26 February 1939

In the mid-1930s, as Nazi Germany grew more threatening and belligerent, the British became increasingly concerned about the state of their air defenses. Robert Watson-Watt, a Scottish physicist, had been working on methods of using radio-wave detection to locate thunderstorms in order to provide warnings to airmen. Realizing that a similar system could be used to track enemy aircraft, he drafted a report titled "The Detection of Aircraft by Radio Methods," and presented it to the newly formed committee for the scientific survey of air defense.

Before committing resources to the idea, the Air Ministry insisted on a demonstration. On February 26, 1935, a trial took place using a British Broadcasting Service short-wave radio transmitter to track a Royal Air Force bomber. Encouraged by the success of the trial, the British military installed a chain of radio detection and ranging (RADAR) stations along the east and south coasts of England in time for the outbreak of war in 1939.

By providing crucial advance information about incoming German aircraft, the system enabled the outnumbered Royal Air Force to win the Battle of Britain and to prevent a German invasion. In recognition of the enormous importance of his RADAR, Robert Watson-Watt was knighted in 1942. RADAR has since proven equally useful in such peacetime efforts as controlling air traffic, detecting weather patterns, and tracking spacecraft. (Tom Hickcox)

JAPAN: What will become known as the "2-26" incident occurs in Japanese Politics today. For additional information see Mike Yaklich's post "Japanese Army pt 26 (July 1937)" of December 9, 1999 in the archives. Rebel officers had called out entire units of troops under various pretexts, and these occuppied the quarter of Tokyo containing most of the government offices, and surrounded the Imperial Palace. Their program was; the establishment of open military government, with officers associated with the radical right in the key positions; "commitment" to the Emporer (as was often the case with the right-wing militarists, this was expressed in a curious way, by surrounding his palace and assasinating several of his top officials); anti-capitalism (the big industrialists and bankers in Japan being seen as too materialistic and greedy); anti-Communism; and opposition to the system of civilian political parties in any form, especially the ones currently existing. With several regiments of soldiers mobilized by the rebels, the crisis was a major one. But events at the Palace itself helped to break their momentum. The Palace buildings and their considerable grounds were surrounded by a more or less circular moat, three miles in circumference. This moat was about 100 feet wide, and was backed (on the inner-- Palace-- side) by a stone wall up to 100 feet high. There were only seven bridges over the moat. Police guarding the Palace managed to hold on to the key bridges, and prevent the rebels from storming the Palace itself. On February 28th the Emporer himself ordered a crackdown on the mutineers. The Japanese Navy also played a crucial part. It threw its weight in on the side of those who would oust the mutineers and restore order, and the admirals threatened to turn the guns of their capital ships in Tokyo Bay against the rebels, and against the city itself if necessary. Seeing the situation turn in this manner, the Army hierarchy abandoned its usual attitude of benign inaction, and finally determined to exercize a firm hand. Loyal troops were called in, the uprising was quelled.

UNITED KINGDOM: Alloa Athletic: A record 13,000 attend Scottish Cup 3rd Round replay match here against Dunfermline.

FRANCE: Paris: Anti-aircraft guns drive Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes away from the city.

FINLAND: The army evacuate Koivisto fort, and prepare for a prolonged siege at Viipuri.

Today takes place the first and only Finnish armored operation of the Winter War. While the Red Army continues to advance towards Viipuri on the southern part of the Karelian Isthmus, the Jäger Battalion 3 and 4th Panzer Company (13 Vickers 6 tonners) are subordinated to the 23rd Division (Col. Woldemar Oinonen) to make a counterattack against the Soviet forces at the village of Honkaniemi, 10 km south-east of Viipuri.

After desperately hasty preparations, the Jäger Battalion 3 and 4th Panzer Company are to attack at 6.15 am, supported by a field artillery battalion. But the Panzer Company is able to get only 6 of its 13 tanks going, and Finnish artillery preparation partly hits the Jäger Battalion's positions. Finally the Panzer Company's six tanks are the only Finnish force to attack, but one of them is stuck in a ditch. The remaining five meet in the Honkaniemi village the Soviet 112th Tank Battalion of the 35th Tank Brigade, and are all destroyed without hurting the enemy. Finnish losses are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 5 MIA.

