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February 24th, 1941

UNITED KINGDOM: RAF Bomber Command: The first operational flight by Avro Manchesters takes place with a raid on Brest by aircraft of No. 207 Squadron.

At a meeting of British and Greek political and military leaders, Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, said Britain could offer three infantry divisions to help Greece, the Polish Brigade and an armoured brigade, a total of 100,000 men. (Anthony Staunton) Destroyer HMS Inconstant launched.

Minesweeper HMS Cromarty launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

FRANCE: VICHY FRANCE: Admiral Darlan is appointed head of the government.

GERMANY: Munich: "Now our sea warfare can begin in earnest," Hitler told a hand-picked audience here today. He was speaking in a charged atmosphere at the beercellar where what became the Nazi Party was founded in 1919. he pulled no punches. "Our Nazi methods were unattractive to many," he said. "But I was a soldier and had come from the front, where I had got used to a rough tongue." Hitler reported on the progress of the intensive training of U-boat crews to man the new boats streaming out of his shipyards.

His claim that U-boats have sunk 190,000 tons of shipping in the last two days, may be exaggeration; that is more like the month's total. Nevertheless it is far more than the Allies can afford.

U-512 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

BALKANS: Italian forces repel a British attempt to capture the island of Kastellórizo (Καστελλόριζω) in the Dodecanese.

This involved a commando assault on the island. On 23 Feb the destroyers HEREWARD and DECOY embarked commandos at Suda Bay and proceeded to Kastellórizo with the cruisers GLOUCESTER and BONAVENTURE and the river gunboat LADYBIRD. The troops were landed at dawn on the 25th from the destroyers, while LADYBIRD landed marines.

Although the island was quickly occupied the Italian forces in Rhodes reacted with vigour and bombed the island heavily between 0800 and 0930. LADYBIRD, slightly damaged, re-embarked the marines and left for Cyprus.

Some off topic trivia: It was off Kastellórizo in WWI that the aircraft carrier HMS BEN-MY-CHREE was sunk, the only carrier lost to enemy action in WWI and the only one ever sunk by shore batteries.

It had been intended to transport a permanent garrison for Kastellórizo on the armed boarding vessel HMS ROSAURA, but after the setback of 25 February the troops were instead embarked in the HM destroyers HERO and DECOY at Alexandria. (Ric Pelvin)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Destroyer HMS Dainty, escorting supplies to Tobruk with the Inshore Squadron, is sunk off the port by German Ju87s. There are 33 casualties.

The monitor, HMS Terror, which has been of valuable assistance to the army in North Africa, sinks off Derna in Libya, after three days of air attacks.

LIBYA: A troop of guns of the British 16th Anti-Tank Company and two troops of the King’s Own Dragoon Guards are ambushed near Aghelia by a patrol of German tanks, armored cars and motorcycles. This is the first contact on the ground between British and German forces. (Jack McKillop)

JAPAN: Tokyo: In the clearest statement yet on Japan's expansionist policy and the ideology behind it, foreign minister, Yosuke Matsuoka, today declared Japan's belief in its "natural right" to Oceania - the western Pacific, including Australia.

Speaking to the Japanese parliament he said: "I believe the white race must cede Oceania to the Asiatics." Mr Matsuoka said that the region has sufficient natural resources to support 600-800 million people. "I believe we have a natural right to migrate there," he said.

The name Oceania usually refers to the islands of the Pacific, but an Oceania for 600 million would also have to include Australasia."

CANADA: Corvettes HMCS Brantford and Midland laid down Midland, Ontario.

U.S.A.: Washington: The US has ruled out the possibility of the dispatch of US Navy capital ships to Singapore. The US view is that the loss of Singapore, while it would be unfortunate, would not have a decisive effect on the outcome of the war but could imperil the US Pacific Fleet.

The US announced its decision at the Anglo-American staff conversations which opened here (Singapore) last month. The US Representative at these talks is RADM "Speck" Purnell, Chief of Staff of the US Asiatic Fleet.

