31 Jan 1940 | World War II Database

31 Jan 1940

German submarine U-13 torpedoed and sank Norwegian steamer Start about halfway between Stavanger, Norway and Aberdeen, Scotland, killing the entire crew of 16. Start was carrying coal from Sunderland, northern England. ww2dbase [CPC]
German submarine U-21 fired two torpedoes at Danish ship Vidar, but both malfunctioned. A third torpedoed, however, struck Vidar 25 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland, killing 16 and rendering her dead in the water. Danish steamer Disko rescued 18 survivors while surviving a hit from another malfunctioning torpedo from U-21. Vidar would remain afloat until the next day. ww2dbase [CPC]
Soviet forces gathered in the Summa sector in the Karelian Isthmus now grew to the size of 12 divisions and 400 heavy artillery pieces. ww2dbase [The Winter War | CPC]
Desperately short of aircraft, the British made a secret approach to Italy (not yet in the war) to buy fighters. The deal was later vetoed by Germany. ww2dbase [AC]
Sir John Simon of Britain announced that food subsidies were running at £1,000,000 per week. ww2dbase [CPC]

United Kingdom

HMS Acasta escorted HMS light cruiser Ajax into Plymouth, England, United Kingdom as Ajax returned from her engagement with German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. ww2dbase [Acasta | Plymouth, England | CPC]

Photo(s) dated 31 Jan 1940

Frozen dead Russian soldier in Finland, 31 Jan 1940

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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