12 February 1939

UNITED KINGDOM: London: The body of night club singer Georgina Hoffman is found in her flat in Dover Street. 'The Black Butterfly' had been stabbed to death. More.....

U.S.A.: The Grumman G-36, a modified XF4F-3 carrier-borne fighter prototype makes its first flight. This aircraft will be ordered in quantity as the Grumman 'Wildcat.' (23)

FINLAND: The Finnish troops at the Lähde sector are withdrawn to the second line of defence.

EGYPT: Convoy US.1 carrying the (ANZAC Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) New Zealand 4th Brigade and the Australian 16th Brigade arrives at Ismailia. The convoy had left Auckland on 6 January and Sydney on 10 January.

U.S.A.: The motion picture "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" is released. Directed by John Cromwell, this biography of Abe Lincoln's life stars Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon and Howard da Silva.

“The Adventures of Superman,” a 15-minute transcribed syndicated radio show featuring the comic strip hero, debuts on station WOR in New York City this Monday afternoon. The identity of the actor playing “mild-manned reporter” Clark Kent was unknown to listeners until 1946. The secret eventually leaked out that Superman’s voice was actually that of Bud Collyer, who would later host the hit television program, "To Tell the Truth" on CBS.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: As part of an operation to intercept six German merchant vessels, the destroyer HMS Hasty captures the 'Morea' in the Atlantic and the cruiser HMS Glasgow captures a trawler off Tromsø , Norway.

The British heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire stops German freighter SS Wakama 12 miles (19 kilometres) off Cabo Frio, Brazil; Wakama's crew scuttles her so that their ship will not fall into British hands.

At 0955, the unescorted Nidarholm was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-26 after she had been stopped at 0925 by two shots across her bow. The ship broke in two, the bow sank and the afterpart remained afloat. The U-boat fired two coups de grâce at 1009, one torpedo detonated prematurely while the other sank the wreck. The survivors were picked up about 10 hours later by the Norwegian SS Berto, which was enroute from Torrevieja to Bergen via Gibraltar and Kirkwall.

SS Dalarö sunk by U-53 at 56.44N, 11.44W. 1 dead and 29 survivors.

Our forces in Chad Province [French Equatorial Africa] have continued their operations in southern Libya with the support of our aircraft. A motorised column under the command of Colonel Leclerc has won ground and occupied bases around Kufra.

Almost 600 miles of desert separate Kufra from the border of Chad, and the Sahara poses many obstacles to military operations in the area.

Corvettes HMS Aster and Starwort launched.

Destroyer HMS Penn launched.

Corvette HMS Amaranthus commissioned.

Minesweeper HMS Bude commissioned.

ITALY: The Italian government asks that U.S. consulates at Palermo and Naples be moved to Rome rather than be located on a sea coast.
Spanish Dictator General Francisco Franco and Italian Premier Benito Mussolini confer in Rome “on all problems interesting the two governments at the present historic moment."

ROMANIA: Bucharest: With at least 40 troop trains a day crossing Hungary to Romania, Hitler is set to build up a formidable 600,000-strong army on the border with the Ukraine. Much of the equipment carried by the German forces is of French make, having been seized after the French collapse last year.

The Germans' next move, now the ice has broken on the Danube, is to float pontoon bridges in the river to enable troops to enter Bulgaria, under a secret agreement reached with the Bulgarian government four days ago. The Germans have promised the Bulgarians a slice of Greek territory to give them access to the Aegean Sea - but only after the war.

The massive German move into the Balkans has set off a wave of speculation that Hitler may be about to go to the rescue of his Italian ally, who has been badly mauled by the Greeks. Some observers, however, believe that Hitler, despite his treaty of friendship with Stalin, is planning to invade the Soviet Union.

U.S.S.R.: General Georgii Zhukov is appointed Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Commissar for Defense. The former Chief of the General Staff, General Kirill Meretskov, is named Deputy Peoples Commissioner of Defense.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: To the fury of the British, three of Germany's most powerful ships made a daring dash up the English Channel today. By this evening they were within range of the safety of the German ports.