GIBRALTAR: U.S. passenger liner SS Washington is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities.

ITALY: Rome: Sumner Welles meets Mussolini and his son-in-law Count Galeazzo Ciano, the foreign minister.

U.S.A.: The US Army, increasingly aware of the possibility of becoming involved in the European war, creates the Air defence Command headed by Brigadier General James E. Chaney and based at Mitchell Field, Hempstead, Long Island, New York. The new command is primarily a planning agency, charged with development of a system of unified air defence for cities, vital industrial areas, continental bases, and armies in the field, Although limited in size to a staff of only ten officers, the command undertakes to study the special capabilities of pursuit aviation, antiaircraft artillery, radio equipment, barrage balloons, and passive defence measures and to formulate the most effective combination of the several means of defence. (Michael Ballard and Jack McKillop)

UNITED KINGDOM: Convoy WN91 sails from Gourock, Scotland at 1830 with the SS FORTHBANK as the commodore ship leading the port column. Escorts were HM Trawlers PIROUETTE and GAVOTTE, joined by Anti-Aircraft Cruiser HMS CURAÇOA. The convoy experienced a very strong gale for much of its passage. SS FORTHBANK is inbound with steel and general cargo from New York via the Mersey and the Clyde for Hull. At Methil TEWKESBURY joined the awaiting convoy EN79 for passage around the north coast of Scotland to Loch Ewe, where she was scheduled to join an Atlantic convoy, to begin the ocean part of her passage to Buenos Aires on the River Plate. There she was to unload and then pick up cargo for return to the UK. (Bernard de Neumann) (next on 1 March 1941)

SPAIN: Dictator Francisco Franco, in response to Chancellor Adolf Hitler's appeal to enter the war, says, “I stand today already at your side, entirely and decidedly at your disposal,” but refuses to enter the war.

LIBYA: Koufra: Leclerc's Free French force blows up the Italian ammunition dump of 250 cases of bombs.

TURKEY: British Secretary of State Anthony Eden and Field Marshall Sir John Dill, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, continue their Middle East mission with a visit to Ankara, but they get no real response to their efforts to interest the Turks in an alliance.

JAPAN: The Japanese Foreign Minister sends the following message to the consulate in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: “Please wire reports covering the positions and movements also of the ships of Canada's Pacific Fleet. Please transmit to Ottawa and from that office ----- to the Naval Attaché.”

U.S.A.: An extensive modification of aircraft markings added the National Star Insignia to both sides of the fuselage or hull and eliminate those on the upper right and lower left wings; discontinued the use of colored tail markings, fuselage bands and cowl markings; made removal of vertical red, white and blue rudder stripes mandatory; and changed the color of all markings, except the National Insignia, to those of least contrast to the background.
Eastern Air Lines Douglas DST-318A, msn 3250, registered NC28394, crashes at Atlanta Municipal Airport, Georgia, killing all eight on board.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Eleven ships of convoy OB-290 are sunk by German planes; the submarine U-47 called in the attack.

SS Göteborg with 20 crewmembers and three passengers Göteborg with 20 crewmembers and three passengers believed sunk by U-70 SE of Iceland.

In the early morning on 26 Feb 1941, U-47 attacked the convoy OB-290 and reported four ships of 22,000 tons sunk. In fact, the Kasongo, Rydboholm and Borgland were sunk and Diala was damaged. At 0137, Borgland in station #35 was struck by one torpedo on the port side in the #2 hold. The crew abandoned the slowly sinking ship with an increasing list in 55°53N/13°33W and was picked up by HMS Pimpernel. Rydboholm was hit at 0110 by a torpedo on port side in her bow in the second attack from U-47 on the convoy OB-290. She sank slowly with her propeller above water and the crew abandoned the ship. Still afloat in the morning, she was reboarded by the crew, but sank as the wind increased. All crewmembers were picked up by Pimpernel.

