide campaign to quell careless war gossip is launched, with the slogan "Careless Talk Costs Lives."

Terrorism: Four people are injured when parcel bombs planted by IRA terrorists explode in Euston Station, London.

China: At the Battle of South Kwangsi, the Japanese are attacking Wuning.

Soviet M1910 Maxim on the Mannerheim Line, 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

Saturday 3 February 1940

Soviet T-20 Komsomolets armored tow vehicles towing 45mm AT guns.

Winter War Army Operations: Today, 3 February 1940, is day three of the Second Battle of Summa, and the Finns continue holding their positions against Soviet probing attacks. The Stavka gives final approval to Timoshenko's plan for breaking through the Mannerheim Line there.

The Soviets form an assault party to capture and destroy a particularly vexing bunker known as bunker No. 2. The men are riflemen of the 5th Company, 355th Rifle Regiment, along with two T-26 tanks and two squads of sappers. Fighting hand-to-hand through Finnish trenches, they make their way to the bunker and plant 3,500 kg of explosives on its roof during the night, along with other charges totaling 5,300 kg. The men of the 5th company blow the bunker up. It is the first large bunker occupied even temporarily by the Soviet troops, and the 100th Rifle Division commander, Yernakov, focuses his attack in this direction. The Finns, though, hold fast in the forest north of the bunker and prevent any further incursion.

Winter War Air Operations: The Finns claim in a communique that they have brought down another 13 Soviet planes over the scene of the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus. The Soviets also send bombers against various Finnish cities, including Kuopio and Pori on the Bothnian coast.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-25 (Korvettenkapitän Viktor Schütze) torpedoes and sinks 6,805-ton British freighter Armanistan, which is sailing with convoy OG-16, at 14:32 100 miles west of Lisbon. Everyone on board survives and is landed on Tenerife.

U-58 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) torpedoes and sinks 815-ton Estonian freighter Reet in the North Sea. All 18 men perish. Hartmann is determined to get the tiny vessel, and he chases it from Stavanger, Norway almost to Aberdeen, Scotland over the course of 13 hours, ending at 09:36. He also wastes three torpedoes on it.

US passenger liner Manhattan, which was directed to Gibraltar by a French patrol, is detained there.

Convoy OA 85G departs from Southend and OG 17F forms at Gibraltar.

European Air Operations: The Luftwaffe continues its attacks on British shipping, sending 20 Heinkel He 111 bombers. The sink two ships, but lose three of their own number to RAF fighter sweeps. One crashes in Yorkshire, the other in the sea off the River Tyne. The British minesweeper HMS Sphinx (Commander John R. N. Taylor) is hit and heavily damaged, but not taking on water. Taken in tow by fellow minesweeper HMS Speedwell, she eventually capsizes and sinks in heavy seas. There are 41-54 dead (accounts vary), including Commander Taylor.

Anglo/Turkish Relations: The two nations sign a trade agreement.

China: The First Battle of Wuyuan begins, as Japanese forces brush aside the Chinese 8th War Area forces and capture Wuyuan.

At the Battle of South Kwangsi, Japanese forces capture Tsouhsu and attack Wuning, while a Chinese counterattack takes Kantang and Kula. This poses a threat to the lead Japanese formations.

A Soviet tank column. The Soviet tractor tows a T-26 that has been disabled by a mine. The tank on the right is a Cht-26 chemical tank.

February 1940

February 1, 1940: Second Battle of Summa
February 2, 1940: Soviet Assaults at Summa 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