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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)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 529 February 10, 1941
600 miles West of Gibraltar, U-37 attacks convoy HG-53 again at 6.33 AM sinking British SS Brandenburg (all 23 hands lost plus 26 of the 27 survivors rescued from SS Courland yesterday, 1 survivor picked up by destroyer HMS Velox and landed at Gibraltar). At 2.35 PM 200 miles West of Ireland, U-52 sinks British SS Canford Chine (all 35 hands killed).
Churchill orders General Wavell to prioritise helping Greece over continued operations in North Africa. In addition to honouring British commitments to Greece, Churchill hopes to sway American opinion and establish a Balkan coalition against Hitler.
German convoy carrying troops to Libya (steamers Ankara, Arcturus & Alicante, escorted by Italian destroyer Turbine and 3 torpedo boats) leaves Palermo, Sicily, on the final leg to Tripoli.
East Africa. Battle resumes in the Dongolaas Gorge near Keren, Eritrea. Indian 3rd Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment retakes Brig’s Peak. Further South, British General Cunningham launches Operation Canvas against Italian positions on the Juba River in Italian Somaliland.
Overnight, RAF Short Stirlings of No.7 Squadron bomb oil storage tanks at Rotterdam, Holland, and another 222 aircraft bomb Hannover, Germany.
Operation Colossus. 38 paratroops of No. 11 Special Air Service Battalion, known as X Troop, fly from Malta in 6 RAF Whitley bombers of No. 91 Squadron. At 10 PM, they parachute near the Tragino aqueduct, Southern Italy (which supplies fresh water to many Italian civilians and military facilities) and plant explosives on one of the columns.