The battle cruisers Scharnhorst and GNEISENAU and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen had been sheltering at Brest since last spring. They had been prime targets for the RAF, and no fewer than 110 air raids had been made; damaging but failing to destroy them. The breakout had been ordered by Hitler and planned by Vice-Admiral Ciliax.

The German plan was called Operation Cerberus, but the British had heard about it through the French Resistance and had devised their own plan, Operation Fuller, to thwart it. The Resistance has observed the German preparations over the last few weeks, and last night 18 Wellingtons bombed the ships in Brest. They scored no hits, but they did delay the planned breakout for one hour, until 10.45pm.

This proved a lucky break for the Germans because the watching British submarine, HMS Sealion, decided that the fleet was not going to sail that night and pulled away. British forces were stood off. This morning at dawn, a pair of Spitfires from RAF Hawkinge patrolling the French coast noted unusual activity by light naval forces. The weather is bad, and getting worse, with snow on the ground, very heavy and low cloud, and poor visibility. At 0920, the Germans begin efforts to jam British radar along the South Coast. Given this unusual behaviour, a second pair of Spitfires are sent to investigate at 1020. On their return, they reported spotting a "convoy" including a possible capital ship. It was not until 11.09am today that an RAF Spitfire (one of two flown by senior RAF officers on a separate operation) spotted the German ships, by which time they were in the Straits of Dover. The Dover Castle guns fired, but fell short. The Eight boats from Ramsgate and Dover Motor Torpedo boats sped out, but could not get within range because of the powerful German E-boat escort. They did fire but at extreme range.

Six Swordfish of 825 Naval Air Squadron, which had earlier been moved from Lee-on-Solent to RAF Manston to help concentrate attacks in the chokepoint of the Dover Straits, led by Lieutenant-Commander Eugene Kingsmill Esmonde (b.1909), are ordered at 1130 to mount an attack as soon as possible. made a brave attack, despite the fact that their Spitfire escort was not ready. It was recognized that his slow and vulnerable aircraft would need significant fighter escort to survive. Three fighter squadrons from RAF Biggin Hill and two from RAF Hornchurch were ordered to accompany him. The Biggin Hill aircraft were to defend against the now very large Luftwaffe fighter escort covering the ships, whilst the Hornchurch aircraft were to accompany his torpedo bombers in a low level attack, distracting anti-aircraft fire and strafing the ships to keep gunners heads down. However, the Hornchurch fighter controller telephoned Esmonde to warn him that his squadrons simply could not reach the rendezvous by the allotted time. The timing was also exceptionally tight for the nearer Biggin Hill units. But Esmonde feared that even a short delay might take the German ships out of reach. As soon as the first ten Spitfires from 72 Squadron appeared overhead at Manston at 1228, he set off with his Swordfish, with only one-fifth of his planned escort. The RAF Station Commander at Manston said of Esmonde - "He knew what he was going into. But it was his duty. His face was tense and white. It was the face of a man already dead. It shocked me as nothing has ever done since." German fighter attacks began only ten miles out from the English coast. The Spitfires engaged, but found it impossible to keep track of both their opponents and the Swordfish, flying at only about 100mph at very low level. The other two Biggin Hill squadrons arrived to engage German fighters in the general area. One Spitfire was lost, and two Messerschmitts were thought to have been destroyed. Esmonde's six Swordfish pressed on alone, under heavy fighter attack and then, as the battlecruisers came into sight, intense anti-aircraft fire. The lower port wing of Esmonde's biplane was shot away, but he somehow managed to keep flying until he was eventually shot down and killed with his two crewmen just before he got in torpedo range. The two Swordfish with him managed to drop their torpedoes before being shot down; five of their six crew survived. The second section of three Swordfish were also all shot down, with the loss of all nine men aboard. Their efforts were in vain, with no torpedoes hitting their targets. Esmonde was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, and the other seventeen men were also decorated. Seven Beaufort torpedo-bombers of 217 Squadron attempted to find their targets in the bad weather, and eventually five attacked, without success. Fighters shot down one. Other Beauforts and Hudsons attempted attacks, with the loss of four aircraft. Meanwhile, six elderly Royal Navy destroyers usually used for convoy duties, dashed south along the East Coast, coming under several air attacks. A squadron of RAF Whirlwind fighters was sent out to try to ward off the Luftwaffe, but was bounced and lost four aircraft. The effort proved too much for the worn engines of HMS Walpole, and she had to turn for home. The other five made radar contact at 1517, and ran in under heavy fire. The destroyers were repeatedly straddled, and HMS Worcester set on fire. Torpedoes were fired, but once again the range proved too great for accuracy. However, all the destroyers survived and retired to Harwich. Bomber Command RAF mustered 242 bombers to attack the ships off the Dutch coast before dark. Visibility was by now appalling, down to 1000-2000 yards in heavy rain, and the very low cloud base meant that bombs could not be dropped from sufficient altitude to have a chance of penetrating armour. 39 bombers were able to attack the German ships or their escorts, but 188 could not find them, and 15 were shot down. Fighter Command also sent up a total of 398 fighters - 102 strafed German patrol boats in the area, and claimed 16 enemy aircraft shot down, for the loss of 17 RAF fighters. But it was not until late tonight that mines - dropped by the RAF - succeeded where bombers had failed. The battle cruisers were damaged, Scharnhorst seriously, as they neared German waters and ports. The RAF lost 42 aircraft.

