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• Prinz Eugen departed Brest, France as a part of Operation Cerberus. ww2dbase [Prinz Eugen | CPC]
• Georg von Bismarck became the deputy commander of the 21st Panzer Division. ww2dbase [Georg von Bismarck | CPC]
• German submarine U-136 attacked Allied convoy SC-67 south of Iceland at 0133 hours, sinking Norwegian ship Heina (all 30 aboard survived) and Canadian corvette HMCS Spikenard (57 were killed, 8 survived). ww2dbase [Second Happy Time | CPC]
• Having crossed the Salween River at Kuzeik, Burma during the night the Japanese II/215th Infantry regiment engaged the raw and inexperienced 7/10th Baluch who were deployed in a semi-circle with their backs to the river without barbed wire or artillery support. After dark the Japanese launched their attack on the Indian positions and after four hours of bitter hand to hand fighting began to get the upper hand. By dawn organized resistance had effectively ceased. The heroic 7/10th Buluch had suffered 289 killed; with the few survivors making off in small parties. ww2dbase [Invasion of Burma | AC]
• The US submarine Shark was reported lost, probably sunk by the Japanese destroyer Yamakaze, on patrol east of Manado, Celebes, Sunda Islands, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Shark (Porpoise-class) | AC]
• Archibald Wavell fell over a barb-wired seawall at Singapore and was rushed to a hospital. His back was injured and he was incommunicado for four days. ww2dbase [Archibald Wavell | CPC]
• US forces arrived at the Dutch islands of Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba in the Caribbean Sea. ww2dbase [Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico Campaigns | CPC]
• Dixie Kiefer was transferred to USS Yorktown as executive officer. ww2dbase [Dixie Kiefer | DS]

• Three Australian Hudson bombers attacked Surumi airfield near the village of Gasmata, New Britain; Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Satoshi Yoshino shot down the bombers flown by John Lerew and Graham Gibson. Lerew would parachute to safety and return to New Guinea on 21 Feb 1942. Transports Kinryu Maru and Kizui Maru were damaged by the Hudson bombers, killing several men. ww2dbase [Gasmata, New Britain | CPC]

• Tatsuta Maru arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands. ww2dbase [Tatsuta Maru | Truk | CPC]

• German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen, accompanied by 6 destroyers, departed Brest, France at 2330 hours and began their dash through the English Channel. ww2dbase [Operation Cerberus | Brest, Bretagne | CPC]
• German Type IXC U-Boat U-505 departed Lorient, France on her second patrol. ww2dbase [U-505 | Loirent, Bretagne | DS]

• The Japanese invasion fleet for Sumatra, Dutch East Indies departed Cam Ranh Bay, French Indo-China. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Sumatra | Cam Ranh Bay | CPC]

• Battle of Bukit Timah: Japanese 5th Division attacked British, Commonwealth, and Chinese (Dalforce irregulars) troops along the Choa Chu Kang Road at Bukit Timah Hill in Singapore. Supported by 50 tanks, Japanese troops halted the Allied counterattacks and took the hill. After the battle, to avenge their casualties, the Japanese troops massacred Chinese civilians living in a nearby village. ww2dbase [Invasion of Malaya and Singapore | Singapore | CPC]

• In Washington DC, United States, US Congress approved the construction of the Alaska-Canadian Highway; US President Roosevelt immediately signed it. Canada agreed to this construction under the condition that the United States would bear the entire cost of construction, and that portions of the highway in Canadian territory would turn over to Canadian control after the war. ww2dbase [Franklin Roosevelt | Washington | CPC]

11 Feb 1942 Interactive Map