26 Feb in WW2 History | World War II Database

26 Feb 1882

Husband Kimmel was born.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1898

Taiwan

Lieutenant General Baron Gentaro Kodama was named the governor-general of Taiwan.

26 Feb 1903

Orde Wingate was born.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1917

The 4th Company of the Pavlovsky Regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard mutinied and came out in support of workers demonstrating against the regime in Petrograd, Russia.

26 Feb 1918

Pyotr Masherov was born.
» In-depth article
Douglas MacArthur assisted in capturing a number of German prisoners during a trench raid. For this action, French Major General Georges de Bazelaire later awarded MacArthur with the Croix de guerre, the first such award given to a member of the American Expeditionary Force.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1921

USS Arizona arrived at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1924

Adolf Hitler was put on trial for treason for the failed Beer Hall Putsch.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1925

Adolf Hitler was released from prison; on the same day, the German government allowed the Nazi Party to publish its newspaper once again.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1929

Photo(s) dated 26 Feb 1929

Lexington sailing through aircraft-deployed smoke, off Panama, 26 Feb 1929

26 Feb 1932

Light carrier Hosho launched aircraft to attack airfields near Suzhou, China. Hosho-based fighters claimed 2 kills on this date.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement

26 Feb 1935

Adolf Hitler officially created the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) with Hermann Göring as its Commander-in-Chief. Walther Wever assumed the role of the Chief of Air Staff and Erhard Milch became the Secretary of State for Air. The independent branch started off with 1,888 aircraft and 20,000 men.
During the Daventry Experiment, Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration that led to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.

26 Feb 1936

February 26 Incident began in Japan, which was a failed coup attempt.
Adolf Hitler opened the 1st Volkswagen plant in Germany.

26 Feb 1938

China

Princess Aisin Gioro Huisheng, daughter of Prince Pujie and niece of Emperor Kangde of the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo, was born.

26 Feb 1940

Soviet troops continued to attack toward Viipuri, Finland. The Finnish 23rd Division counterattacked with 8 Mark E light tanks in the Battle of Honkaniemi, destroying 3 Soviet tanks but all 8 light tanks were lost during the engagement.
» In-depth article
Newly-constructed British large passenger liner Queen Elizabeth left Clydeside, Glasgow, Scotland on the spring tide. To prevent German attack, false intelligence regarding her destination being Southampton in southern England was generated, but her actual destination was New York in the United States. She would reach New York for her final fitting.

26 Feb 1941

Before dawn, British destroyer HMS Decoy, destroyer HMS Hereward, and gunboat HMS Ladybird landed 200 commandos and 24 Royal Marines on the Italian-held Dodecanese island of Castelorizo, off the coast of Turkey, capturing a small Italian garrison. Italian aircraft responded, damaging HMS Ladybird, but was able to retrieve the raiders and sail for the British Crown Colony of Cyprus. The codename for the raid was Operation Abstention.
Werner Mölders claimed his 60th victory.
» In-depth article
American scientists Glenn Seaborg and Arthur Wahl discovered Plutonium.
» In-depth article
German submarine U-47 attacked Allied convoy OB-290 190 miles northwest of Ireland before dawn, sinking 3 merchant ships and damage 1. U-47 was attacked by depth charges, which called for assistance in the form of Fw 200 bombers of I. Gruppe KG 40 based in Bordeaux, France. The aircraft attacked the convoy from 0900 to 1845 hours, sinking 8 ships.
» In-depth article
German bombers sank 4 merchant ships and German motor torpedo boats sank 1 merchant ship at various locations on the British coast.
German submarine U-70 sank Swedish ship Gotenborg south of Iceland.
Francisco Franco refused Hitler's 6 Feb 1941 request for Spain to enter the war.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1942

German submarine U-432 sank US bulk carrier Marore 20 kilometers off North Carolina, Virginia, United States. To the north, 20 kilometers east of Barnegat, New Jersey, United States, German submarine U-578 sank US tanker R. P. Resor, killing 47 of 49 aboard. Far out to sea, 230 miles east of Florida, United States, U-504 sank Dutch tanker Mamura at 1913 hours, killing all 49 aboard.
» In-depth article
An irritable Churchill took General Auchinleck to task over lack of offensive spirit in North Africa.
» In-depth article
Allied Middle East command decided to transfer the veteran Australian 6th Division from North Africa to Greece. Newly-formed Australian 9th Division was to be sent to North Africa as the replacement.
Reinhard Heydrich wrote a letter to Martin Luther of the German Foreign Office, enclosing the meeting minutes of the Wannsee Conference and requesting the Foreign Office to engage in discussions on carrying out the Final Solution to the Jewish Question.
» In-depth article
Major General John "Jock" Campbell VC, GOC 7th Armoured Division, was killed when his jeep overturned in North Africa.
Lieutenant-General Hutton signaled GHQ(I) recommending that the sick Smyth be removed from command of 17th Indian, and recommending Major General David "Punch" Tennant Cowan as the replacement.
Lieutenant Philip Cabell Evans was named the commanding officer of HMCS Trillium.
» In-depth article

Australia

The floatplane from Japanese submarine I-25 conducted a reconnaissance mission over Melbourne, Australia.

