Today in WW2 History | World War II Database

22 Feb 1904

Franz Kutschera was born.
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22 Feb 1911

Lord Gort married Corinna Vereker at the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London, England, United Kingdom.
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22 Feb 1921

In Russia, the State General Planning Commission (Gosplan) was established as an advisory body to the Council of Labour and Defence.
USS Arizona passed through the Panama Canal.
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22 Feb 1922

The United Kingdom granted independence to Egypt, but occupation forces remained.

22 Feb 1932

Joseph Goebbels announced on Adolf Hitler's behalf that Hitler would run for the office of the President of Germany, challenging incumbent Paul von Hindenburg.
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22 Feb 1933

Initial plans made for the detention camp Oranienburg in Germany.
Hermann Göring established an auxiliary police force in Prussia, Germany, staffed mostly with members of the SA organization.
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22 Feb 1940

Irish Republican Army bombs injured 12 in London.
Six German destroyers were launched into the North Sea during Operation Wikinger, which attempted to attack British fishing boats that had been reporting the movement of German warships. He 111 aircraft of the German Luftwaffe, never been notified of such an operation, misidentified the destroyers and attacked them, sinking destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maas at 1945 hours, killing 282 while 60 survived. Destroyer Z3 Max Schultz was able to evade the bombs, but ran into a minefield, detonated a mine, and sank, killing 308.
German submarine U-23 sank British steamer Loch Maddy, which was damaged by U-57 and abandoned by its crew on the previous day.
Soviet 43rd Division attacked across frozen waters of the Gulf of Finland, capturing the islands of Lasisaari and Koivisto. Before Koivisto was given up, Finnish troops sabotaged all the gun barrels in the coastal batteries.
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German submarine U-50 sank British tanker British Endeavour 125 miles west of Vigo, Spain, killing 5. 32 men were rescued by British steamer Bodnant, which landed them on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

22 Feb 1941

430 Dutch Jews were deported from Amsterdam to Auschwitz Concentration Camp as reprisal for the murder of a Dutch Nazi Party member.
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German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attacked a convoy of unescorted empty cargo ships en route to the United States, sinking three British cargo ships and two tankers, totaling 25,431 tons. 10 were killed and 180 were taken prisoner.
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British 11th and 12th African Divisions attacked and overran Italian positions at Jilib, Somaliland, Italian East Africa.
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Greek King George II and Commander-in-Chief General Alexander Papagos met with British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and General Archibald Wavell in Athens, Greece, designing a defense plan that assumed Yugoslavia would remain neutral.
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British monitor HMS Terror was spotted at about noon by a German Ju-88 aircraft off the Libyan coast. 5 Ju-88 aircraft were launched from Sicily, Italy at 1533 hours, and they intercepted HMS Terror 10 miles north of Derna, Libya at 1830 hours. Heavily damaged by near misses, HMS Terror was abandoned by her crew at 2200 hours. Minesweeper HMS Fareham and corvette HMS Salvia attempted to tow her back to port, but this effort would ultimately fail.
Filipp Golikov was awarded the Order of Lenin for the first time.
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German cruiser Admiral Scheer sank Dutch collier Rantau Pandjang off the east coast of Africa. Distress signals were received by British cruiser HMS Glasgow, which was already aware of Admiral Scheer's presence by the sinking of British ship Canadian Cruiser on the previous day. HMS Glasgow launched her seaplane to search for the German raider, but the aircraft would return without any findings.
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22 Feb 1942

Roosevelt personally ordered General MacArthur to leave the Philippine Islands.
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American submarine Swordfish evacuated Philippine President Quezon and his government.
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German submarine U-128 sank US tanker Cities Service Empire 10 kilometers off Melbourne, Florida, United States, killing 14 of 50 aboard. On the same day, to the south, U-504 sank US tanker W. D. Anderson 10 kilometers off Port St. Lucie, Florida, killing 35 of 36 aboard.
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During the early hours, the Sittang Bridge in Burma became blocked when a lorry got stuck across the carriageway. With the Japanese closing in on Pagoda and Buddha Hills overlooking the important crossing, the British divisional commander "Jackie" Smyth had to accept that the bridge must be destroyed, even though a large part of his force was still on the east bank. Lieutenant-General Hutton was informed that he was to be replaced but was to remain in Burma as Alexander's Chief of Staff, a most awkward position which he endured until he was replaced at his own request by Major-General John Winter before returning to India in early April.
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In Britain, Winston Churchill replaced Secretary of State for War, David Margesson, with Sir Percy Grigg (formerly the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the War Office).
Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Yokosuka, Japan for her second voyage for the Japanese Navy.
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HMS Indomitable and escorting Australian destroyers Napier and Nestor arrived at Aden.
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USS Gar fired eight torpedoes at a Japanese ship south of Japan; all torpedoes missed.
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22 Feb 1943

