February 1942
The following events occurred in February 1942:
- Vidkun Quisling took office as Minister President of Norway.
- Neil Ritchie ordered a general withdrawal of British forces to the Gazala Line to avoid being encircled.[1]
- The Germans switched their naval codes from Hydra to the more complex Triton.[2]
- National Freedom Day was observed for the first time in the United States, commemorating Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on February 1, 1865.
- Presidential elections were held in Chile, won by Juan Antonio Ríos of the Radical Party.
- Born: Bibi Besch, actress, in Vienna, Austria (d. 1996); Terry Jones, actor, comedian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, in Colwyn Bay, Wales
- Joseph Stilwell was designated Chief of Staff to Supreme Commander, China Theater, and was directed to "increase the effectiveness of United States assistance to the Chinese government for the prosecution of the war and to assist in improving the combat efficiency of the Chinese Army."[1]
- German submarine U-581 was sunk in the mid-Atlantic Ocean by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Westcott.[3]
- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to approve a $500 million loan to China.[4]
- The drama film King's Row starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings and Ronald Reagan premiered in New York City.
- Born: Graham Nash, rock and folk singer and songwriter (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), in Blackpool, Lancashire, England
- Died: Leonetto Cappiello, 66, Italian-born French poster art designer; Daniil Kharms, 36, Soviet poet, writer and dramatist (died in his psychiatric ward cell during the Siege of Leningrad)
- The British corvette HMS Arbutus was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-136.
- The Canadian troopship RMS Empress of Asia was sunk by Japanese dive bombers near Singapore.
- Iran broke off diplomatic relations with Vichy France.[8]
- German submarine U-608 was commissioned.
- Born: Roger Staubach, football player, in Cincinnati, Ohio
- The Battle of Kranji ended in Japanese victory.
- The Battle of Bukit Timah began in the battle for Singapore.
- The Canadian corvette HMCS Spikenard was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-136.
- A two-day meeting between Ion Antonescu and Adolf Hitler began at the Wolf's Lair.[13] Antonescu pledged to commit large Romanian forces to the upcoming offensive on the Eastern Front but asked for modern equipment as a condition. Antonescu also warned that Romania still claimed all of Transylvania, but promised not to press this demand until the end of the war. Hitler was non-commital, but later instructed all German officials to be careful in their dealings with Hungary and Romania since both would be called upon to make more sacrifices for the Axis war effort.[14]
- Soap rationing began in Britain.[15]
- The last civilian car rolled off the assembly line at the River Rouge Ford plant before the company switched production over to military vehicles such as service trucks and jeeps. Reporters and photographers were on hand to document the event.[16]
- Born: Howard Mudd, football player and coach, in Midland, Michigan
- In Sumatra, Palembang fell to Japanese forces.[20]
- Japanese soldiers committed the Bangka Island massacre, gunning down 22 Australian Army nurses and some 60 Australian and British servicemen.
- Japanese forces in Borneo occupied the town of Sintang, West Kalimantan.[21]
- Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo appeared before the National Diet and outlined Japan's goals, in which he spoke of a "new order of coexistence and co-prosperity on ethical princlipes in Greater East Asia."[22]
- Bombing of Darwin: 242 Japanese aircraft attacked the harbour and airfields around Darwin, Australia. The town was lightly defended and the Japanese inflicted heavy losses. Tanker British Motorist, cargo ships Don Isidro, Mauna Loa, Meigs, Neptuna and Zealandia, coal hulk Kelat, transport ship Portmar patrol boats Coongoola and Mavie and destroyers USS Peary and HNLMS Piet Hein were all sunk. Hajime Toyoshima crash-landed on Melville Island and became the first Japanese prisoner of war on Australian soil.
- President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of Japanese Americans.
- The Battle of Sittang Bridge began in Burma.
- The Battle of Timor began.
- The Riom Trial began in Vichy France.
- In a campaign to prmote the purchase of war bonds, the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba staged If Day, a simulated Nazi German invasion.
- Bombing of Mandalay: The Burmese capital of Mandalay was bombed by the Japanese for the first time.
