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World War II Database

2 Mar 1940
  • The United Kingdom and France once again requested Sweden and Norway to allow passage of Allied troops through their borders in order to aid Finland, should Finland formally requested such aid from the Allies. ww2dbase [Invasion of Denmark and Norway | CPC]
  • O'Brien was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [O'Brien | CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • The cargo-liner SS Domala carrying mainly British Indian subjects repatriated from Germany was bombed and machine gunned off the Isle of Wight by a German He 111 aircraft with the loss of 108 lives. Dutch ship Jong Willem, which rescued 48 of the 183 survivors, was also strafed. Beached and later repaired, she went back into service under the name Empire Attendant only to be torpedoed and sunk south of the Canary Islands in Jul 1945 with the loss of all 59 hands. ww2dbase [English Channel | AC]
  • British cruiser HMS Berwick stopped German steamer Wolfsburg, which was disguised as Norwegian ship Aust, north of Iceland. Wolfsburg was scuttled by her crew of 54, who were all subsequently rescued by Berwick. Berwick sank Wolfsburg by gunfire before departure. ww2dbase [Denmark Strait | CPC]
  • British cruiser HMS Dunedin stopped German steamer Heidelberg 60 miles west of Aruba in the Caribbean Sea. Heidelberg was scuttled by her crew of 25, who were all subsequently rescued by Dunedin and later delivered to Jamaica. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea | CPC]
  • The 695-ton Dutch motor merchant Rijnstroom loaded with general cargo was hit in the bow by a torpedo fired by German Submarine U-17 (Kapitänleutnant Udo Behrens) and sank within five minutes. The ship was reported missing after leaving the Downs (an area of safe anchorage in the southern North Sea) just a small amount of wreckage was later found, none of the 12-man crew survived. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | North Sea | HM]
  • The 2,818-ton Swedish merchant steamer Lagaholm with 4,700 tons of general cargo, including 100 tons of aluminium ingots, 62 tons of copper, 53 tons of brass, engines and chemicals and mail was stopped by German submarine U-32 when 80 miles west of Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom at 0715 hours. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats and after questioning the Germans gave them a course to steer to the nearest land. At 0810 hours the submarine shelled and set the Lagaholm alight after which she sank. The survivors were picked up by a Norwegian merchant ship Belpamela and taken to Kirkwall and North Ronaldsay. ww2dbase [Start of the Battle of the Atlantic | HM]
Finland
  • Soviet troops attempted to establish a beachhead west of the Finnish city of Viipuri across the frozen Viipuri Bay, while pressure was asserted on the city from its south and east. An attempt was orchestrated on 29 Feb 1940 without success; likewise, this newly dispatched unit failed to establish a beachhead, however, the Soviet troops were able to capture the coastal battery on the island of Tuppuransaari, which had caused high casualties on both attempts. ww2dbase [The Winter War | Viipuri | CPC]
  • Hungarian volunteers reached a training facility in Finland after 3 weeks of travel. They immediately began training with the Finnish Army, but they would not complete the training before the end of the Winter War. ww2dbase [CPC]
Germany
  • Adolf Hitler met with US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles in Berlin, Germany. ww2dbase [Adolf Hitler | Berlin | CPC]
Hong Kong
  • The British submarine HMS Proteus (Lieutenant Commander R. T. Gordon-Duff, RN) departed from Hong Kong for her first war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Vladivostok, Russia. ww2dbase [HM]
Singapore
  • The British submarine HMS Rover (Lieutenant Commander H. A. L. Marsham, RN) departed Singapore for Hong Kong. ww2dbase [Singapore | HM]
United Kingdom
  • The 5,222-ton Italian steam tanker Mirella, built in 1918, was on route from Tyne, England, United Kingdom for Livorno, Italy with 3,900 tons of coal when she was torpedoed by German submarine U-20 just off Lowestoft, Suffolk, England at 0315 hours. One member of her crew was lost. ww2dbase [Lowestoft, England | HM]
United States

2 Mar 1940 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Captain Henry P. Jim Crowe, Guadalcanal, 13 Jan 1943


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