21 February 1939

U.S.S.R.: Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov is dismissed by the Soviets. This was correctly read as a signal from Stalin to Hitler that he was interested in talking with him. Given Hitlers' feelings about Jews, it was hard to start discussions with a Jewish Foreign Minister.

UNITED KINGDOM: The cavity magnetron operates for the first time at the University of Birmingham. It soon becomes apparent that this crude device -- with vacuum seals of sealing wax and penny coins -- is producing several hundred watts of power on the undreamed of wavelength of ten centimetres. The microwave era has begun. (Cris Wetton).

Emergency measures to deal with a coal shortage arising from the severe winter weather includes a drastic reduction of passenger train services.

NORTH SEA: An escort attacked U-19 with depth charges. The boat was damaged slightly.

GERMANY: The preparations for an attack on Norway move forward another stage with the appointment of General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst as commander of Army Norwegen. He has been selected by the Armed Forces High Command (OKW) without consulting the Army High Command (OKH).

GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Sahale is detained by British authorities at Gibraltar; the freighter SS Exhibitor, detained since 17 February, is allowed to proceed.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The cruiser HMS Manchester and the destroyer HMS Kimberley capture another of the six German merchant vessels which the Royal Navy is hunting.

At 1809, SS Loch Maddy, a straggler from Convoy HX-19, was hit by one torpedo from U-57 amidships and was abandoned 92 miles SSW of Rockall. Four crewmembers were lost. The master and 34 crewmembers were picked up by destroyer HMS Diana and landed at Scapa Flow.

VICHY FRANCE: US Ambassador Admiral William D. Leahy USN (Retired), receives an instruction to see French Vice Premier Admiral Jean Darlan immediately about German submarine U-156's receiving assistance at Martinique. Unless the Vichy French can assure the U.S. government that no Axis ships or planes will be allowed to enter French ports or territory in the Western Hemisphere, and that unless such assurances are rigidly maintained, the United States "will take such action in the interest of security of the Western Hemisphere as it may judge necessary and in accordance with existing inter-American obligations." Leahy writes in his diary that everything points to his early recall to Washington "for consultation."

THE NETHERLANDS: During the night of the 20-21st, two RAF Bomber Command Manchesters drop mines off the West Frisian Islands. (Jack McKillop

BELGIUM: During the night of the 20-21st, one RAF Bomber Command aircraft visually bombs the port area at Ostend.

GERMANY: The German naval warships, Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen leave Germany for Norway.

During the night of the 20-21st, 21 RAF Bomber Command aircraft visually bomb eight cities. Six bomb Koblenz, five bomb Mannheim, three bomb Frankfurt-am-Main, two each bomb Aachen and Cologne, and one each bombs Darmstadt, Dortmund and Karlsruhe.

U-490, U-923 laid down.

U-184 launched.

U-210, U-441, U-515, U-516 commissioned.

NORWAY: During the night of the 20-21st, eight RAF Bomber Command aircraft attack four airfields to provide a diversion for a Fleet Air Arm strike from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious on the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which had taken shelter in a Norwegian fjord near Trondheim after being torpedoed and damaged by the submarine HMS Trident. The Fleet Air Arm strike was not successful, because of poor weather conditions. Five aircraft attack Lista and one each attack Christiansand, Mandel and Stavanger. The aircraft attacking Stavanger is lost.

INDIA: Chiang Kai-shek makes a broadcast asking the people to support China and the Allies in their war against Japan.