German Armeegruppe Mitte launched an offensive between the Dneiper and Donets Rivers in southern Russia.
Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, members of the White Rose, were executed in Stadelheim Prison in Munich, Germany.
Air Marshall Sir Arthur Harris was appointed chief of RAF Bomber Command with a new remit: attempting to hit specific military and industrial targets was, in the main, to be abandoned in favour of the most densely built-up areas of German cities. The area bombing directive essentially said that if the RAF cannot destroyed the factories it should destroy the homes and the morale of the workforce.
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Norwegian Minister President Vidkun Quisling ordered the mobilization of 35,000 men for construction of roads, railways, and military-related facilities. Two Lutheran church leaders who protested were arrested and imprisoned in the Grini Concentration Camp.
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Bulgaria agreed to a German demand to deport 11,000 Jews from 23 communities in Thrace and Macedonia, occupied areas of Yugoslavia and Greece. They were sent to Treblinka Concentration Camp where many of them died subsequently.
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Winston Churchill was said to be "on the mend" after a severe fever.
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The North American Mitchell II aircraft made its combat debut with the RAF when No. 98 and No. 180 Squadrons operating from Foulsham, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom attacked oil installations at Terneuzen in Belgium.
Allied troops pre-emptively struck the Axis attacking forces near Thala, Tunisia.
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The Northern Group of the Chindits reached Tonmakeng, Burma. Orde Wingate ordered an attack on a nearby Japanese garrison at Sinlamaung.
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I-168 departed Kure, Japan.
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Iowa was commissioned into service.
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German submarine U-606 sank British merchant ship Empire Redshank in the North Atlantic; 47 survivors were picked up by HMCS Trillium.
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Photos dated 22 Feb 1943

22 Feb 1944

General Rodion Malinovsky's troops captured the mining area near Krivoi Rog, Ukraine.
American aircraft bombed the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede, and Deventer by mistake due to weather, killing 800 civilians.
Auschwitz III commandant SS-Hauptsturmführer Schwarz ordered that night shift workers not be assigned to do any day shift work, the prisoners be given seven to eight hours of rest per day, and roll call be limited to five to ten minutes; his motivations were to maintain a high level of productivity from the forced laborers in his camp. On this date a total of 73,669 prisoners were in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp; Auschwitz I housed 17,177 male prisoners, Auschwitz II housed 18,378 male and 24,637 female prisoners, and Auschwitz III housed 13,477 male prisoners. In Italy, 650 Italian Jews were embarked onto a train at the Fossoli transit camp near Carpi, Modena for Auschwitz; many of them would be sent to the gas chambers upon arrival on 26 Feb 1944.
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Japanese aircraft attacked US Naval Task Force 58 approaching the Mariana Islands but suffered heavy losses. Meanwhile, another Allied forces operating around Rabaul and Kavieng encountered no Japanese aircraft, hinting that Japanese resources were now becoming scarce.
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Stalin announced that 75% of Soviet territory occupied by the German invaders had now been liberated.
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Filipp Golikov was awarded the Order of Kutuzov.
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Japanese Colonel Tanahashi, his troops beginning to starve while attacking Sinzweya, Burma, refused to make further attacks until food and supplies arrive.
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USS Tang sank Japanese transport Fukuyama Maru with four torpedoes.
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USS Guitarro completed her transit down the Mississippi River (towed in a drydock by Minnesota) and arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
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USS Pompon departed Darwin, Australia for her fourth war patrol.
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USS Puffer sank Japanese transport Teikyo Maru off Singapore, hitting her with 4 of 6 torpedoes fired.
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USS Flying Fish departed for her ninth war patrol.
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Photos dated 22 Feb 1944

22 Feb 1945

US Fifth Army ended the 4-day battle for the Upper Reno Valley in Italy, located between Bologna and Florence.
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Nijmegen, the Netherlands was heavily bombed by American planes, causing great damage to the city center.
Air Group 80 from USS Hancock flew one strike in support of operations on Iwo Jima; 1 aircraft was lost.
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USS Wake Island was detached from Task Group 52.2 at Iwo Jima, Japan.
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USS Becuna fired ten torpedoes at a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, with one torpedo making contact and sinking Japanese tanker Nichiyoko Maru.
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Photos dated 22 Feb 1945

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22 Feb 1946

General Seishiro Itagaki formally surrendered the Japanese Seventh Area Army to Lieutenant General F. W. Messervy at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya.
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Photos dated 22 Feb 1946

22 Feb 1968

Filipp Golikov was awarded the Order of the October Revolution and the Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Third Class.
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22 Feb 1980