http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/feb40/f05feb40.htm
Allies to occupy Norway, aid Finland
Monday, February 5, 1940 www.onwar.com
From Paris... The Supreme War Council of the British and French allies decides to intervene in Norway and send help (in the form of aircraft and guns) to Finland. They plan to begin with landings at Narvik and three other towns on or about March 20th. They are relying on the Norwegians and Swedes acquiescing and doing nothing to maintain their neutrality. By comparison with the contemporary, meticulous German plans, these Allied preparations are vague and irresolute. The pretext of going to help Finland is unconvincing and it is the obvious intention to devote most effort to stopping the Swedish iron ore reaching Germany.
In the Netherlands... General Reynders, the Dutch commander-in-chief, resigns over the lack of military preparedness in Holland.
In the North Atlantic... The British destroyer HMS Antelope sinks a U-boat in the south-western approaches to Britain.
In the United States... The US Maritime Commission announces that Britain and France are buying 113,000 tonnes of old American cargo ships.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/05.htm
February 5th, 1940
FRANCE:
Paris: The Supreme War Council decides to send an Anglo-French expedition of three or four divisions to the aid of Finland. Every effort is to be made to get the agreement and preferably the co-operation of the Norwegians and Swedes.
The plan is to land the force either through Petsamo, which is under attack from the Russians or through Narvik. The council preferred Narvik because it would cut off the supply of iron ore to Germany. However, it is not made clear what action would be taken if Norway and Sweden do not co-operate.
Meanwhile, all possible aid has been promised to the Finns, and some equipment and a few thousand volunteers, mainly Scandinavians, have already arrived.
NETHERLANDS:
General Reynders, the Dutch Commander-in-chief, resigns over Holland’s lack of military preparedness.
GERMANY: U-652 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
SWEDEN: The Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner is in Stockholm to determine the Swedish attitude to the war and the sincerity of Soviet willingness to start the negotiations. Today he meets the Soviet ambassador Alexandra Kollontay, and tells Finland wants peace, and is willing to cede territory.
In these early February days the Finnish and Soviet governments had been in touch to determine whether there is basis for starting the peace negotiations. Finns had tried to start the negotiations on the same basis as in last autumn (Finnish concessions in Karelian Isthmus and Gulf of Finland), but the Soviets consider this too little, too late. Blood had been shed, and the Soviet ‘honour’ demands more substantial concessions. As the fierce fighting in the Karelian Isthmus goes on, Stalin knows time is on his side, at least as long as the British and French don’t intervene.
(Mikko Härmeinen)
GIBRALTAR: U.S. freighter SS Exford is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: US Maritime Commission announces that Britain and France are buying 113,000 tonnes of old American cargo ships. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-41 sinks one ship from Liverpool-out convoy OB84 south of Ireland, and is then sent to the bottom by the lone escort, destroyer HMS Antelope.
At 0332, the unescorted and unarmed Dutch tanker Ceronia was hit by a torpedo, but made it to Rotterdam under her own power. The attacker must have been U-41, which was herself lost during a second attack on Convoy OA-84 the same day.
SS Beaverburn (9,874 GRT) Canadian Pacific Steamships Line, Capt Thomas Jones, Master, was sunk in the Western Approaches, in position 49.20N, 010.07W, by torpedoes from U-41, OLtzS Gustav-Adolf Mugler, CO. She was proceeding outbound from Southampton in the 11-ship Convoy OA-84. Despite being in an outbound convoy she was fully loaded with general cargo. One other ship from this convoy was damaged before it was dispersed to proceed to its various ports, the normal procedure in the early days of the war. Only one crewmember was lost in this incident. The American tanker Narragansett picked up the remaining 76 survivors. Beaverburn was one of five state-of-the-art Beaver-class cargo-liners operated by the CPR. She was a fast and roomy ship that made her useful for wartime service. Two of Beaverdales’s lifeboats were used to rescue British soldiers during the evacuation of Dunkirk. None of the Beaver-class ships survived the war. (Dave Shirlaw)
CANADA: AMC HMCS Prince Robert purchased from CNR for $738,310. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.:
Boeing, Douglas, Martin and Convair all receive the official requirement for a “Hemisphere defence Weapon”; a bomber designed to carry 2,000 pounds of bombs for 5,333 miles, with a speed of 400 m.p.h. A heavy defensive armament was wanted, plus self-sealing fuel tanks, armour protection, and a maximum bomb-load of 16,000 pounds.
One of the great classic songs of the Big Band era, “Tuxedo Junction,” is recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra at the RCA Victor studios in New York City. The flip side of the record (released on the Bluebird label) was “Danny Boy.” (Jack McKillop)
The US Maritime Commission announces that Britain and France are buying 113,000 tonnes of old American cargo ships. (Jack McKillop)
The description of the fighting in front of the Mannerheim Line and around Suomussalmi is some of the best reading yet on this war. From the description of the fighting on the Line, you really get a sense that the Finns were incredibly brave, tough fighters who really knew what they were doing. Having the line set up at the edge of a forest with a clear field of fire, and also along commanding heights, showed they knew exactly where to make their stand. An excellent defensive position, it was clearly enhanced by the local resources (log stakes) as well as mines, machine guns and barbed wire.
Finland had only been an independent nation for 20 years, and yet man for man they had a better army than anyone else.
I’m sure the Germans had their own press corps in Finland, and Hitler and his generals were reading the same accounts of Soviet POW’s. He had to conclude that the Red Army was a paper tiger.