INDIAN OCEAN: The Canadian Tramp Shipping Line merchantman Canadian Cruiser (7,178 GRT) was sunk in the western Indian Ocean north of the Mozambique Channel, in position 06.36S, 047.18E, by the German armoured ship, or 'pocket battleship', Admiral Scheer, KptzS Theodore Kranke, CO. The entire crew of thirty-six men was taken prisoner. Canadian Cruiser was carrying a load of iron ore to Durban, South Africa. She was sighted by Admiral Scheer’s floatplane at 09:15 and was finally intercepted in the afternoon. The master claimed to be an neutral American ship but the Germans insisted on boarding to search her, at which point Canadian Cruiser tried to get underway and began transmitting a distress signal. Admiral Scheer opened fire with light Anti-Aircraft guns and forced her to take the way off the ship. A boarding party inspected the ship and her documents, which revealed her true identity. Five scuttling charges were set and detonated, which quickly sent the heavily laden ship to the bottom. One of Canadian Cruiser‘s crewmembers, Ordinary Seaman W.H. MacArthur, later escaped from a prisoner of war camp near Bordeaux, France, and made his way home, via Spain. Although many ships had received her original distress signal, it was not until MacArthur returned that her fate was established with certainty.

BURMA: Burma is removed from the jurisdiction of the ABDA Command. The British 7th Armoured Brigade arrives at Rangoon from the Middle East and is soon committed on the Pegu front. The Indian 17th Division continues toward Sittang bridge near Mokpalin with the Japanese in close pursuit.
American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka “The Flying Tigers”) and RAF pilots mistakenly attack a column of Indian troops northeast of Rangoon, killing 160 and destroying or damaging scores of vehicles.

THAILAND: During the early afternoon, pilots of the 1st Fighter Squadron, American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka “The Flying Tigers”) attack Tak Airdrome at Rahaeng and destroy two bombers and a fighter.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: A lull settles over the entire front on Bataan as both sides dig in and prepare for further action. The Japanese have completed their withdrawal from I Corps area; diversionary forces employed against II Corps are ordered back to the Balanga area.
The U.S. War Department orders General Douglas MacArthur, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, Far East (USAFFE), to move his headquarters to Mindanao Island and then go to Australia to take command of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific. MacArthur threatens to resign his commission and join the Bataan defence forces as a volunteer, but his advisers talk him out of it.
The blockade runner Elcano brings 1,000 tons of food to Corregidor. This is enough to feed Bataan for four days.

EAST CHINA SEA: The submarine USS Triton (SS-201) sinks a Japanese merchant cargo vessel 60 miles (97 kilometres) south of Quelpart Island.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Major General George H Brett, Deputy Commanding General ABDA Command informs the U.S. War Department of his decision to evacuate the USAAF 5th Air Force and other US troops from Java.
     On Java, USAAF 5th Air Force bombers based in Java bases fly about 20 strikes, usually in two and three aircraft elements, against shipping in the Java Sea and against targets on Bali from this date through 1 March. Eleven strikes are complete failures; the remainder, although causing some damage to vessels and airfield facilities, fail to deter the invasion of Java. During the morning, USAAF 5th Air Force P-40 pilots shoot down five Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters (to be given the Allied Code Name “Zeke”).
     On Java, General Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief ABDA Command, warns British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that the Japanese will soon complete the conquest of the Netherlands East Indies and capture nearly 100,000 Dutch, British, Australian and U. S. troops.
     On Dutch West Timor, the Australians begin an attack on the village of Babau at 0530 hours; by the end of the day, the Australian have occupied it.

AUSTRALIA: After the government confirmed its decision that all Australian Imperial Force troops should be returned to Australia instead of serving in Java, Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee, Chief of the Australian General Staff, cables General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, that Lieutenant General John Lavarack, General Officer Commanding I Australian Corps, and his staff should be evacuated from Java as soon as possible. Sturdee also urges Wavell to evacuate the Australian troops that disembarked from the SS Orcades at Batavia, Java, on 18 February.

CARIBBEAN SEA: An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-67 about 225 miles (362 kilometres) west of Aruba, Netherlands East Indies.