The failure to sink them was regarded in Britain as a humiliating failure. The Times leader on 14 February complained - "Vice-Admiral Ciliax has succeeded where the Duke of Medina Sidonia failed... Nothing more mortifying to the pride of sea power has happened in Home Waters since the 17th Century." But perhaps the fairest judgement came from a senior German officer, General-Admiral Saalwachter - "Our achievement should not disguise the fact that the dangers were still extremely high. We have without question been blessed by considerable good fortune, even when one considers the full significance of our initiative, use of surprise, good planning, strong fighter cover and strict security. I would also consider that the high risks of such an operation do not alter with hindsight."

The first action by RAF Douglas Boston III light-bombers takes place when No. 88 Squadron attacks shipping. (22)

GERMANY: RAF Bomber Command dispatches 12 Hampdens and nine Manchesters to lay further mines in the Frisian Islands, although weather conditions were still unfavourable. Only eight aircraft laid their mines but all returned without loss, but one Hampden crashes in England.

SPAIN: Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar meet in Seville and report that they share many views.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Three Allied supply ships leave Alexandria, Egypt, for Malta, but all are lost to enemy before reaching destination.

MALTA: Tribal class destroyer HMS Maori is bombed and sunk in an air raid on Grand Harbour, Valetta, Malta. As the off duty personnel are sent ashore at night, there is only one casualty when Maori blows up. Her wreck is raised on 5 July 1945, towed out to deep water and sunk. (Alex Gordon)(108)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Three USAAF 5th Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses on an antishipping damage a transport and a merchant cargo vessel.
Ten 5th Air Force A-24 Dauntlesses arrive at a new auxiliary airstrip at Modjokjerto, Java.

Submarine USS Stingray ended her second war patrol at Surabaya. But due to the dangerous situation there (Japanese air raids) she left for Fremantle, Australia shortly afterwards, arriving there on 3 March.

FIJI: The Anzac Squadron is formed at Suva on Viti Levu Island. This naval force is composed of heavy cruisers HMAS Australia and USS Chicago (CA-29), the light cruisers HMNZS Achilles and HMNZS Leander, and the destroyers USS Lamson (DD-367) and USS Perkins (DD-377).

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: On Bataan, the I Corps regains an important trail junction unopposed. In the South Sector, the Japanese try desperately to escape from Silaiim Point; they break through the Philippine line, but are overtaken as they push north toward the Silaiim River and are forced steadily toward the sea.

SINGAPORE: The Japanese attack strongly at several points and make further gains. During the night of the12-13th, beach defence forces on the eastern and southeastern coasts are withdrawn to strengthen the defence perimeter around the town of Singapore. The Allied supply situation is deteriorating rapidly. Singapore is in chaos, covered with smoke, full of 500,000 refugees, with military deserters wrecking liquor shops, stealing cars from showrooms, and attacking food shops. Many civilians and deserters board ships of all sorts pulling out of Singapore in a desperate evacuation, which in turn are attacked by Japanese aircraft.

