RUSSIANS LAUNCH NEW DRIVE IN KARELIA WITH 130 PLANES, ARMED SLEDS, SMOKE SCREENS (2/2/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 2/2/40 | Harold Denny, C.L. Sulzberger, Raymond Daniell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Finns Stand Firm – 2-3
Kallio Again Asks ‘Honorable Peace’ – 3-4
The International Situation – 4
Activity Increases on Western Front – 4
Turkey Admits Lack of Neutrality On eve of Balkan Entente Parley – 5
Neutrality Group Will Take a Recess – 5
Kaiser Asks Peace, Then War on Reds – 6-7
Mass Executions Reported by Poles – 7-8
Bullitt Called Home to Give Information – 8
Chamberlain Bas Economic Dictator – 9
New Army Pursuit Plane Carries a Cannon; ‘Airacobra’s’ Speed Tops 400 Miles an Hour – 9
Incidents in European Conflict - 9

[abb]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/feb40/f02feb40.htm

Balkan Entente Conference held
Friday, February 2, 1940 www.onwar.com

In Belgrade... The Balkan Entente Conference begins and includes a proclamation by the neutral states of Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania and Turkey declaring a common interest in maintaining peace in southeastern Europe and the renewal of the pact.

The Winter War... The Finnish army succeeds in holding the Soviet attack on the Mannerheim Line.

[abb]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/02.htm

February 2nd, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
The popularity of rabbit meat has increased as part of the menu in British households since meat rationing began.
Recipes for enhancing - or disguising - its taste fill the cookery columns. Rabbit, they point out, can be stewed, blanched, fricasseed, jugged or, of course, put in a pie. It is also plentiful and cheap, at 2 shillings for one rabbit. Fish is also unrationed but always seems to be scarce and is getting expensive. Cod is now 1/4 a pound. Herring, the price of which is controlled, costs 6d a pound.

RAF Coastal Command: Seven men on raft rescued with aid of aircraft.

NORTH SEA: At 0624, the unescorted tanker Creofield was torpedoed and sunk by U-59 east of Lowestoft. The master and 15 crewmembers were lost. (Dave Shirlaw)

FINLAND: In Soviet air raids 15 were killed and 54 wounded at Sortavala, 21 killed at Pori. (Mikko Härmeinen)

YUGOSLAVIA: The Balkan Entente Conference held in Belgrade begins and includes a proclamation by the neutral states of Yugoslavia, Greece, Romaniaand Turkey declaring a common interest in maintaining peace in southeastern Europe and the renewal of the pact. (Jack McKillop)

CANADA: Corvette HMCS Matapedia laid down Quebec City, Province of Quebec. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: The U.S. passenger liner SS Manhattan is stopped by the French auxiliary patrol vessel Vaillant about 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal, and ordered to proceed to Gibraltar for examination. (Jack McKillop)

At 2040, the unescorted SS Portelet was hit in the stern by one torpedo from U-59 and sank less than one mile WSW of Smith’s Knoll Lightship. Two crewmembers were lost. The master and eight crewmembers were picked up by the Finnish SS Oscar Midling and landed at Immingham on 4 February. (Dave Shirlaw)

[abb]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 155 February 2, 1940

U-59 sinks British steamers SS Creofield (6.24 AM, all 9 lives lost) and SS Portelet (8.40 PM, 2 lives lost) with 1 torpedo each, 20 miles East of Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. 9 survivors from Portelet are picked up by the Finnish steamer SS Oscar Midling and landed 100 miles North at Immingham, England.
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/226.html

Finland. Soviet shelling, aerial bombing and small unit combined infantry/armour attacks continue on the Karelian Isthmus, designed to wear down the Finnish defenders rather than penetrate the fortified defensive line. Further North, above Lake Lagoda, Finnish 9th division continues to surround Soviet 54th division near Kuhmo. In a rare example of reinforcing the trapped Red Army units, Siberian ski battalion under Colonel Vyatsheslav Dmitrievitsh Dolin is sent in to help 54th division.

[CougarGA7]

Day 65 of the Winter War, February 2, 1940

Ladoga Karelia: 92 enemy aircraft attack Sortavala in five waves, killing 15 people and injuring 44 others; the Lutheran church is among the buildings destroyed in the attack.
Photo: SA-KUVA

Brazil sends Finland 10,000 sacks of coffee

• Karelian Isthmus: Soviet forces continue their assault on the 3rd Division's main defensive position.