UNITED KINGDOM: The government outlines a building plan to boost employment and provide cheap housing for all after the war.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill"> Churchill exhorts General Claude Auchinleck, Commander in Chief Middle East Command to launch an offensive against the German and Italian forces that are gathering in front of the Gazala line. He reminds Auchinleck that the longer he waits, the more time General Erwin Rommel will have to rebuild his strength. To this General Auchinleck replies that his intention is to first build up an armored striking force as quickly as possible and strengthen the defenses of the Gazala line. Only then would he mount a major offensive, which he advised Churchill would be in early June.

GERMANY: During the night of the 25/26th, RAF Bomber Command dispatches 49 aircraft, 33 Wellingtons, ten Hampdens and six Halifaxes, to attack the floating drydock at Kiel; 26 aircraft bomb the target. Crews claimed good results in clear weather with bombs close to the floating dock. A high-explosive bomb scored a direct hit on the bows of the battleship Gneisenau, causing severe damage and killing 116 men in the crew. This proved to be the end of Gneisenau as a fighting unit. Bombing in the town of Kiel destroyed several houses and killed 16 people. Two Wellingtons and a Halifax are lost. Individual aircraft bomb Flensburg and Husum.
British bombers damaged the battle cruiser Gneisenau so badly that she would never sail into battle again, ending the war as a block ship. The Gneisenau was the sister ship to the Scharnhost. It was in port for repairs suffered when she struck a mine. The British, alerted by Ultra as to the damages and location of the Gneisenau, launched the air raid to destroy the German raider. (Michael Ballard)

U.S.S.R.: The Soviet Army engages the German 16th Army near Starya Russa, inflicting heavy casualties.

LIBYA: The 13 Corps is responsible for defenses organized in depth over 36-mile (58 kilometer) area from Gazala to Bir Hacheim. 30 Corps prepares defensive positions on the frontier and has a detachment at Giarabub.

BURMA: The Japanese push west of Sittang to threaten the rail link between Rangoon and Mandalay.

Hard fighting is developing in the Waw area, northeast of Pegu, as the Japanese continue infiltration westward from the Sittang River.
Pilots of the American Volunteer Group (AVG, aka, “The Flying Tigers”) shoot down one Japanese Army bomber and 19 Nakajima Ki-27, Army Type 97 Fighters (later given the Allied Code Name “Nate”) over Rangoon between 0800 and 1200 hours.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: A Japanese amphibious force, consisting of an infantry battalion and a field artillery battery, sails from Olongapo, Luzon, for Mindoro Island.

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: Submarine USS S-38 (SS-143) bombards the Japanese radio station on enemy-occupied Bawean Island, that had been set up the previous day.

During the late morning, the Japanese Eastern Invasion Force headed for Java from Borneo was found again in the Makassar Strait, by a Dutch Dornier flying boat which shadowed them for several hours. The Dornier then carried out an attack on the destroyer HIJMS Amatsukaze, releasing only one bomb which fell about 500 yards (457 meters) ahead of its intended target. This attack was followed by two USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses dropping their six bombs from 13.000 feet (3962 meters). Two of the bombs fell some 500 yards (457 meters) short of the destroyer HIJMS Hatsukaze.
At 1830 hours, Admiral Doorman's Combined Striking Force sets sail from Soerabaja, Java, to carry out a night attack on 30 Japanese transports, escorted by two cruisers and five destroyers, which had been sighted shortly before 1200 hours about 200 miles (322 kilometres) to the north-northeast heading west by south at 10 knots. The striking force consists of heavy cruisers HMS Exeter and USS Houston (CA-30), light cruisers HMAS Perth and HNMS De Ruyter and Java, and destroyers HMS Electra, Encounter and Jupiter, HNMS Kortenaer, and Witte de With, and USS Alden (DD-211), John D. Edwards (DD-216), John D. Ford (DD-228) and Paul Jones (DD-230). The force sets course to the eastward so as to sweep along the north coast of Madoera Island where a landing was thought possible. If no enemy were sighted they intended to sweep back to the west and search the Bight of Toeban. Doorman had originally considered a sweep to the north and northeast, but had decided that, without reconnaissance aircraft, there was a better chance of intercepting the enemy by crossing his line of advance close to his probable landing points.
At 2200 hours, the light cruisers HMAS Hobart and HMS Dragon and Danae sail from Batavia, Java, to search for the Japanese invasion convoy sailing towards the island from the west; the ships return at 1300 hours tomorrow having found nothing.