At 1532, the unescorted SS Kongsgaard was attacked by U-67 with two torpedoes seven miles off North Point, Curaçao. The master saw one torpedo and he tried to evade, but one of the torpedoes struck on the port side between the bridge and the poop deck. The cargo caught fire; sending flames high above the entire afterpart. A dinghy was thrown overboard, whereupon two men tried to save themselves in it, but the flames caught up with them. Some men amidships lowered the starboard boat and then rowed away as fast as they could, after having fished some men out of the sea. At 1902, the U-boat fired a coup de grâce, which missed and at 1930 a second, which struck the afterpart and caused the tanker to sink about seven miles west of North Point. The master and six survivors in the lifeboat were rescued by a fishing vessel three hours later and taken to Curaçao. An eight survivor was also picked up; he jumped off the afterpart and swam through the flames, which had quickly spread on the water after the explosion, until he reached open water.

At 2113, motor tanker Circe Shell, dispersed from Convoy ON-60, was torpedoed and sunk by U-161 20 miles west-northwest of Port of Spain, Trinidad. One crewmember was lost. The master, 51 crewmembers and five gunners were picked up by the British tug Busy and landed at Port of Spain on 23 February.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: On convoy escort destroyer HMS Montgomery rescued the survivors of Scottish Standard. USS Wickes (DD-75), was commissioned as HMS Montgomery (G-95) on 25 Oct. 1940. (Ron Babuka)

An unarmed U.S. tanker is torpedoed by German submarine U-504 about three miles (4,8 kilometres) east of Jupiter Inlet, Florida.

U-432 spotted a steamer of 5000 GRT in heavy seas about 125 miles ESE of Ocean City, Maryland. A first torpedo missed and the U-boat then crossed behind the steamer to the port side. At 0123 a second torpedo was fired at 800 meters, which hit the freighter amidships. At 0242 a third torpedo struck forward of the bridge. It is assumed that this ship was SS Azalea City and that the nature of the cargo caused the ship to capsize after the torpedo hits. None of the eight officers and 30 men on board survived.

At 1044, motor tanker Egda was torpedoed by U-107 after the ship had left Convoy ON-65 to proceed to the USA alone. U-107 was on her way home with only two torpedoes left. One torpedo struck on port side between the #3 and #4 wing tanks, but she did not sink and reached Halifax safely under own power and continued to New York for repairs.

UNITED KINGDOM: A message from Joseph Stalin was read out at meetings all over Britain today in honour of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Red Army. Stalin thanked British citizens for their demonstrations of "friendly feelings" and expressed confidence in joint victory. Prayers were said for Russia in churches.

At Cardiff, Clement Attlee, the deputy prime minister, said that the battle of Stalingrad was decisive: "Let me pay tribute to the steadfastness of mind of Stalin in holding the Russian reserves until the time for counter-attack." At Sheffield. Sir Stafford Cripps said of Stalin: "For his courage, leadership and consummate skill we and the world owe the deepest gratitude."

Tonight in London 2,000 serviceman and women presented a pageant in honour of the Red Army to an audience of 6,000, including Mrs Churchill, who heads the Aid for Russia fund, and the Soviet ambassador, Mr Maisky, Lieutenant Laurence Olivier, RNVR, gave the call to arms from Alexander Nevsky and Lt-Cdr Ralph Richardson narrated. John Gielgud as "the voice of Moscow radio" described the battle for Stalingrad. No mention was made of the Red Army's founder, Leon Trotsky.

GERMANY: Munich: Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, leaders of the "White Rose" rebellion, are guillotined.

NORTH AFRICA: With Field Marshal Rommel at the front the German attacks at the Kassarine Pass reach their maximum effect and then stop.

U.S.A.: Benis M. Frank turns 18 today. He asks to be inducted as soon as possible into the United States' forces.

We were sent to the joint examination center in Hartford, CT, where, after your physical, you could opt for which service you wanted to join. When my mother took me to the train station to catch a train to Hartford, the last thing she said was, "Whatever you do, don't join the Marine Corps." I must have misunderstood her. I opted for the Marine Corps and have never regretted it. We, who joined he Corps this way were classified as Selective Service-Volunteers. (Benis M. Frank, USMC)

Destroyer escort USS Stanton launched.