TERRITORY OF HAWAII: The battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) is refloated in Pearl Harbor. Even though struck by a torpedo and possible up to three bombs, she got underway on 7 December 1941, the only battleship that did. While attempting to leave the harbor, she was hit again and fearing she might sink in the channel and block it, she was beached at Hospital Point. Nevada receives temporary repairs at Pearl Harbor and then sails for Puget Sound, Washington, for complete repairs.

NEWFOUNDLAND: HMCS Snowberry departed St. John's escort for convoy SC.69 to Londonderry.

The Air Force Combat Command activates the 10th Air Force at Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio. This unit is intended to serve in India and control all USAAF units in China, Burma and India.
Lieutenant General Henry H “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General USAAF, indicates that 16 heavy bomber groups, three pursuit groups, and eight photographic reconnaissance squadrons will be sent to the UK during 1942. Brigadier General Asa N Duncan, Commanding General 8th Air Force, requests that his force, inadequate for its intended mission under Operation GYMNAST (early Allied plan for the seizure of Casablanca and the invasion of northwestern Africa), be strengthened by several bombardment and pursuit groups. This move, if carried out, would require diversion of units originally intended for other task forces.

Washington: Columnist Walter Lippmann publishes a nationally syndicated column in which he says, "The Pacific Coast is in imminent danger of a combined attack from within and from without". The Japanese navy has been reconnoitering the coast more or less continuously. The Pacific Coast is officially a combat zone; some part of it may at any moment be a battlefield. Nobody's constitutional rights include the right to reside and do business on a battlefield. And nobody ought to be on a battlefield who has no good reason for being there." (Scott Peterson) More...

Destroyer escort USS Andres laid down.

Destroyers USS Bush and Waller laid down.

USS PC-581 laid down.

Submarine USS Grouper commissioned.

Destroyers USS Butler, Coghlan and Gherardi launched.

Light cruiser USS Montpelier launched.

USS PC-571 launched.

USS SC-641 launched.

Minesweeper USS Sheldrake launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0248, the Blink was hit by three torpedoes from U-108. The first went straight through the hull without detonating, but the next two hit amidships in the engine room, destroyed the radio station, killed five men and sank the ship east of Cape Hatteras. Two men were seen to lower a raft, but were never seen again. The other 23 survivors launched the starboard lifeboat, which capsized at 1045 in bad weather and one man drowned. On the next day 11 men were left, sitting in the boat with cold water up to their chests after the boat had capsized several times, one by one the others had died, including the master. On 14 Feb the boat with only six survivors left was spotted by the American-flagged Monroe in position 33.34N/71.41W. They were picked up and brought to a hospital in Baltimore.

UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine USS Shad ends her second war patrol at Roseneath, Scotland.

GERMANY: Dachau: Dr Sigismund Rascher reports that his experiments on prisoners have proved that sexual intercourse can speed the return of warmth to men who have been chilled in ice-water.

U.S.S.R.: Polar Fleet and White Sea Flotilla: Submarine "K-3" sunk by surface ASW ships, close to cape Nordkin. (Sergey Anisimov)(69)

TUNISIA: In driving rain, the 7th Armoured Division crossed the Tunisian border in force today, leaving the whole of Libya in Allied hands. With Rommel regrouping his Panzerarmee Afrika on the French built Mareth Line, the next great battles can be expected shortly. General Montgomery is biding his time, re-equipping the 8th Army with supplies and weapons which are arriving in the newly-cleared harbour at Tripoli, Libya by the shipload. His first objectives are Medenine and Ben Gardane - both with valuable airstrips.

USS YMS-140 laid down.

USS PC-787 launched.

USS SC-1288 commissioned.

Submarine USS Mingo commissioned.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

U-442 sunk west of Cape St. Vincent, in position 37.32N, 11.56W, by depth charges from an RAF 48 Sqn Hudson. 48 dead (all hands lost).