PACIFIC OCEAN: US Navy flier Don Mason sends message, 'Sighted sub sank same' in South Pacific.

AUSTRALIA: The Japanese submarine HIJMS I-25 launches a Yokosuka E14Y1, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane (later given the Allied Code Name “Glen”), to fly a reconnaissance mission over Melbourne, Victoria.

CANADA: Prime Minister MacKenzie King orders the evacuation of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the coastal regions of British Columbia. Some given only 24 hours notice. Cars, cameras and radios confiscated for "protective measures". Curfew imposed.

U.S.A.: The 1941 Academy Awards, hosted by Wendell Wilke, are presented at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. "How Green Was My Valley" wins five awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp) and Best Director (John Ford); "Sergeant York" wins two Oscars including Best Actor (Gary Cooper); Best Actress is Joan Fontaine for "Suspicion" and Best Supporting Actress is Mary Astor for "The Great Lie."

Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. Maxim Litvinov demands the Allies open a second front. He states that "only by simultaneous offensive operations on two or more of the fronts can Hitler's armed forces be disposed of."

ATLANTIC OCEAN: Two U.S. merchant ships are sunk off the U.S. coast by German U-boats:

(1) the 8,125-ton unarmed bulk ore carrier Marore, heading from Chile to Baltimore, is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by U-432 about 55 miles (89 kilometres) east-northeast of Cape Hattaras, North Carolina, all hands survice;

(2) the Esso armed tanker R.P. Resor (7,451-tons) is torpedoed by U-578 5 miles (8 kilometres) off Sea Girt, Delaware. The ship catches fire and only two men out of 49 are able to escape. (Jack McKillop & Keith Allen)

At 1913, the unescorted tanker Mamura was torpedoed by U-504 about 230 miles off the coast of Florida. One torpedo hit the engine room, while a second detonated in the bow. The tanker was immediately ablaze and broke in two. The U-boat had fired the torpedoes from a distance of 400 meters and had to avoid the burning gasoline by diving. After surfacing eight minutes later, the stern section sank, while the bow was still visible. None of the 49 crewmembers, 35 of them Chinese, survived.

Two days after leaving Trondheim, U-454 lost Matrosengefreiter Josef Kauer overboard.

ASW trawler HMS Lancer commissioned.

Minesweeper HMS Mutine commissioned.

GERMANY: US Flying Fortresses and Liberators bomb the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven.

TUNISIA: Units of the 10th and 21st Panzer Divisions under von Arnim attack British positions at Medjez el Bab. This prevents Rommel from concentrating quickly for an attack on the British 8th Army before the Mareth line.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: A man from U-760 was killed during an air attack in Wilhelmshaven [Obermaschinist Jakob Ippendorf].

UNITED KINGDOM: London: US heavy bombers escorted into the heart of Germany by long-range Mustang fighters, have won a great victory over the Luftwaffe in which has become known to the crews as "Big Week".

In six days, 1,000 bombers and 900 fighters have carried out 13 major attacks against the German aircraft industry in the campaign to destroy the Germans' strength in the air. In all, over 3,800 heavy bombers sorties were made. American losses were 226 aircraft, an acceptable rate of 6%.

The bombers did not only inflict severe damage on the factories; they and the Mustangs shot down some 517 German fighters, killing 225 air crews and wounding 141, almost 10% of the skilled airmen in Germany. The Luftwaffe cannot sustain this rate of attrition.

The Mustang, with its American airframe and Rolls-Royce engine, has completely changed the pattern if air warfare over Europe. Now the bombers can be escorted all the way to their targets by a fighter superior in almost every respect to the Me109 and FW190.

