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• Hungary and Yugoslavia signed the Treaty of Eternal Friendship. ww2dbase [CPC]
• Philip Kerr passed away. ww2dbase [Lothian | CPC]
• British 7th Armored Brigade moved into the desert to outflank Italian forces at Sollum, Egypt and to cut the road to Bardia, Libya, as the latter port was subjected to carrier aircraft attack by HMS Illustrious. Meanwhile, the first groups of Italian prisoners of war began to arrive by truck at the British headquarters at Mersa Matruh, Egypt. ww2dbase [Operation Compass | CPC]
• German submarine U-96 attacked Allied convoy HX-92 12 miles south of St. Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, United Kingdom, sinking Swedish ship Stureholm at 0156 hours (killing entire crew of 32) and Belgian ship Macedonier at 0431 hours (4 killed, 37 survived). ww2dbase [CPC]
• Maxim Gorkiy was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [Maxim Gorkiy | CPC]
• Philippe Pétain received an invitation from Adolf Hitler to attend the ceremony in which Napoleon II's remains were to be returned from Austria to the Les Invalides cemetery in Paris, France. ww2dbase [Philippe Pétain | CPC]
• Vichy-France established diplomatic relationship with the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo. ww2dbase [CPC]

• USS St. Louis arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ww2dbase [Pearl Harbor Navy Base and Ford Island Naval Air Station | St. Louis | Pearl Harbor, Oahu | DS]

• HMS Edinburgh arrived at Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [Scapa Flow | Edinburgh | Scapa Flow, Scotland | CPC]
• British monitoring stations detected X Verfahren radio beams being laid across northern England, United Kingdom, and suspected a German attack would take place on the city of Sheffield. In the evening, 13 He 111 bombers of Kampfgruppe 100 arrived over the Sheffield suburbs of Norton Lees and Gleadless at 1941 hours, dropping 16 SC50 high explosive bombs, 1,009 B1 E1 ZA incendiaries, and 10,080 B1 E1 incendiaries. Shortly after, three groups of German bombers, the main force, attacked. The first group was consisted of 36 Ju 88 bombers and 29 He 111 bombers; the second group was consisted of 23 Ju 88 bombers, 74 He 111 bombers, and 7 Do 17 bombers; the third group was consisted of 63 Ju 88 bombers and 35 He 111 bombers. The 280 German aircraft heavily damaged the city center and residential districts through the night through 0400 hours on the next day. ww2dbase [Battle of Britain | Sheffield, England | CPC]

12 Dec 1940 Interactive Map