• The Soviet Air Force continues its bombing raids as part of the general offensive on the Isthmus.

• Eastern Isthmus: a patrol of seven enemy paratroopers lands on the frozen Lake Pyhäjärvi and is wiped out.

• Northern Finland: the Soviet 54th Division, surrounded in Kuhmo, is attempting to break out by attacking in a number of areas.

• Another enemy division is brought in to support the attacks.

• Ladoga Karelia: 92 enemy aircraft attack Sortavala in five waves, killing 15 people and injuring 44 others; the Lutheran church is among the buildings destroyed in the attack.

• Pori: enemy bombers hit a bomb splinter shelter, killing 11 women and 3 men. Altogether 21 people are killed in the raid.

• Lake Saimaa: Lieutenant Fritz Rasmussen, a Danish volunteer pilot, is killed when enemy aircraft shoot down his Fokker FR-81 while he is on a defensive flight near Rauha on the shores of Lake Saimaa.

• Abroad: the Holmenkollen skiing stadium in Oslo puts on a benefit event in aid of Finland. The main attractions are the oft-crowned Olympic speed-skating champion and World Champion Clas Thunberg and the ski-jumpers Lauri Valonen and Niilo Toppila.

• Brazilian President Getulio Vargas announces that Brazil is to send Finland a gift of 10,000 sacks of coffee.

• The Finnish Government presents its opening position for peace talks in response to the terms of negotiation presented by the Soviet Union. The response is communicated to the Soviet Union via the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

• The Soviet Ambassador in Stockholm, Madame Alexandra Kollontai, indicates that the Soviet Union cannot give up its demand for bases in Finland.

• The British War Cabinet rejects a plan for a naval blockade of the Soviet Union.

[CougarGA7]

They sure seem pretty high on the new P-39. The Air Corps wont take delivery of any P-39s until they start receiving the C model in January of 1941. Many of the first production units were designated for Britain to help stave off the threat of a German invasion. It will be the Russians the best use the Aeracobra though where they will be used as dive bombers against German tanks. The Soviets second leading ace Alexander Pokryshkin will be considered the most successful P-39 pilot raking up 59 air victories. (Source: All the U.S. Air Force Airplanes, 1907-1983 - Andrew W. Waters)

Alexander Pokryshkin (far right) talks with other Soviet airmen; his P-39 heavily decorated with kills is in the background

[magslinger]

The Aeracobra was used by the Russians as an airborne can opener. That IIRC 30 mm cannon mounted in the propeller hub was serious tank medicine in it's day. The design wasn't much as dog fighter when compared to other fighters of the day, but in close air support it could deliver hate in car load lots.

I wouldn't be surprised if that cannon was a bit of a maintenance headache though.

[magslinger]

I wasn’t being totally fair to the Airacobra. When compared to the fighters of 1939 it was pretty hot stuff. Air combat was a rapidly changing environment in that time and even by 1942 it had been surpassed.

[BroJoeK]

magslinger: "The Aeracobra was used by the Russians as an airborne can opener."

"The most successful use of the P-39 was in the hands of the Soviet Air Force (VVS).

"The tactical environment of the Eastern Front did not demand the extreme high-altitude operations that the RAF and United States Army Air Forces (|USAAF) employed with their big bombers. The low-speed, low-altitude turning nature of most air combat on the Russian Front suited the P-39's strengths: sturdy construction, reliable radio gear, and adequate firepower.

"The usual nickname for the well-loved Airacobra in the VVS was Kobrushka, "little cobra", or Kobrastochka, a portmanteau of Kobra and Lastochka (swallow), "dear little cobra".

"It was common for the Soviet pilots to remove the wing guns and rely only on the cannon and nose machine guns as armament; a modification that improved roll rate by reducing rotational inertia.

"The Soviets used the Airacobra primarily for air-to-air combat against a variety of German aircraft, including Messerschmitt Bf 109s, Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, Junkers Ju 87s, and Ju 88s. "During the battle of Kuban river, Soviet air force relied mostly on P-39s, much more appreciated than Spitfires and P-40s. Aleksandr Pokryshkin, from 16.Gv.IAP, claimed 20 air victories in that campaign. Aleksandr Ivanovich Pokryshkin, the third-highest scoring Allied ace (with a score of 53 air victories plus six shared) flew the P-39 from late 1942 until the end of the war (though rumours exist that he changed in late 1944 to a P-63 Kingcobra); his unofficial score in the Airacobra stands at nearly 60 Luftwaffe aircraft."