Sunday, February 21, 2021

February 21, 1941. Frederick Banting killed in accident.

On this day in 1941 Nobel laurate and medical scientist, the Canadian Frederick Banting, died in an airplane crash.  He was the co discoverer of insulin.


He was, in a way, a victim of the Second World War in that he was serving in the Canadian Army at the time, and was a passenger on a Lockheed Hudson that developed mechanical trouble. The bomber was being ferried to the UK but went down in Newfoundland.

It was the last day of the Swansea Blitz, that event in which the Germans bombarded that city for three nights.

It was strategically ineffective. Swansea had significant military targets, including oil facilities, but they were not damages in the three day raid.

More on both of these events can be read about here:

Today in World War II History—February 21, 1941

The British disembarked 1300 men on Malta.

21 February 1941: Reinforcements for Malta – 1300 Troops Disembark

No comments: