Friday, February 27, 1942. The Battle of the Java Sea, Gas Chambers at Auschwitz, The Raid on Brunvel.

February 27, 1942: Battle of Java Sea begins—Allied ships fail to prevent Japanese landing at Java, take heavy losses. Nazis order construction of gas chambers at Auschwitz. Seattle school board accepts forced resignation of Japanese-American teachers.

Sarah Sundin's blog notes a series of significant events for this day.

The big one, in the context of the fighting, was the beginning of the Battle of Java Sea, which would be an Allied defeat.  In human misery and global crime context, the beginning of the construction of the gas chambers at Auschwitz can't help but be noted.  And then there's the forced resignation of Japanese American teachers in Seattle.

A grim day all the way around.

Radar station at Brunvel, with surprisingly modern looking dish.

The British conducted Operation Biting, an airborne raid on a radar station in France.  The raid on Brunvel secured the radar array which the troops took with them when they withdrew by sea, giving the British a first-hand example of new type of German radar.  It was a completely successful raid.

Wednesday, February 18, 1942. A bad day at sea.

It wasn't a good day for the Allies. 

February 18, 1942: 80 Years Ago—Feb. 18, 1942: Japanese land on Bali, cutting ferry link from Australia to Java.

The above item from Sarah Sundin's blog shows how menacing the Japanese advance was becoming to Australia, constituting, at least from an Allied and Australian prospective, a real threat to the Australian mainland.

On the same day, the Japanese began to murder Chinese in Singapore that they regarded as a threat in the Sook Ching operation.

Chiang Kai-shek met with Mahatma Gandi in Calcutta, in one of the odder  tête-à-tête's of the war.

The USS Truxton and the Pollux ran aground at Lawn Point, Newfoundland, in a storm, resulting in over 200 deaths.  On the same day, the Free French submarine Surcouf may sank off of Panama after colliding with the US freighter Thompson Lykes.

The Sucouf might be described as, frankly, weird.  It was a huge submarine that featured two 8 in deck guns.  It's entire crew of 130 went down with her.

Some submarine hit the Truxton, at any rate, although her crew thought it was a U boat and some still think that may be the case.  She may have actually been sunk due to friendly fire from a Catalina cruising the area, or another US aircraft doing the same.

The Japanese photo magazine Ashai Graph, which oddly published its name in English and Japanese, featured Japanese tanks in Singapore on its cover.