February

1940 The Finnish 9th Division finally manages to encircle the Russian 54th Division in Kuhmo. Finnish pilot Lt. Sarvanto, flying a Fokker, shoots down six out of seven Russian SB-2 bombers in just 5 minutes. The Russian 44th Division’s commander General Vinogradov, authorizes the remainder of his troops to try escape back to Russian lines. […]

1941 The Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sail from the Baltic to the Atlantic, causing absolute havoc to shipping routes and timetables. RAF reconnaissance planes report that the Italians are beginning to evacuate Benghazi in a withdrawal towards El Agheila. The 7th Armoured Division is given immediate instructions to advance from Mechili across the desert in

1941 33 Italian Fascist Party leaders are dispatched to bolster morale on the Albanian front. Hitler reviews the plans for Operation ‘Barbarossa’, as German intelligence estimates that 155 Red Army divisions are deployed in western Russia against just 116 German and Axis divisions. The starting date is again confirmed as the 15th May 1941. The

1939 Hungary breaks relations with the Soviet Union. 1940 Big Russian offensive continues on the Karelia front. Italian Jews banned from serving as engineers, professors, or journalists, and from serving Gentiles as doctors or lawyers. 1941 5th Indian Division captures Barentu, forcing the Italians to withdraw towards the mountain fortress at Keren. Indian & British

1940 Britain reduces passenger train service due to coal shortage. 1941 Third and final day of Swansea Blitz (Luftwaffe bombing of Swansea, Wales): 230 killed, but docks and facilities are undamaged. 1942 Convoy ON-166 (60 ships) sailing from Britain to North America, is attacked in the North Atlantic by 19 U-boats from wolfpacks Ritter and

1936 The Japanese Army restores order in Tokyo and arrests officers involved in a coup. 1940 Russian forces overrun the second line of Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus. First group of British volunteers arrive in Finland, under command of Lt. Kermit Roosevelt, son of Teddy. 1941 Vichy France reduces bread ration from 350g to

1933 The burning down of the Reichstag building in Berlin gives the Nazis the opportunity to suspend personal liberty with increased power. 1940 The Soviets launch offensive toward Viipuri, Finland. 1941 The first encounter of the Afrika Korps and the British forces. 1942 The Battle of the Java Sea begins and continues for three days,

1940 British and French governments agree to land an expeditionary force in northern Norway without regard for Norway’s neutrality in order to aide Finland, although it was never carried out. First sinking of a U-boat by a lone British destroyer: in convoy OA-84 off Land’s End, HMS Antelope sinks U-41. 1941 An advanced column of armoured

A Fortress in the Sky If you’ve ever wondered why the B-17 Flying Fortress earned its legendary reputation for toughness, look no further than the story of the All American. On February 1, 1943, this bomber and its ten-man crew took off from Biskra, Algeria on a mission to strike German supply lines near Tunis.

1940 General Timoshenko launches his big offensive across the iced up straits of Viipuri Bay, although Finnish aircraft raids disrupt these attacks. The battleship Alabama (BB-60) is laid down at the Norfolk, Virginia. In Japan, expenditure on the military accounts for half of the national budget for 1940. 1941 The Admiral Hipper slips out of