Destroyer USS Brown launched.

Submarine USS Bluefish launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-623 (TypeVIIC) is sunk in position 48.68N, 29.15W, by 6 depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 120/T). 46 dead (all hands lost). (Alex Gordon)

USCGC Spencer received credit from the US Navy for attacking and sinking the U-225 in the North Atlantic. The British have since recorded that the U-225 was actually destroyed by the Liberator "S" of RAF No. 120 Squadron on 15 February and they have changed the official British records to reflect this change. The renowned German historian, Professor/Dr. Jurgen Rohwer states that the Spencer "probably" attacked and sank the U-529 on this date, although the Spencer has not received official credit for this sinking.

At 2135, U-664 fired torpedoes at Convoy ONS-167 about 600 miles west of Ireland and sank SS Rosario in station #11 and tanker SS H.H. Rogers in station #13. H.H. Rogers was struck by one torpedo on the port side around #10 main tank rupturing the tank and the decks in the vicinity and the fireroom bulkhead. This resulted in the engine and fire rooms flooding. After 30 minutes, the officers decided that the ship could not be saved and the order to abandon ship was given. All 47 American crewmembers and 26 armed guards abandoned ship in three lifeboats (one lifeboat had been destroyed in the explosion) and all rafts. One of the lifeboats picked up several survivors from the Rosario, which had been in the water for about one hour. Almost all survivors were picked up by the British rescue ship Rathlin and landed at Halifax on 6 March. Four men on a raft were picked up by a British corvette and landed at St John's on 1 March. The wreck of the tanker was later sunk by U-664 with a coup de grâce in 50°13N/24°48W.

SS Empire Trader was ordered to the Azores with corvette HMCS Dauphin after the ship straggled from Convoy ON-166. At 2226, Empire Trader was torpedoed and damaged by U-92 north of the Azores. The next day, the vessel was abandoned and at 2000 Dauphin tried to sink her with gunfire on Admiralty orders in 48°27N/29°47W. On 23 February, the drifting wreck was last seen in 47°40N/28°46W. The master, 89 crewmembers and 16 gunners were picked up by the British rescue ship Stockport, transferred to Dauphin and landed at St John's, Newfoundland.

The Stigstad in Convoy ON-166 was hit at 1659 by torpedo from U-332 in the starboard tank 16. At 1705, two torpedoes fired by U-603 struck amidships and engine room, which sank the ship. The 34 men abandoned their ship in a lifeboat and received some food supplies from U-603. The survivors were picked up by the trawler Thomas Boot after 14 days and were landed on the next day.

GERMANY: "Big Week" 617 B-17s and 244 B-24s are dispatched to hit aircraft industry at Brunswick and various airfields in Germany. 16 aircraft are lost.

Alberto di Filippis writes to his brother from the village of Cava dei Tirreni (courtesy of Brian Millo)

I am at last managing to send you some news. I am well. As is Prospero and everybody at home. We had 18 days of emergency, from 10 to 28 September, with a complete English (sic) victory. A great many English are occupying the Croce pass and are encamped there, mostly close to Monticello: they’re all most courteous and generous. Some of them left us weeping. The military events did not cause damage to the house: but a fire triggered some looting, and it was almost completely destroyed, from the second to the third floor. We have done some repairs and have sorted ourselves out: but there is still much to do — and we have no money. It goes without saying that life has become fantastically expensive as a result of the rapacious growth of a ruthless black market. The Allies have begun to fight it, but to wipe it out will want more time.

INDIAN OCEAN: Unescorted SS Fenris torpedoed amidships by U-168, but was able to reach Bombay in damaged condition under own power for repairs.

JAPAN: Prime Minister Tojo assumes the office of Chief of Army General Staff. Navy Minister Shimada replaces Admiral Nagano as Chief of Naval General Staff.

