1-9 February
Pacific, Guadalcanal
Japanese Navy warships evacuate 13,000 troops in night operations from the island. Their abandonment of Guadalcanal marks the first major land defeat of Japan. The Japanese have lost 10,000 men killed; the Americans some 1600.
2 February
Eastern Front, Caucasus
The siege of Stalingrad ends: Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus and 93,000 German troops surrender. The Sixth Army has finally collapsed under the strain of supply shortages and constant attacks masterminded by Marshal Georgi Zhukov.
4 February
Air War, France
British and US bombers launch Operation Gondola with a series of raids aimed at destroying U-boats in the Bay of Biscay. Bombers use immensely powerful searchlights to illuminate submarines during attacks.
8 February
Eastern Front, Ukraine
In their continuing offensive Soviet forces take the city of Kursk, which will be the site of a major battle.
9 February
Sea War, Mediterranean
An Axis convoy carrying reinforcements to Tunisia leaves Italy. Malta-based Allied aircraft sink 10 vessels between February 9 and March 22. Minefields and British submarines also destroy several of the ships.
12-14 February
Eastern Front, Caucasus
The Soviets capture Krasnodar on the 12th and Rostov on the Don River two days later.
14-22 February
Africa, Tunisia
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel launches an attack northwest from his fortified zone at Mareth to break through Allied forces between the Axis Front and Bône on the coast. In the Battle of Kasserine Pass his forces strike the US II Corps and cause panic among the ranks.
US forces are 100 miles (160 km) from Gabs, a key part of Germany’s Mareth Line because of its crossroads, port, and airfield. German troops exploit poor US command, land and air coordination, unit dispositions, and the inexperience of some troops. Attacks reach Thala until they lose momentum and Rommel orders a withdrawal. He loses 2000 men; the Americans 10,000.
15 February
Eastern Front, Ukraine
Kharkov and other cities are liberated as Soviet forces reoccupy territory held by the Germans. Stalin has begun to think of total victory in 1943.
16-21 February
Home Front, Germany
Student demonstrations against Hitler’s regime take place in Munich. Protests in other university cities in Germany and Austria then occur. Hans and Sophie Scholl, leaders of the anti-Nazi White Rose student group at the University of Munich, are beheaded on the 21st.
18 February
Far East, Burma
Brigadier Orde Wingate launches the first British Chindit mission. This 3000-strong, long-range penetration force aims to operate behind Japanese lines and disrupt communications. The Chindits are to be supplied by air. The six-week mission has limited military success but Prime Minister Winston Churchill is impressed by Wingate’s unorthodox methods. As a result, further Chindit operations in Burma will be sanctioned.
18-27 February
Eastern Front, Ukraine
Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, commander of Army Group Don, launches a counteroffensive against the Red Army to crush the enemy thrust to the Dniepr River. Using four panzer corps, he isolates three Soviet armies, inflicting severe losses on the Red Army.
20-25 February
Sea War, Atlantic
During U-boat attacks, Allied convoy ON-166 loses 15 of its 49 ships. Only one German submarine is sunk.
21 February
Pacific, Solomons
US forces land on Russell Island. This is their first move in the campaign to capture the island chain. The operation, code-named Cartwheel, eventually aims to seal off the key Japanese air and sea base at Rabaul in New Britain. The US Pacific commanders Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur have devised an ‘island-hopping’; strategy whereby certain selected islands are retaken, while heavily-defended Japanese positions are bypassed. Allied aircraft and sea power will then isolate these strongpoints, preventing them from being a threat. They will ‘wither on the vine.’;
23-24 February
Sea War, Atlantic
Seven tankers from the UC-1 Allied convoy are sunk by a U-boat group.
26-28 February
Africa, Tunisia
Colonel General Jürgen von Arnim’s Fifth Tank Army in northeast Tunisia finally launches a counterattack from the Mareth Line that should have been made during the previous series of attacks. It is unsuccessful.
28 February
Politics, Germany
General Heinz Guderian is appointed ‘Inspector-General of Armored Troops’; and is given wide-ranging powers to strengthen Germany’s tank arm.
Western Front, Norway
Nine Norwegian paratroopers from Great Britain sabotage the Norsk Hydro power station where ‘heavy water’; is made for atomic research.