http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/mar40/f02mar40.htm
New Finnish line under attack
Saturday, March 2, 1940 www.onwar.com
The Winter War... The Soviet forces begin major attacks on the new Finnish defense line under the direction of General Timoshenko. Pressure is exerted against all points but is strongest at the north and south ends. Vuosalmi in the north is attacked by Soviet 13th Army forces while the reserve corps of Soviet 7th Army is advancing over the sea ice toward the west side of Viipuri Bay. Soviets reach the southern suburbs of Viipuri. Meanwhile, Finnish fighters foil an attempted raid on Helsinki.
Over Germany... A high-flying RAF Spitefire photographs the entire Ruhr industrial region in one sortie.
In the North Atlantic... The British liner Domala is bombed off the Isle of Wight (100 killed).
From Paris... A formal request is sent to Sweden and Norway to allow Allied troops to be sent to Finland through the Scandinavian countries. (Units are intended to begin arriving by March 20th. Daladier has plans for a force of 50,000 French “volunteers” and 150 aircraft.)
From London... A formal request is sent to Sweden and Norway to allow Allied troops to be sent to Finland through the Scandinavian countries. (The British force is planned to reach a level of 100,000 men eventually.)
In the Denmark Strait... The British cruiser HMS Berwick intercepts the German Wolfsburg, which is scuttled in order to avoid capture.
In the West Indies... The cruiser HMS Dunedin intercepts the Heidelberg which is scuttled.
In France... Army intelligence reveals German preparations for an attack on Scandinavia.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/02.htm
March 2nd, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM: Henley: Cambridge wins the unofficial wartime boat race.
RAF Bomber Command: Leaflet raid on Berlin.
RAF Fighter Command: Luftwaffe attacks on North Sea and Channel shipping. The British India liner SS Domala is bombed by Luftwaffe aircraft off the Isle of Wight, fired and beached; There are heavy casualties with 100 killed on the ship. (Jack McKillop)
A formal request is forwarded to Sweden and Norway to allow Allied troops to be sent to Finland through the Scandinavian countries. The British force is planned to reach a level of 100,000 men eventually. (Jack McKillop)
Rescue tug HMS Fairplay II wrecked on Yorkshire coast. (Dave Shirlaw)
BELGIUM: A Dornier 17, flying over the Ardennes opens fire upon three Belgian fighters which go up to order it out of Belgian airspace, and all three fighters are hit; one catches fire and the pilot is killed. A German statement says that the fighters were Hurricanes and that the German crew mistook them for British aircraft.
FRANCE: Army intelligence reveals German preparations for an attack on Scandinavia.
A formal request is forwarded to Sweden and Norway to allow Allied troops to be sent to Finland through the Scandinavian countries. Units are intended to begin arriving by 20 March. Premier Edouard Daladier has plans for a force of 50,000 French “volunteers” and 150 aircraft. (Jack McKillop)
GERMANY: A high-flying RAF Spitfire photographs the entire Ruhr industrial region in one sortie. (Jack McKillop)
U-123 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
GIBRALTAR: U.S. passenger liner SS Manhattan is detained at Gibraltar by British authorities, but is released the same day. Some 80 of 200 items of cargo, however, are detained subject to guarantees as to their destinations. (Jack McKillop)
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Naval members on the Joint Army-Navy Board recommended a strong increase in both Army and Navy air strength in the Philippines. Strong then directed his War Plans Division to conduct a study, which found that a proper defence of the islands would require a 12-fold increase in air power (from 37 aircraft to 441), a doubling of the US and Philippine Scout forces assigned, and $22 million in new construction, mainly for airfields. (Marc Small)
U.S.A.: The National Broadcasting Company’s experimental TV station in New York City, W2XBS, televises the first intercollegiate track meeting live from Madison Square Garden. New York University wins the meeting. (Jack McKillop)
Destroyer USS O’Brien commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
CARIBBEAN SEA: The cruiser HMS Dunedin intercepts the ‘Heidelberg’. The German ship is scuttled.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The cruiser HMS Berwick intercepts the German SS Wolfsburg in the Denmark Strait. The German ship is scuttled.
At 2159, U-17 fired a torpedo at a ship reported as a fully loaded tanker of estimated 9000 tons from a distance of 1200 meters. The ship was hit in the bow and sank within five minutes. This must have been MS Rijnstroom, which had been reported missing. Only a capsized lifeboat, some lifebuoys, deckplanks and part of the cargo were later found adrift. A Dutch ship also picked up an empty raft.
At 0810, SS Lagaholm was ordered to stop by U-32 and was shelled with 40 rounds, after the crew had abandoned ship in the lifeboats. The ship caught fire and sank later in 59°42N/05°35W. (Dave Shirlaw)