February 1942

The following events occurred in February 1942:

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February 1, 1942 (Sunday)

February 2, 1942 (Monday)

February 3, 1942 (Tuesday)

February 4, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 5, 1942 (Thursday)

  • 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.
  • United States tanker China Arrow was torpedoed, shelled and sunk about 90 nautical miles (170 km) off the Delaware coast by German submarine U-103.
  • Hermann Göring the Head of the German Luftwaffe returned from his visit in Italy.
  • Born: Roger Staubach, American NFL quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee; in Cincinnati, Ohio

February 6, 1942 (Friday)

February 7, 1942 (Saturday)

February 8, 1942 (Sunday)

February 9, 1942 (Monday)

February 10, 1942 (Tuesday)

  • 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-committal, 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 (d. 2020)

February 11, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 12, 1942 (Thursday)

February 13, 1942 (Friday)

February 14, 1942 (Saturday)

February 15, 1942 (Sunday)

February 16, 1942 (Monday)

  • 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 principles in Greater East Asia."[22]

February 17, 1942 (Tuesday)

February 18, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 19, 1942 (Thursday)

February 20, 1942 (Friday)

February 21, 1942 (Saturday)

  • 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)

February 22, 1942 (Sunday)

February 23, 1942 (Monday)

  • 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 lay 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.

February 24, 1942 (Tuesday)

  • 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]
  • Internment of Japanese Canadians was ordered.[31]
  • 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.[32]
  • Born: Joe Lieberman, politician, in Stamford, Connecticut

February 25, 1942 (Wednesday)

February 26, 1942 (Thursday)

February 27, 1942 (Friday)

February 28, 1942 (Saturday)

Notes

  1. Williams, Mary H. (1960). Special Studies, Chronology, 1941–1945. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 21.
  2. Swettenham, John Alexander; Gaffen, Fred (1979). Canada's Atlantic War. Samuel Stevens. p. 110. ISBN 9780888666048.
  3. "February 1942 events of the Battle of the Atlantic". WW2 Timelines. 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  4. "Roosevelt Asks ½ Billion for China". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn. February 2, 1942. p. 1.
  5. Butler, Daniel Allen (2015). Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers. p. 315. ISBN 978-1-61200-297-2.
  6. Mercer, Derrik, ed. (1989). Chronicle of the 20th Century. London: Chronicle Communications Ltd. p. 562. ISBN 978-0-582-03919-3.
  7. Jablonski, Edward (1995). A Pictorial History of the World War II Years. Wings Books. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-517-12208-2.
  8. Doody, Richard. "A Timeline of Diplomatic Ruptures, Unannounced Invasions, Declarations of War, Armistices and Surrenders". The World at War. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  9. "War Diary for Friday, 6 February 1942". Stone & Stone Second World War Books. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  10. 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 978-1-935149-74-3.
  11. "Chronology 1942". indiana.edu. 2002. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  12. Mitra, Asok (1991). Towards Independence, 1940–1947: Memoirs of an Indian Civil Servant. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-7154-537-7.
  13. DiNardo, Richard L. (2005). Germany and the Axis Powers. University of Kansas Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7006-1412-7.
  14. Hitchins, Keith (1994). Romania 1866–1947. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 474–475. ISBN 978-0-19-822126-5.
  15. "Soap Rationing In Britain". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill: 1. February 10, 1942.
  16. Herman, Arthur (2012). Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II. Random House. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
  17. Horlock, Mary (June 11, 1997). "Jacob and the Angel". Tate. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  18. "General Todt's Death". The West Australian. Perth: 6. February 14, 1942.
  19. "President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Broadcast to Canadians". ibiblio. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  20. Day By Day: The Forties. New York: Facts On File, Inc. 1977. p. 194. ISBN 0-87196-375-2.
  21. L, Klemen. "The conquest of Borneo Island, 1941–1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  22. Bowman, John Stewart (1998). Facts about the American Wars. H.W. Wilson Co. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-8242-0929-2.
  23. Chronology and Index of the Second World War, 1938–1945. Research Publications. 1990. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-0-88736-568-3.
  24. Delaforce, Patrick (2009). Churchill's Desert Rats in North America, Burma, Sicily and Italy. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-84884-039-3.
  25. "Uruguay (1911-present)". University of Central Arkansas. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  26. "Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Message to the Indian People (excerpt)". ibiblio. February 21, 1942. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  27. "Reds Will Oust Nazi Invaders, Stalin Declares". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago: Chicago Daily Tribune. February 23, 1942. p. 4.
  28. 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.
  29. Griswold, John (2006). Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories. AuthorHouse. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-1-4259-3100-1.
  30. "Chronomedia: 1942". Terra Media. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  31. Sugiman, Pamela (2004). "Memories of internment: narrating Japanese Canadian women's life stories". The Canadian Journal of Sociology. 29 (3): 359–388. doi:10.1353/cjs.2004.0049. JSTOR 3654672. S2CID 144013114.
  32. Winkler, Heinrich August (2015). The Age of Catastrophe: A History of the West, 1914–1945. Yale University Press. p. 767. ISBN 978-0-300-20489-6.
  33. "Was war am 25. Februar 1942". chroniknet. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  34. "Alexander, Jonkheer van Geen". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 28 November 2021.

References


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