PACIFIC OCEAN: From Glen Boren's diary: After the raid on Truk, we departed for the Marianas. At about 1630 on February 21, 1944, two Jap 'Betties' sighted our convoy. One of them was shot down by our CAP but the other one got away.

About 2100, Torpedo defence was sounded as more 'Betties' were sighted on radar. Shortly after that, General Quarters sounded as they moved in for the kill. 11 or 12 'Betties' were shot down during the night by the convoy and none of our ships were hit. After being located, we figured we would get a real hot reception in the morning as we moved into strike position.

US Marines with support of naval bombardment and carrier aircraft secure Eniwetok Atoll.

Destroyer HMCS Sioux (ex-HMS Vixen) commissioned.

Corvette HMCS Hespeler (ex-HMS Guildford Castle) commissioned.

Minesweepers HMCS Guysborough, Kenora, Canso and Wasaga departed Halifax for Devonport via Azores.

U.S.A.:

Submarine USS Chivo laid down.

Aircraft carrier USS Leyte laid down.

Submarine USS Sea Cat launched.

Destroyer escorts USS Otter and Roche commissioned.

Destroyer USS Ross commissioned.

UNITED KINGDOM: Frigate HMCS Port Colborne departed Londonderry for tropicalisation refit.

GERMANY: Wörms, a rail centre 12 miles north of Mannheim, was one of 40 transport links hit in a major series of raids by the RAF and USAAF last night. Bomber Command's 349 aircraft dropped 1,116 tons of bombs on this town.

The US 8th Army Air Force sent 1,195 effective bombers, escorted by 650 fighters, to drop 400,000 incendiaries on Nürnberg. Recent targets in the same series included Dresden and Chemnitz and have raised some doubts about morality.

After Dresden an Associated Press correspondent wrote: "Allied air chiefs have adopted terror bombing of German populated centres ... to hasten Hitler's doom."

U-4711 launched.

U-2539 commissioned.

NORWAY: U-260 sailed from Kristiansand on her final patrol.

BURMA: Nyaungu: Seven days after crossing the Irrawaddy, Major General "Punch" Cowan's 17th Indian Division has broken out of the bridgehead and is racing to Meiktila, the main Japanese base in central Burma. The success of the crossing owes much to the British deception to persuade Lt-Gen Shihachi Katamura that the main crossing would be to the north of Mandalay. By striking south, Lt-Gen William Slim, the British 14th Army commander, aims to cut off Katamura's 15th Army and destroy it.

BONIN ISLANDS: Iwo Jima: Casablanca class carrier USS Bismark Sea is sunk, and the carrier USS Saratoga is damaged by Kamikaze attacks off Iwo Jima, between 1645 and 2030 hours. Other ships including USS Lunga Point (CVE-94) and an LST receive damage.

Two Japanese suicide planes hit Bismark Sea despite being heavily damaged by defensive gunfire. The kamikaze aircraft started uncontrollable fires that reached several ready use magazines and set off the ammunition. All efforts to save the ship were halted by the exploding ammunition and she sank 90 minutes after being hit. Three hundred and eighteen of her 860 crewmembers were lost in this incident.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Bataan falls to US troops in the Philippines. Corrigedor Island in Manila Bay and Manila City continue to hold out against the US forces.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0839, U-1064 attacked Convoy UR-155 about 25 miles out of Belfast and reported three ships totalling 17,000 tons sunk. In fact, only the Dettifoss was hit and sank within seven minutes, taking 15 lives (three of them passengers) with her. 29 survived the sinking, being rescued after an hour in the sea by HMS Fusilier and were taken to Scotland and from there to Iceland. The sinking of Dettifoss was a harsh blow so soon after the Goðafoss had been sunk by U-300 near Reykjavík on 9 Nov 1944. All public activities in Iceland were cancelled on 24 Feb 1945. U-1064 suffered slight depth charge damage after attack for Fusilier.