U-529 reported missing in North Atlantic. Reason for loss never determined.

UNITED KINGDOM: Channel Islands: The weekly edition of G.U.N.S, Guernsey's underground newssheet, was running off the duplicating machine yesterday when Gestapo agents burst into a back room in the island's capital of St. Peter Port. The paper's founder, Charles Machon, was arrested and will be tried before a German court which is likely to sentence him - and the four others also held - to prison in France or Germany. Machan's arrest (and probable torture) highlights the dangers faced by people resisting Nazi rule in the Channel Islands - the only part of the United Kingdom subjected to German occupation.

Savage sentences are imposed on islanders found with radio sets, for instance. Stanley Green a cinema projectionist, is in Buchenwald; a fellow Jerseyman, Harold Druillenec, in Belsen; and a rector who hid his radio in the organ loft is feared to be dying in a concentration camp at Spergau.

No. 345 (French) Squadron RAF is formed from French personnel transferred from North Africa.

Minelayer HMS Ariadne commissioned.

Frigate HMS Seychelles commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Caesar commissioned.

Minesweeping trawler HMS Hannaray launched.

Destroyer escort FS Somali launched.

GERMANY: Rastenburg: Hitler merges the Abwehr [military intelligence] with Himmler's SD (Sicherheitsdienst) [Security Service] and Gestapo, after members are arrested for plotting against him.

Those swinging tunes from New Orleans that caused such an uproar over 20 years ago when they first filled clubs across Europe are still incensing German authorities. One National Socialist has written to Alfred Rosenberg, the head of the party's foreign affairs department, demanding that "war" be waged against jazz and other "un-German" influences. Nazi music critics are already waging a war of words, describing jazz as an "interminable knee-buckling perversion" and "an irreverence appealing to the lowest instincts of the masses."

ITALY: Anzio: The Allies have been forces back three miles to their final defensive line.

Back in London Churchill fumes: "We hurled a wildcat on the shores of Anzio - all we have is a stranded whale." The prime minister is livid that there are 18,000 vehicles in Anzio for 72,000 men - and yet no sign of the promised breakout.

Constant German attacks have put the beach-head on the defensive, and now the roles on two fronts are reversed. The Anzio landings were designed to break the deadlock at Cassino. Now attacks there are to be stepped up in an attempt to break through to Anzio.

Here on the beach-head, morale has reached its lowest ebb. General von Mackensen's XIV Army is being reinforced almost daily, so that it will soon have ten divisions to confront the Allies' five. Although the main counter-offensive is yet to begin, German attacks on the beach-head have already pushed the Allies back to the sea. The heavily-reinforced Luftwaffe is joining the attack on the beleaguered Allies.

War correspondents have been summoned to headquarters to be told that all news transmissions from the beach-head have been banned. One despatch happened to mention the possibility of evacuation, raising the unwelcome spectre of another Dunkirk.

No one can ban German leaflets that tell British soldiers: "The Yanks in England ... have loads of money and loads of time to chase after your women." The lurid pictures of naked women are becoming collectors' items however.

Monte Cassino: Fierce opposition stops the US 34th Division less than 300 yards short of Cassino town.

U.S.S.R.: Leningrad: The Red Army is maintaining its advance in the Baltic region despite stiffening resistance from the Germans. Hitler has sacked Field Marshal von Kuchler, replaced him with the tough tank expert General Model and rushed in reinforcements to hold the line.

Nevertheless, the Second Shock Army has stormed Kingisepp and reached Narva, on the Gulf of Finland. The town of Luga, 85 miles south of Leningrad, was reached today and the Russians are heading for Pskov. If their advance continues they will soon be facing the Germans all along the "Panther" fortifications which bar their road to the Baltic states.