Associated Press reports from Washington:

OPM plus ACCND equals maze.

That is not an algebraic formula but statement of fact. OPM is the Office of Production Management. ACCND is the Advisory Commission to the Council of National defence. Maze is what their variety of overlapping functions add up to.

So complicated is the labyrinth of committees, commissions, and co-ordination offices encircling the defence organisation that men long experienced in drawing charts of government agencies have been baffled.

It defies mapping. Officials spent several weeks trying to prepare a chart, but each tentative draft struck a snag when official approval was sought. The government is still without a blueprint of its defence machinery.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: At 0053, a second torpedo was fired from U-123 which struck after two minutes, stopping SS Grootekerk. At 0105, a coup de grâce was fired, but this was a surface runner, which struck in that part of the ship where the crew was lowering the lifeboats. The ship sank shortly thereafter. There were no survivors among the crew of 18 Dutch and 34 Chinese.

At 2143, SS Nailsea Lass, a straggler from Convoy SLS-64, was hit under the bridge by one torpedo from U-48 and sank by the bow at 2219 hours 60 miles SW of Fastnet. Five crewmembers were lost. The master and the chief officer were taken prisoner, landed at St Nazaire on 27 February and taken to the German POW camp Milag Nord. The second officer and 18 crewmembers landed at Ballyoughtraugh, Co. Kerry and the third officer and nine crewmembers near Berehaven, Co Cork.

SS Waynegate sunk by U-73 at 58.50N, 21.47W.

At 004, SS Cape Nelson in Convoy OB-288 was torpedoed and sunk by U-95 southwest of Iceland. The master and three crewmembers were lost. 34 crewmembers were picked up by the British merchant Harberton and landed at Halifax on 4 Mar, 1941.

At 0027, U-95 fired one torpedo at the convoy OB-288 about 300 miles NNW of Rockall and missed the intended target, the CO thought that he hit another ship beyond. This is not confirmed from Allied reports. At 0028, the U-boat fired a second torpedo, which struck Marslew in the stern and observed the ship sinking. The master and twelve crewmembers were lost. The British SS Empire Cheetah picked up 21 crewmembers and two gunners. SS Templemoat sunk by U-95 at 59.27N, 20.20W in Convoy OB-288.

At 0116, SS Linaria, dispersed from Convoy OB-288, was torpedoed and sunk by U-96 SW of Reykjavik. The master, 30 crewmembers and three gunners were lost.

SS Sirikishna sunk by U-96 at 58N, 21W in Convoy OB-288. At 0624, steam tanker British Gunner in convoy OB-289 was torpedoed and damaged by U-97 273 miles northwest of Cape Wrath. Four hours later, the corvette HMS Petunia ordered the crew to abandon ship in 61°16N/12°20W, even though the master reported that his ship could be towed to port. Three crewmembers were lost. The master, 38 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the corvette and landed at Stornoway, Hebrides.

At 0818, U-97 attacked Convoy OB-289 for the third time and damaged the G.C. Brøvig with one torpedo. The tanker lost the bow, but the bulkhead held and the engines remained intact. She continued her voyage at slow speed with steering tow assistance by corvette HMS Petunia, arriving at Stornoway on 27 February. With permanent repairs made in Falmouth, she returned to service after three months. At 0212, U-97 fired two torpedoes at Convoy OB-289 SW of the Faröe Islands and reported one ship sunk. In fact the Mansepool and Jonathan Holt were hit and sunk. The master, 38 crewmembers, two gunners and ten passengers from the Jonathan Holt were lost. Two crew embers and one passenger were picked up by corvette HMS Petunia and landed at Stornoway. Two crewmembers and one passenger were picked up by the British rescue ship Copeland and landed at Greenock. Two crewmembers from Mansepool were lost. The master, 19 crewmembers and two gunners were picked up by the British SS Thomas Holt and later transferred to HMS Petunia which had earlier rescued 17 other crewmembers from the same vessel and brought them all to Stornoway.

(Dave Shirlaw)