World War II As It Happened
A MaritimeQuest Daily Event Special Presentation
Sunday February 1, 1942
Day 885

February 1, 1942: Front page of The People, London, England.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of the Sunday Pictorial, London, England.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of The Sunday Post, Glasgow, Scotland.
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Note the report in column 5: Dundee Warship Week - One Man Invests £5,000"
(The people and businesses of Dundee, Scotland are contributing to buy a new destroyer for the war effort. The drive went so well that they are almost able to but a destroyer and a cruiser, HMS Ceylon.)


February 1, 1942: Front page of The Sunday Sun, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C.
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Note the report in column 3: "Girl Dies After Drinking 5 Quarts of Water in Test"


February 1, 1942: Front page of The Sunday Star-News, Wilmington, North Carolina.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of the Detroit Times, Detroit, Michigan.
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Note the report in columns 1-2: "Couple Arrested; Refused To Stand for U.S. Anthem"
(Today you can burn the U.S. flag in the street, my how times have changed.)


February 1, 1942: Front page of The Hammond Times, Hammond, Indiana.
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Note the report in column 4: "Axis Agents Tipping Off Nazi U-Boats"
(I have never read anything that leads me to believe that anyone on U.S. soil had direct contact with a German submarine at sea. There were always stories about the Irish supplying U-Boats, which I have never found proof of. When I was in Louisiana, I was told that there were rumors that Cajuns were meeting U-Boats off the Gulf coast and even up the Mississippi River to supply U-Boats with food and fuel. Once again, no proof was provided to me that would substantiate the rumor. To be sure, there were German agents in U.S. ports who had contact with Berlin and provided information of shipping movements.

Spies notwithstanding, the success of the U-Boats was mostly attributed to the U.S. Government and the U.S. Navy. Surviving U-Boat commanders all stated that sinking ships off the U.S. east coast was easy for several reasons. The number one reason was that the cities were not blacked out. The commander would sit off the coast and could see the silhouette of a ship pass between him and the well-lit skyline of New York or some other city. The fact that ships were not convoyed was another reason and finally, the lack of anti-submarine tactics by the U.S. Navy formed the hat trick for the U-Boats.)


February 1, 1942: Front page of The Kingsport Times, Kingsport, Tennessee.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of The Montana Standard, Butte, Montana.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of The Ogden Standard Examiner, Ogden City, Utah.
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Note the report in columns 6-7: "Leave That Automobile Home If You Haven't Paid Use Tax"


February 1, 1942: Front page of the Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California.
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February 1, 1942: Front page of the Völkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the NSDAP.
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1. Ganz Malaya in japanischer Hand.
(All of Malaya in Japanese hands.)
2. Belagerung Singapurs beginnt.
(Siege of Singapore begins.)
3. Britische Truppen aus Malakka zurückgezogen.
(British troops withdrawn from Malacca.)




   
Page published February 1, 2023