Australian New Guinea

Australian Wing Commander Dick Cohen led several Catalina aircraft in a night attack on Rabaul, New Britain; Cohen used his own Catalina aircraft as a dive bomber.

Dutch East Indies

Allied ABDA Command warships departed Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies in search of a detected Japanese invasion fleet; the search would be uneventful.
» In-depth article

Germany

49 British RAF bombers attacked Gneisenau in the drydock at Kiel, Germany. A bomb penetrated the armored deck, triggering a detonation in the forward turret which caused great damage to entire bow section of the ship; 112 were killed, 21 were wounded.
» In-depth article

United States

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation began to relocate Japanese-American civilians living in East San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, United States.
» In-depth article

Photo(s) dated 26 Feb 1942

Helm off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, United States, 26 Feb 1942

Henley off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, United States, 26 Feb 1942

26 Feb 1943

Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Saipan, departing later on the same day.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement
The German government issued the order that Eastern European workers who were originally sent to concentration camps for a temporary basis were now to be held at the camps indefinitely. Meanwhile, the first transport of Roma and Sinti arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland; they were assigned to the BIIe sector at Auschwitz II-Birkenau and housed in what was called the "Gypsy camp" (Zigeunerlager); this sector would eventually grow to house 23,000 Sinti and Roma people; 20,000 of them would not survive the Holocaust.
» In-depth article
USS Argonaut was struck from the US Naval Vessel Register.
» In-depth article
In Burma, Orde Wingate lectured his officers about the British practice of worshipping gallant losers, citing the celebration of those who succeeded in the Dunkirk evacuation without placing blame on the same leaders whose failures made such an evacuation necessary.
» In-depth article

Australian Papua

George Kenney arrived at Port Moresby, Australian Papua to personally take charge of organizing an attack on Japanese convoy Operation 81; this intelligence was provided by crytanalysis.
» In-depth article

Germany

USAAF heavy bombers made a daylight attack on Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
» In-depth article

United Kingdom

The British government authorized the use of the new water-skipping "Upkeep" bomb against German dams.
» In-depth article

Photo(s) dated 26 Feb 1943

American troops marching through the Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, 26 Feb 1943

26 Feb 1944

USS Tang sank Japanese transport Choko Maru.
» In-depth article
650 Italian Jews from Fossoli transit camp near Carpi, Modena and 84 Soviet prisoners of war from the Lamsdorf (Lambinowice, Poland) POW camp arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Of the Italian Jews, 95 men and 29 women were registered into the camp; the remaining 526 were sent to the gas chambers.
» In-depth article

Burma

The Japanese offensive on Sinzweya, Burma was called off, ending the Battle of the Admin Box.
» In-depth article

Caroline Islands

Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands.
» In-depth article
» Tabular Record of Movement

Marshall Islands

USS Alabama arrived at Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands.
» In-depth article

Russia

Lavrentiy Beria authorized Operation Lentil, which aimed to deport the whole of Chechen and Ingush (Ghalghai) populations to Central Asia and Siberia.
» In-depth article

Photo(s) dated 26 Feb 1944

Anti-submarine Leigh Light installed beneath the wing of a Liberator bomber of the RAF Coastal Command, 26 Feb 1944

26 Feb 1945

USS Blenny reported sinking a Japanese oiler with a torpedo.
» In-depth article
USS R-1 completed an extensive modernization.
» In-depth article
Near Prekuln, Latvia, heavy Soviet attacks were held off by German troops.
American troops captured Corregidor, Philippine Islands.
» In-depth article
Soviet 3rd Guards Tank Corps and 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps took over as the main offensive force in the East Pomeranian region of Germany (occupied Poland and Danzig).
» In-depth article

Burma

Indian 2nd Division completed the crossing of the Irrawady River at Ngazumi, Burma.
» In-depth article

Germany

1,500 French prisoners of war arrived at the Oflag IV-C camp at Colditz Castle in Germany, having been transferred from the camp at Königstein.

United Kingdom

German V-2 rocket hit the Northern Outfall Sewer in West Ham, London, England, United Kingdom at night.

United States

USS Cero completed her scheduled overhaul at Mare Island Navy Shipyard in Vallejo, California, United States.
» In-depth article

Photo(s) dated 26 Feb 1945

Montgomery visiting Canadian troops in the Kleve-Goch sector, Germany, 26 Feb 1945; left to right: Vokes, Crerar, Montgomery, Horrocks, Simonds, Spry, Mathews

FR-1 Fireball fighter at rest at Moffet Field, California, United States, 26 Feb 1945

USS Sand Lance off Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States, 26 Feb 1945; note USS Snapper, USS Cero, or USS Raton in background

See all photos dated 26 Feb 1945

26 Feb 1952

Korea

USS Wisconsin hosted Korean Chief of Naval Operations Vice Admiral Shon, US Ambassador J. J. Muccio, and British Royal Navy Rear Admiral Scott-Montcrief off Pusan, Korea.
» In-depth article

26 Feb 1955