Air Operations, East Indies

Japanese aircraft destroy 4 5th Air Force B-17s on the ground at Java/Pasirian Airdrome and 1 LB-30 at Java/Jogjakarta Airdrome. In return, 5th Air Force heavy bombers destroy Japanese aircraft on the ground at Bali/den Pasar Airdrome.

Air Operations, Pacific

B-24s of the US 10th Air Force drops 40 British magnetic mines in the mouth of the Rangoon River in Burma, the beginning of a campaign to interfere with Japanese shipping in occupied areas.

Battle of the Atlantic

• U-502 sinks the Norwegian tanker Kongsgaard (9467t) 7 miles west of Noordpunt, Curaçao with the loss of 37 of her crew. 9 survivors are picked up by a fishing vessel.
• U-96 sinks the Norwegian steamer Torungen (1948t) off Nova Scotia with the loss of her entire crew of 19.
• U-504 sinks the American tanker Republic (5287t) with the loss of 5 crewman. 22 survivors row to shore, 7 others are picked up by the American tanker Cities Service Missouri.
• In an attack on Convoy ON-67 U-155 sinks the British tanker Adellen (7984t) and the Norwegian steamer Sama (1799t) south of Cape Farewell, Greenland. 36 are lost on the Adellen, 12 survivors are picked up by the Canadian corvette Algoma. 19 are lost on the Sama, 20 survivors are picked up by the American destroyer Nicholson (DD-442).
• U-128 sinks the American tanker Cities Service Empire (8103t) 25 miles north of Bethel Shoals off the Florida coast with the loss of 14 of her crew. 36 survivors are picked up by the American destroyer Biddle (DD-151).
• U-129 sinks the Canadian steamer George L. Torian (1754t) and the American steamer West Zeda (5658t) about 120 miles south-southeast of Trinidad. 15 crewmen are lost on the Canadian ship, 4 survivors are rescued by a US Navy flying boat. All 35 of the crew of the West Zeda are picked up by the schooner Emeralda.

Britain, Command

Air Marshal A. T. Harris is appointed to lead RAF Bomber Command. He will become a controversial figure but his early record will be good. He will succeed in reviving Bomber Command morale and developing a policy suited to the limitations of the force. He will be especially good at the public relations side of his job. The bomber offensive will be the only weapon with which Britain can strike directly at Germany until 1944, and it will be important to convince the British people and the leaders of the USSR that as much as possible is being done.

Britain, Home Front

More changes are made in the British War Cabinet. Col John Llewellin is appointed Minister of Aircraft Production. Sir Percy Grigg becomes Secretary for War. Dr William Temple is nominated Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of all England.

Burma

Japanese troops attack the positions of 17th Indian Div around Mokpalin on the Sittang River. There is heavy fighting near the one bridge over the river which is essential for the passage of troops.

General Yamashita, Japanese Commander in Malaya and Burma, on a Tour of Occupied Territory

A Japanese Tank Column Crossing a River over an Emergency Bridge

Japanese Troops Passing through a Burmese Village

The RAF Taking Off from a Burmese Airfield

On January 30 the Japanese forces in Burma occupied Moulmein and the British retired to the west bank of the Salween river. On 10 February, however, the enemy crossed the river north-west of Martaban and after fierce fighting occupied the town. Farther north other attempts to cross the river in the Paan area were repulsed, but on the 15th, the British were withdrawn to the line of the Bilin river after evacuating Thaton. Here strong counter-attacks, in which the R.A.F., the Indian Air Force and the American Volunteer Group gave valuable support, slowed down the Japanese advance, but on the 22nd a fresh attack was mounted by the enemy who forced a crossing of the Bilin and made heavy assaults on a bridgehead on the east bank of the Sittang river, the next obstacle in their way. The town of Pegu, forty miles north of Rangoon, fell, and the railway from Rangoon to Mandalay and the road to China were thereby cut.

Eastern Front

A relief attack toward Demidov begins, while the 9th Army attacks with the VI and XXIII Corps, pounding the 29th, 30th and 39th Armies around Rzhev.

A horseback rider of the Red Army cavalry, clad in heavy winter gear, is seen as he passes a German tank abandoned by the retreating German invaders, at an unknown location along the German-Russian front, on 22 February 1942.

Horseback Rider of the Red Army Cavalry

Indian Ocean

• The American aircraft transport Langley is sunk by Japanese bombing near Tjilatjap, Java. 16 on board are lost. Survivors are picked up by Whipple and Edsall.
• I-58 sinks the Dutch steamer Pijnacker Hordijk (2928t) south of Tjilatjap.

Mediterranean

The British steamer Bintang (2825t) is sunk by German bombing off Sidi Barrani. 12 are lost of a crew of 42. Also sunk by German bombing in the same area is the British steamer Hanne (1360t) with the loss of 4 of her crew of 25.

Pacific

Over the next 10 days Japanese submarines sink 11 ships south of Java.

Philippines

Gen MacArthur is ordered to leave the Philippines and transfer his headquarters to Australia.