- British tanker British Consul was torpedoed and sunk at Port of Spain, Trinidad by German submarine U-161. She was later salvaged and repaired.
- Stafford Cripps became Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal.
- German submarine U-610 was commissioned.
- Born: Paul Krause, football player, in Flint, Michigan
- Died: Frank Abbandando, 31, American criminal (executed)
- The British 7th Armoured Brigade arrived in Rangoon harbour.[24]
- Uruguayan President Alfredo Baldomir staged a self-coup, dissolving congress and taking control of the government.[25]
- Madame Chiang Kai-shek broadcast her husband's farewell message over Indian radio.[12] "In these horrible times of savagery and brute force, the people of China and their brethren the people of India should, for the sake of civilization and human freedom, give their united support to the principles embodied in the Atlantic Charter and in the joint declaration of the 26 nations, and ally themselves with the anti-aggression front," the message read. "I hope the Indian people will wholeheartedly join the allies-namely, China, Great Britain, America and the Soviet Union-and participate shoulder to shoulder in the struggle for survival of a free world until complete victory has been achieved and the duties incumbent upon them in these troubled times have been fully discharged."[26]
- German submarines U-210, U-441, U-515 and U-516 were commissioned.
- Born: Margarethe von Trotta, film director, in Berlin, Germany
- Died: Olena Teliha, 35, Ukrainian poet and activist (executed by the Gestapo)
- The Battle of Sittang Bridge ended in decisive Japanese victory.
- The Bombardment of Ellwood occurred when a Japanese submarine shelled coastal targets near Santa Barbara, California.
- Sir Arthur Harris took over as Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command.[6]
- British submarine P38 was depth charged and sunk in the Mediterranean east of Tripoli by Italian warships.
- The British tanker Empire Celt was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-158.
- Gonars concentration camp was established near Gonars, Italy.
- Joseph Stalin marked the 24th anniversary of the founding of the Red Army with a statement broadcast to all Russians declaring that a "tremendous and hard fight" still ahead, but now that the Germans had spent the "element of surprise" the Soviets were taking the offensive and that "the Red banner will fly everywhere it has flown before."[27]
- President Roosevelt gave a fireside chat on the progress of the war. "We have most certainly suffered losses – from Hitler's U-Boats in the Atlantic as well as from the Japanese in the Pacific – and we shall suffer more of them before the turn of the tide," Roosevelt said. "But, speaking for the United States of America, let me say once and for all to the people of the world: We Americans have been compelled to yield ground, but we will regain it. We and the other United Nations are committed to the destruction of the militarism of Japan and Germany. We are daily increasing our strength. Soon, we and not our enemies, will have the offensive; we, not they, will win the final battles; and we, not they, will make the final peace."[28]
- German submarine U-410 was commissioned.
- Struma disaster: With an estimated 781 Jewish refugees crammed aboard, the small Panamanian merchant ship MV Struma was torpedoed and sunk in the Black Sea by the Soviet submarine Shch-213. Only one person aboard, 19-year old Romanian David Stoliar, survived the sinking.
- German Ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen survived an assassination attempt in Ankara when a Macedonian student fired a gun that missed and then accidentally blew himself up with a bomb that exploded before he could throw it. Later it was determined that the Soviets had supported the attempt on von Papen's life.[29]
- Voice of America began short-wave radio broadcasts. Its initial programmes were in German.[30]
- The British tanker Empire Celt was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by German submarine U-158.
- Bishops in Norway resigned from all their positions within the country's Lutheran Church rather than publicly declare allegiance to the Quisling regime.[31]
- Born: Joe Lieberman, politician, in Stamford, Connecticut
- The Battle of Sunda Strait began in the Sunda Strait, Dutch East Indies.
- The Battle of Java began.
- The Vyazma airborne operation ended in Soviet partial victory.
- The United States Army Services of Supply or "SOS" branch of the U.S. Army was created.
- American destroyer Jacob Jones and tanker R.P. Resor were torpedoed and sunk east of New Jersey by German submarine U-578.
- German submarine U-757 was commissioned.
