Thursday 22 February 1940
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| A Finnish trooper near a knocked-out Soviet tank on the Karelian Isthmus near Summa, February 1940. |
Winter War Naval Operations: The Gulf of Finland freezes over, and the Soviets see their chance to occupy some islands. The Finns see them coming and evacuate the island of Koivisto in the Gulf of Finland after spiking the coastal batteries. The Soviets quickly move in and occupy Koivisto and Lasisaari.
European Air Operations: Heinkel He 111s from 4/KG26 bomb two Kriegsmarine destroyers off the Frisian Islands in a case of friendly fire at about 19:45. The destroyers take evasive action that places them into a British minefield. Both sink.
The destroyers have been conducting Operation Wikinger, wherein 6 Kriegsmarine destroyers tried to sortie into the North Sea through minefields. The purpose of this is to disrupt normal British surveillance of the usual routes into the North Sea, which takes place on British fishing boats and trawlers. Thus, the destroyers intentionally were trying to pick their way carefully through a known minefield when attacked and forced to try to evade the Luftwaffe's bombs. Faced with a Hobson's Choice of standing still and being bombed, or trying to evade the bombs and hitting mines, the destroyers wound up taking damage from both.
The destroyer Leberecht Maas is hit by two bombs, hits a mine, and sinks losing 282 sailors, with 60 surviving. The destroyer Z3 Max Schultz takes evasive action, hits a mine and sinks with all of her crew of 308.
The whole thing could have been avoided with a little communication between the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe. In Germany, however, everyone guards their own private fiefdoms zealously.
Battle of the Atlantic: U-50 (Kapitänleutnant Max-Hermann Bauer) sinks another ship, this time 4,580-ton British tanker SS British Endeavour (Master Thomas Weatherhead). The ship, traveling in Convoy OGF-19, sinks about 100 miles west of Vigo, Spain, and five lives are lost. The 32 survivors are picked up by passing British freighter SS Bodnant and landed on Madeira.
US freighter Sahale is released from detention at Gibraltar.
Convoy HG 20F departs from Gibraltar, and SL 21F departs from Freetown, while Convoy HX 22 departs from Halifax.
Applied Science: RAF Squadron Leader Douglas Farquhar takes the first British gun-camera footage of the air war while shooting down a German Heinkel He 111 over Coldingham, England.
Terrorism: An IRA bomb explodes on Oxford Street, London. Seven people are seriously injured.
Iraq: Nuri al-Sa'id returns as Prime Minister
Tibet: The 14th Dalai Lama (Jampel Ngawang Lobsang Yishey Tenzing Gyatso, or Tenzing Gyatso for short), six years old, is enthroned at Lhasa.
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| The British Endeavour, sunk on 22 February 1940. |
February 1940
February 3, 1940: Soviets Capture a BunkerFebruary 4, 1940: Peace Talks in Stockholm
February 5, 1940: Allies to Invade Norway
February 6, 1940: Careless Talk Costs Lives
February 7, 1940: IRA Terrorists Executed
February 8, 1940: Spies!
February 9, 1940: The Welles Mission
February 10, 1940: Confiscation of Jewish Goods
February 11, 1940: Soviets Attack Mannerheim Line
February 12, 1940: Breaches In Mannerheim Line
February 13, 1940: Soviets Inching Forward in Finland
February 14, 1940: Soviets Batter Mannerheim Line
February 15, 1940: Finns Retreat
February 16, 1940: Altmark Incident
February 17, 1940: Manstein and Hitler Discuss Fall Gelb
February 18, 1940: Operation Nordmark
February 19, 1940: King Gustav Says No
February 20, 1940: Falkenhorst Commands Weserubung
February 21, 1940: Radar Advances
February 22, 1940: Friendly Fire
February 23, 1940: Soviets Present Their Demands
February 24, 1940: Fall Gelb Revised
February 25, 1940: Mr. Welles Comes to Visit
February 26, 1940: Battle of Honkaniemi
February 27, 1940: Finns Retreat Again
February 28, 1940: Overseas Volunteers Help Finland
February 29, 1940: Finns Accept Soviet Terms In Principle
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