http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/feb41/f10feb41.htm
Italians hold British offensive
Monday, February 10, 1941 www.onwar.com
In East Africa... The attacks of 4th Indian Division at Keren go on with renewed effort. The fighting is fierce over the next two days but Italian counterattacks prevent the Indian troops from making any gains. A long lull follows for the rest of the month while British commanders bring up more forces and supplies for the formal offensive which will be necessary to break the Italian positions.
From London... Churchill formally instructs Wavell to regard help for Greece as having a higher priority than exploiting the success in North Africa. He mentions the important effect on American opinion of being seen to fulfill promises to smaller nations. Colonel Bill Donovan has recently been on a tour of the Balkans on Roosevelt’s behalf and is known to value the idea of fighting the Germans there. The British also hope to make a good impression on Turkey and perhaps even establish a Balkan coalition against Hitler.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/10.htm
February 10th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM:
Prime Minister Winston Churchill formally instructs General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander in Chief Middle East Command, to regard help for Greece as having a higher priority than exploiting the success in North Africa. He mentions the important effect on American opinion of being seen to fulfil. promises to smaller nations. Colonel William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan, the U.S. Coordinator of Information (COI), has recently been on a tour of the Balkans on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s behalf and is known to value the idea of fighting the Germans there. The British also hope to make a good impression on Turkey and perhaps even establish a Balkan coalition against Hitler. (Jack McKillop)
London: General Ion Antonescu’s decision to allow Romania to be used a base for a massive German expeditionary force led today to a diplomatic rupture with Britain. After a half-hour meeting with Antonescu, later described as “extremely painful”, the British envoy, Sir Reginald Hoare, returned to the legation to pack his bags.
Most of Germany’s oil supplies come from Romania, and German engineers have for some time been running the country’s oil wells. When German troops began arriving, Antonescu said that they were to train the Romanian army. The British told him that a full expeditionary force was not needed to train a few Romanians.
RAF Bomber Command:
221 aircraft set out to bomb Hanover and its U-boat component factories. Airfields in Holland were also attacked during the night.
Destroyer HMS Blackmore laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORTH SEA: U-147 was damaged by ice in the North Sea and sailed to Cuxhaven. (Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Berlin: Spain signs a secret treaty with Germany, undertaking to resist any Allied attack.
U-443, U-444, U-601 laid down.
U-202 launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
ITALY: Tonight the British carried out their first paratroop mission with a surprise assault on the Tragino aqueduct near Monte Vulture (Calabria, Italy). This aqueduct supplies Taranto, Brindisi and Bari with water, and it is hoped in London that its destruction will weaken Italian morale.
Operation Colossus ends in fiasco. Eight officers and 31 soldiers took off from Malta in Whitley V bombers of Nos. 51 and 78 Squadrons and make a parachute landing onto a virtually uninhabited area. After they had fulfilled their mission and were marching toward the coast where a submarine was waiting for them, they were spotted and taken captive.
ETHIOPIA: Keren: 4th Indian Division launches a two-battalion attack on the heights east of the gorge. Both sides fought with stubborn gallantry; Brig’s Peak was taken twice and lost twice; two other fiercely-held features were taken and given up. Subadar Richpal Ram, of the 4/6 Rajputana Rifles, was awarded a posthumous VC; his battalion suffered 123 casualties and the other 4/11 Sikhs, lost more than 100 men.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: USAT Etolin docked at Manila with 24 personnel for the 17th and 20th Pursuit Squadrons. Elizalde informs Quezon that he had attempted, and failed, to get the Philippines included under Lend-Lease. (Marc Small)
U.S.A.: The 104th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile) is activated at Birmingham, Alabama as Sep CA Bn AA-AW. (Jean Beach)
Submarine USS Growler laid down.
USS SC-508 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-93 was attacked in the North Atlantic by an RAF Whitley aircraft with two bombs. The boat was damaged badly and had to return to base.
At 0633, U-37 fired two torpedoes at a big tanker in convoy HG-53 west of Gibraltar but missed and heard later two detonations. Clausen thought that he had hit two other ships in the convoy. In fact, the Brandenburg was hit twice and sank immediately. The master and 22 crewmembers were lost.
At 1435, the Canford Chine, a straggler from convoy OG-52 since 8 February, was torpedoed and sunk by U-52 SSW of Rockall. The master and 34 crewmembers were lost. (Dave Shirlaw)