- "Moonlight Cocktail" by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra went to #1 on the Billboard singles charts.
- The play Lady in Danger by Max Afford premiered at the Independent Theatre in Sydney, Australia.
- Born: Brian Jones, rock musician and founder of The Rolling Stones, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (d. 1969); Dino Zoff, football goalkeeper and manager, in Mariano del Friuli, Italy
- Died: Karel Doorman, 52, Dutch Rear Admiral (killed in action during the Battle of the Java Sea)
References
- 1 2 Williams, Mary H. (1960). Special Studies, Chronology, 1941-1945. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 21.
- ↑ Swettenham, John Alexander; Gaffen, Fred (1979). Canada's Atlantic War. Samuel Stevens. p. 110.
- ↑ "February 1942 events of the Battle of the Atlantic". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Roosevelt Asks ½ Billion for China". Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn). February 2, 1942. p. 1.
- ↑ Butler, Daniel Allen (2015). Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers. p. 315. ISBN 9781612002972.
- 1 2 3 4 Mercer, Derrik, ed. (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 562. ISBN 9-780582-039193.
- ↑ Jablonski, Edward (1995). A Pictorial History of the World War II Years. Wings Books. p. 114. ISBN 9780517122082.
- ↑ Doody, Richard. "A Timeline of Diplomatic Ruptures, Unannounced Invasions, Declarations of War, Armistices and Surrenders". The World at War. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ "War Diary for Friday, 6 February 1942". Stone & Stone Second World War Books. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ Gregory, Don A.; Gehlen, Wilhelm R. (2009). Two Soldiers, Two Lost Fronts: German War Diaries of the Stalingrad and North Africa Campaigns. Philadelphia, PA: Casemate. p. 229. ISBN 9781935149743.
- ↑ "Chronology 1942". indiana.edu. 2002. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- 1 2 Mitra, Asok (1991). Towards Independence, 1940-1947: Memoirs of an Indian Civil Servant. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. p. 89. ISBN 9788171545377.
- ↑ DiNardo, Richard L. (2005). Germany and the Axis Powers. University of Kansas Press. p. 138. ISBN 9780700614127.
- ↑ Hitchins, Keith (1994). Romania 1866-1947. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 474–475. ISBN 9780198221265.
- ↑ "Soap Rationing In Britain". The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill): 1. February 10, 1942.
- ↑ Herman, Arthur (2012). Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II. Random House. p. 214. ISBN 9781400069644.
- ↑ Horlock, Mary (June 11, 1997). "Jacob and the Angel". Tate. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ "General Todt's Death". The West Australian (Perth): 6. February 14, 1942.
- ↑ "President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Broadcast to Canadians". ibiblio. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- 1 2 Day By Day: The Forties. New York: Facts On File, Inc. 1977. p. 194. ISBN 0-87196-375-2.
- ↑ "The conquest of Borneo Island, 1941-1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ Bowman, John Stewart (1998). Facts about the American Wars. H.W. Wilson Co. p. 456. ISBN 978-0824209292.
- 1 2 3 Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938-1945. Research Publications. 1990. pp. 108–109. ISBN 9780887365683.
- ↑ Delaforce, Patrick (2009). Churchill's Desert Rats in North America, Burma, Sicily and Italy. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. p. 71. ISBN 9781848840393.
- ↑ "Uruguay (1911-present)". University of Central Arkansas. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Message to the Indian People (excerpt)". ibiblio. February 21, 1942. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ "Reds Will Oust Nazi Invaders, Stalin Declares". Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago: Chicago Daily Tribune). February 23, 1942. p. 4.
- ↑ Roosevelt, Franklin D. "Fireside Chat 20: On the Progress of the War (February 23, 1944)". Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. AuthorHouse. pp. 61–62. ISBN 9781425931001.
- ↑ "Chronomedia: 1942". Terra Media. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ↑ Winkler, Heinrich August (2015). The Age of Catastrophe: A History of the West, 1914-1945. Yale University Press. p. 767. ISBN 9780300204896.
- ↑ "Was war am 25. Februar 1942". chroniknet. Retrieved February 1, 2016.