The US bombers, who previously sought to evade the German fighters, are seeking them out, and the Germans, no longer able to wait until the escorting fighters turn back, are being forced to attack as soon as they cross the coast thus allowing shorter range aircraft like the Spitfire to enter the battle. RAF Bomber Command has also taken part in "Big Week", with heavy raids on Leipzig and Stuttgart. It lost 78 bombers over Leipzig, but only 10 over Stuttgart.

Lieutenant-Commander Peter Williams sails at dusk from Dartmouth. He heads towards Weymouth; then, once out of sight, he turns south. On reaching the Brittany coast he cuts his speed to reduce noise, wash and phospherescence, and creeps through rocks and swirling tides to anchor within a few hundred yards of the beach. A sailor is placed on stand-by to cut the grass rope in an emergency.

Williams then sent his surfboat inshore with muffled oars, on a rising tide to avoid footprints, in order to land a party which included Francois Mitterrand, the future President of France. As the boat returned, laden with five agents and a downed Allied pilot, it was able to find the MGB in the dark with a device, invented by Williams, which homed in on its Asdic [sonar] transmissions. By breakfast time, Williams was back in Dartmouth. (William L. Howard)

FINLAND: 600 Soviet bombers raid Helsinki from 6pm to 6am.
This night the Soviet bombers attack Helsinki for the third time in three weeks. From 6.45 pm until 5.10 am next morning over 500 Soviet planes try to penetrate the Finnish air-defences. Several bombers make more that one sortie, the Finns estimate that there's more than 1000 sorties. Since the two previous attempts ten and twenty days ago, the defences had been strengthened further, and there's 15 heavy AA-battalions defending the city. Majority of bombers are unable to reach their targets, and only 18 people are killed at Helsinki.

MTB Hurja 5 and Patrol Boat VMV 8 are destroyed in Helsinki bombing while in dock.

GILBERT ISLANDS: 27th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) with B-24's based on Nanumea begins operating from Abemama and the 38th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) with B-24's based on Nanumea begin operating from Makin until 22 Mar 44.

PACIFIC OCEAN: The US submarine Grayback (SS-208), commanded by John A. Moore, is sunk by aircraft South of Okinawa. All hands are lost. (Joe Sauder)

U.S.A.: Susan Dauser became the first female US Navy captain. She was in the Nurse Corps. (Michael Ballard)

Destroyer escorts USS Robert I Paine and Richard S Bull commissioned.

Escort carrier USS Steamer Bay launched.

Escort carriers USS Admiralty Islands and Bouganville laid down.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: MS Silvermaple sunk by U-66 at 04.44N, 03.20W .

GERMANY: The Canadian First Army launches Operation Blockbuster, a major offensive against Udem, Calcar and Xanten.

BURMA: Thabuktong is captured in the drive for Meiktila and Indian troops advance on Mandalay to distract attention from Slim's main thrust from Pagan.

VOLCANO ISLANDS: Iwo Jima: The US Marines are predicting Allied control of Iwo Jima within days after seizing a second airstrip, Moyotomi No 2, and Hill 382, a strategic artillery post, as fierce fighting continues. "We can expect to take this island in a few more days," said Maj-Gen Holland Smith, the commander of the Pacific Fleet Marine Force. The seizure of the central plateau airfield means that the Marines are no longer fighting uphill and can now fight on a broader front. Ahead to the north lie thick defences around Motoyami, behind which there is a third airstrip, still under construction.

General Smith warned his men not to underestimate the task, even though the appallingly high daily US casualty rate is beginning to fall and there are signs that the enemy is short of water. "This fight is the toughest we've run across in 168 years," he said. The US needs Iwo's airfields to provide fighter cover for B-29 raids on Japan.

JAPAN: Strikes by TF 58 are scheduled for the Nagoya area but these are cancelled due to bad weather and the carrier force retires to the Okinawa area.

U.S.A.: The Casablanca-Class escort aircraft carrier USS Salamaua (CVE-96) returns to San Francisco, California for permanent repair. On 13 January, a kamikaze carrying two 250 kg. (551-pound) bombs crash USS Salamaua's flight deck killing 15 and wounding 80+.