World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Friday February 28, 1941
Day 547

February 28, 1941: Front page of the Manchester Evening News, Manchester, England.
(Click on the image for a readable version.)
Note the report in column 3: "Secret Recipes for War Cheese"


February 28, 1941: Front page of The Daily Mail, Hull, England.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of the Western Mail and South Wales News, Cardiff, Wales.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of the Evening Telegraph and Post, Dundee, Scotland.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The Sydney Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The News, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of the Biddeford Daily Journal, Biddeford, Maine.
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Note the report in column 1: "Berlin Claims 28 Ships Sunk In Two Days"
(The report states that the Germans are claiming that 28 ships, totaling 146,000 tons, have been sunk or damaged in the last two days. The actual number of ships sunk or damaged was 21, totaling 90,268 tons. The five ships that had been damaged, all sank within two days. While the numbers were not as large as the Germans claimed, the sinkings for two days were impressive, if you were German.)


February 28, 1941: Front page of The Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The Evening Gazette, Xenia, Ohio.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of The Southern Jewish Weekly, Jacksonville, Florida.
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Note the report in columns 4-5: "Nazis Launch Expulsions To Oust 40,000 Jews From Vienna by June"


February 28, 1941: Front page of the San Mateo Times, San Mateo, California.
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February 28, 1941: Front page of the Hamburger Neueste Zeitung, Altona, Hamburg, Germany.
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1. Clipper für die Flucht nach Amerika.
(Clipper for the escape to America.)
2. Enthüllungen über Willkie.
(Revelations about Willkie.)


February 28, 1941: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Die Siegesmeldungen eines Tages - Weider ein Geleitzug von deutschen Fernbomberen zerschlagen. - 12 Dampfer versenkt - 1 Zerstörer und weitere 7 Schiffe schwer beschädigt - 22 Flugzeuge vernichtet.
(Victory report for one day: A convoy was destroyed by German long-distance bombers. 12 Steamships sunk - 1 destroyer and 7 other ships badly damaged - 22 aircraft destroyed.)
[The attack was against convoy OB-290, which, in fact, lost 12 ships out of 40. It was carried out by U-47, Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, who sank 3 ships and damaged a fourth, which was finished off by another U-boat. Several Fw-200's of I./KG-40, which sank seven ships and the Italian submarine Michele Bianchi, which accounted for one.

I don't have any information to support the claim of damage to a destroyer, and no other ships, beyond the 12 lost, were damaged. R.A.F. Fighter Command reports the loss of only six aircraft from combat causes for the dates of Feb. 26-27, 1941.

It is interesting to note that this attack was the single greatest success for KG-40 in the entire war. It was also Günther Priem's swansong. He sank two more ships in the next week, but he and U-47 were lost on or about Mar. 7, 1941, only a week after the attack on OB-290. The cause of the loss has not been established for certain, but it is believed that U-47 was lost to British escort ships.]



   
Page published February 28, 2022