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• Russian forces under General Timoshenko launched a fresh offensive against the Germans on the central front; the southern front was marked by strong gains by Soviet troops in the Ukraine. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Burma's Premier U Saw was detained by the British for allegedly being in communication with the Japanese. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Omar Bradley was promoted to the temporary rank of major general. ww2dbase [Omar Bradley | CPC]
• After three days of confused fighting along the Bilin in Burma, Major General "Jackie" Smyth learned that he was threatened with being outflanked to the south by the Japanese 143rd Regiment. He committed his last reserves, 4/12th Frontier Force Regiment who fought a stiff action on 16th Indian Brigade's left but ultimately failed to dislodge the Japanese. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | AC]
• Free French submarine Surcouf collided with US merchant ship Thomson Lykes 95 miles north of the Panama Canal in the Gulf of Mexico; Surcouf would sink, killing all 130 aboard. ww2dbase [CPC]

• German bombers sank British minesweeping trawler HMT Botanic in the North Sea. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | North Sea | CPC]

• Repair ship Akashi arrived at Staring Bay, Celebes, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Akashi | Staring Bay, Celebes | CPC]
• Japanese aircraft sank Dutch coastal defense ship Surabaya and Dutch submarine K7 at Surabaya Harbor, Java, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Surabaya, Java | CPC]

• Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a military convention in Berlin, Germany, laying down "guidelines for common operations against the common enemies." ww2dbase [Berlin | CPC]

• USS Pollack departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her second war patrol. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | Pollack | Honolulu, Oahu | CPC]

• US destroyer USS Truxton ran aground and broke apart at Ferryland Point, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland in poor weather; 119 were killed, 33 survived. ww2dbase [Placentia Bay | CPC]

• German submarine U-432 sank Brazilian tanker Olinda 30 kilometers off Virginia, United States. ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | Virginia | CPC]

18 Feb 1942 Interactive Map