BURMA: February 12, 1944, Combat Mission No. 1 with the First Air Commandos.
Aircraft B-25H crew Lt/Col. R.T.Smith -Pilot, 1st Lt Wesley Weber -Nav, M/sgt Chuck Baisden -engineer /turret gunner, S/sgt Richard Dickson Radio operator/side gunner, S/Sgt Charles Miller-Tail gunner.
Flew from Hailikandi, Assam to Imphal,Assam and picked up C.O. of the Brit Chindits , General Orde Wingate and flew a reconn mission in the Katha, Burma area.
Wingate very interested in our .75 cannon and R.T .very happily obliged by destroying a small r.r.bridge and blowing off the roof of a very large building that stuck out above the jungle canopy. Had some small arms ground fire which holed the fuselage. One bullet hit the ammunition feed tray near Miller's head, he was unaware of this until after the mission.
Although we were gone from daylight to dusk the actual mission took only 3 hours
Chuck Baisden

INDIAN OCEAN: The Japanese submarine I-27 sinks the British troopship KHEDIVE ISMAIL, killing nearly 2,000 people, and is herself sunk by the destroyers HMS PETARD and HMS PALADIN.

NAURU: Majuro Harbor: The US Fleet sails bound for Truk in the Marianas Islands. Glen Boren is told 'it was their "Pearl Harbor" and that they were expecting to find a lot of shipping in the area and a lot of aircraft also.' (Glen Boren)

PACIFIC OCEAN: Submarine rescue vessel USS Macaw ran aground on 16 January 1944 in the Midway Channel. Salvage attempts failed and on 12 February 1944 she slipped off the reef and sank.

Submarine USS Tambor torpedoes and sinks tanker Ronsan Maru (2735 BRT) in the East China Sea some 40 miles SW of Amami O Shima in position 27.45N, 128.42E.

CANADA: HMCS Aristocrat (ex-RCAF B113) commissioned for W/T calibration service.

U.S.A.: Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five's record of "Ration Blues" makes it to the Billboard Pop Singles chart. This is their first single to make the charts and it stays there for 1 week reaching Number 16.

Escort carrier USS Hollandia laid down.

Destroyer minelayer USS Shannon laid down.

Destroyer escorts USS Ahrens and Major commissioned.

Oilers USS Marias and Manatee commissioned.

USS YMS-458 launched.

Escort carrier USS Shipley Bay launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Traw and Key launched.

Destroyer USS Lyman K Swenson launched.

Submarine USS Plaice commissioned.

Fleet tug USS Potawatomi commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Rinehart and Tweedy commissioned.

GERMANY: Berlin: German women aged between 16 and 60 are to be called up as auxiliaries to the Volkssturm [people's front]

Whilst at anchor at in the Adriatic at Spalato (now Split), cruiser HMS Delhi is attacked by four German Linssen EMB’s. One turns back, two are dealt with by gunfire from the defences, but the fourth one finds its target striking the cruiser right aft causing damage to the rudder head as well as inflicting much other damage. Delhi was not repaired and remained in situ until 1948 when she was sold for breaking up. She is one of only two British warships to have been “sunk” by this weapon. (Alex Gordon)(108)

GREECE: Athens: after all-night talks in a provincial schoolroom, a weary Harold Macmillan, the British minister resident in the Mediterranean, was able to report to London this morning that the civil war in Greece is over. The communist-backed ELAS rebels have agreed to hand in their arms to a newly-formed national guard. More than 40,000 rifles together with 108 heavy guns and 315 heavy machine guns are to be surrendered under the peace treaty. A former premier and revolutionary leader, General Gonatas, remains doubtful. "The treaty ... does not contain sufficient guarantees for the future," he said.

BURMA: The 20th Indian Division takes a bridgehead over the Irrawaddy River west of Mandalay, Burma.

BONIN ISLANDS: 21 B-29s of the USAAF 313th Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) expended 84 tons of bombs in a shakedown mission against pinpoint targets on Iwo Jima: gun emplacements on Suribachi Yama, the formidable rock at the southern tip of the island, Anti-Aircraft positions, and radar and radio installations.

PACIFIC OCEAN: Japanese submarine RO.113 is sunk by the USS Batfish (SS-310) north of Luzon. This is the third Japanese submarine sunk by the Batfish in four days. (Mike Yared)(144 and 145)